I really enoyed reading all the notes on the subject, especially the solo diving thing which is only embraced by TDI/SDI of all the agencies. I won't comment on it, I think that speaks for itself.
So-called, "DIR" is something that, if you take its basic precepts to heart, can make you a better diver. Forget George's pronouncements that get leaked around, many inaccurately. Why do they say to put the long hose on the right-hand post? Well, forget that it routes under your light cannister perfectly from there and into your mouth from the right with a 7' hose; maybe you can get it to route correctly from the left. But what I consider to be a VALID reason is that if it's on your left post it could potentially roll off if the stem comes in contact with the ceiling in a tight place. If you also have your BC routed from there, you suddenly lose your ability to inflate your BC, again, in a tight place this could be a problem. When I say "tight place" I mean, belly in the silt, head bumping the ceiling and unless you are only diving main lines, at some point you'll be there.
Is that the only way to do it? No. There are a lot of cave divers that have done a lot of dives with a different method and they're still alive. Nice folks, some of 'em too! But I've done both and I see the logic in the DIR arrangement of hoses. It's well thought-out, and I like that.
To each thing, rig it according to its need.
You _don't_ put springs on your mask ( I don't know where that came from) and the reason fin springs work for cave diving is because they don't break and they are generally easier to use when drysuit diving. Two good reasons. Can you dive with rubber straps? Sure, but they can and do break. And if they sometimes break in OW, how more likely when you're pushing double steel 104's?
This isn't difficult to understand, who cares what "they" call it. I dive a dive computer when doing Rec-style diving, but my rig is Hogarthian or DIR. But if I'm doing Trimix or staged deco, then I'd better have a backup in deco or cut tables for 'mix. Both approaches make more sense. When considered in context of actual use.
But as one person pointed out, if you're teaching OW, you usually want to be wearing gear similar to your students' gear, and that's a jacket-style BC. That also makes sense. George focuses on what he needs to focus on and there are a lot of DIR-nik toadies out there that repeat his every utterance with a raptured worshipfulness. I have no use for them and the dirty secret is that George doesn't either. If you don't understand why you're DIR then you're even MORE of a stroke than someone who doesn't dive DIR but at least understands the choices made.
If you could ignore the personalities and focus on the gear, you might find useful things there that you could adapt for your own diving. That's the real secret to DIR, which it seems goes completely unnotticed. Don't just do what you've been able to get to "work" for you for the last "X" number of years/decades, you should constantly be reassessing your gear and yourself and maybe (horrors!) you might find useful things coming from this team that you at least seem to grudgingly (in some cases) admire for its incredible accomplishments underwater, in a cave, at 300+ feet and 18,000' back; dives that they make seem like a routine OW dive on a Sunday afternoon. That record of safety and accomplishment does demand some level of respect, even if George's mouth does not.
JoeL
