Why is DIR controversial?

[RonFrank]

You must be one of those internet dir jerks I'm always hearing about. I suppose you are going to tell me you actually nice in person
Or are you just full of angst from not getting to dive yesterday, haha.. just kidding bud
(sorry we couldn't make it, the weather was still pretty bad here)

Yeah, you kool-aid drinking guys with your black zip ties! Don't you know neon yellow is the new black!

I'll be in Coz next week diving my Zeagle! The BP/W setup is too heavy for travel, so I guess I'll have to pass on the Kool-aid and go for my lightweight Back Inflate, but I will have a long hose!

Look forward to diving with you both in 2007. Not sure when, maybe March timeframe unless I can somehow get to TX if that trip pans out.

 

[Rick Murchison]

First let me start by saying, this post is extremely disrespectful and insulting, even if you are trying to make me understand the danger. Of course I am using redundant air and of course I know how to use it, are YOU nuts? I have experienced a minor random equipment failure, and I calmly resolved the issue, underwater. How dare you speculate about what I may or may not know. I never claimed to know all the risks. And how dare you tell me what I have business doing or not. You may not drive a car, do you understand all the risks, do you know how you will respond in an equipment failure, then you will most certainly die if you don't, you have no business doing something that might kill you like that? You shouldn't be making assumptions about someone you don't know. I would never want to dive with someone like you, and I will most certainly make that assumption.

Hmmm... hmmm... I was thinkin' about weighin' in with an opinion here, but then I remembered that my very first few post-certification dives were solo... in lousy vis... on the edge of the Corpus Christi ship channel... with a speargun... with a single hose reg, k-valve, no SPG, no BC (they didn't exist - is that a good excuse?)... so I think I'll just hush.
Rick

 

[lamont]

This may be way off topic, but your comment does point out something I’ve seen from the limited number of DIR divers I’ve known or even interacted with here or in real life. I finish a dive with my friends and dive buddies and everyone is talking about what they saw (or shot) on the dive with almost no discussions about the mechanics of the dive unless we specifically were doing some training. I can’t recall ever seeing DIR divers excited about what they saw on the dive, but only on what they did or how their equipment performed on the dive. It’s as though the process of the dive is the sole purpose for the dive rather than diving being a way to experience being underwater with nature. That just might be an oversimplification due to my lack of experience, but I could see how it would cause outsiders to think of DIR divers as more interested in themselves and the dive than the environment diving is allowing them to participate in.

This is a gross stereotype of DIR divers which doesn't exist in reality.

Wanna know what pisses of actual DIR divers? Mischaracterizations like this one.

 

[namabiru]

I'm not a naysayer, but can I come for free kool-aid anyway? I hope it's cherry. That's my fav-rit.

All the nay-sayer's on this thread should come to my house tomorrow and I'll give a presentation on DIR and serve everybody some free kool-aid.

 

[ShallowDiverDave]

I'm not questioning your decisions, David ... but I know that if I were your instructor, I'd be worried about you.

Most of us have had a tendency at some point ... usually between the time we get comfortable in the water and the time we start to realize just how much there is about scuba that we hadn't thought about yet ... to overestimate our ability as a scuba diver. I know that I have on more than one occasion. Usually something will happen that will impose a reality check. It's good to have enough knowledge and skills to be able to survive the epiphany ... particularly if you've already decided you don't need a dive buddy.

You can easily die on a 30-foot dive if something happens you're not prepared for. Best to get some solo training, if for no other reason than to have someone with some experience help you get better prepared for contingencies ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Thanks Bob, I respect what you have said, unlike the disrespectful post by another. I understand that I could die at 30 ft., it is a risk reduction, not a risk eliminator. I can promise you that I will strongly consider what you have said here, and I will methodically reexamine my situation.

 

[lamont]

First let me start by saying, this post is extremely disrespectful and insulting, even if you are trying to make me understand the danger. Of course I am using redundant air and of course I know how to use it, are YOU nuts? I have experienced a minor random equipment failure, and I calmly resolved the issue, underwater. How dare you speculate about what I may or may not know. I never claimed to know all the risks. And how dare you tell me what I have business doing or not. You may not drive a car, do you understand all the risks, do you know how you will respond in an equipment failure, then you will most certainly die if you don't, you have no business doing something that might kill you like that? You shouldn't be making assumptions about someone you don't know. I would never want to dive with someone like you, and I will most certainly make that assumption.

I did two solo dives back around dive #60 for me. I'm also very comfortable in the water having grown up around canoes and kayaks. I had also at that time experienced minor equipment failures and resolved them underwater. On dive #25 or so I actually experienced a major failure when someone shut my valve down on the boat and only turned it on 1/4 turn which resulted in an OOA at depth that I resolved reasonably calmly by getting on another diver's long hose.

And when I did those two solo dives I was overconfident and didn't know what I didn't know. I may not know you, but I'll lay bets based on your experience and your defensive attitude that you're probably actually worse off than I was.

 

[ShallowDiverDave]

I did two solo dives back around dive #60 for me. I'm also very comfortable in the water having grown up around canoes and kayaks. I had also at that time experienced minor equipment failures and resolved them underwater. On dive #25 or so I actually experienced a major failure when someone shut my valve down on the boat and only turned it on 1/4 turn which resulted in an OOA at depth that I resolved reasonably calmly by getting on another diver's long hose.

And when I did those two solo dives I was overconfident and didn't know what I didn't know. I may not know you, but I'll lay bets based on your experience and your defensive attitude that you're probably actually worse off than I was.

Well, if I die, you can contact my lawyer to collect your winnings.

Let me get defensive however:

I was only defensive once I was personally insulted. Did you see my response to Bob ??? it was submissive:

"I can promise you that I will strongly consider what you have said here, and I will methodically reexamine my situation."

 

[Bill51]

This is a gross stereotype of DIR divers which doesn't exist in reality.

Wanna know what pisses of actual DIR divers? Mischaracterizations like this one.

Yea, I know, but I’m not very thin skinned or sensitive sometimes too.

 

[ShallowDiverDave]

I feel bad for my posts being in this thread (hijacking), so I started a another thread:

Why I should Not be Solo Diving?

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=172305

 

[Daryl Morse]

First let me start by saying, this post is extremely disrespectful and insulting, even if you are trying to make me understand the danger. Of course I am using redundant air and of course I know how to use it, are YOU nuts? I have experienced a minor random equipment failure, and I calmly resolved the issue, underwater. How dare you speculate about what I may or may not know. I never claimed to know all the risks. And how dare you tell me what I have business doing or not. You may not drive a car, do you understand all the risks, do you know how you will respond in an equipment failure, then you will most certainly die if you don't, you have no business doing something that might kill you like that? You shouldn't be making assumptions about someone you don't know. I would never want to dive with someone like you, and I will most certainly make that assumption.

Some of my buddies who have dived for years and dive regularly in doubles occasionally also dive solo. I have no issues with them diving solo. But WRT you, I stand by what I said and make no apologies for it. If you don't like it or don't agree, I guess that's too bad. Good luck.