Why not DIR ?

[KOMPRESSOR]

As for you ~ you are at the very beginning of your diving experience. If you let it, the DIR system can teach you how to be a safer (to yourself as well as to your buddies, DIR or non) diver with skills that will ultimately make your dives more fun and relaxed than you can imagine.... in far less than 30 years.

Amen!

 

[Nemrod]

Whats this "we" ****?

Well, if you know of any divers that used digital computers and wings and all that in 1965 then please exclude them from the generic use of we. Art Bell claims to know a guy that knows a guy that can time travel, I suppose if a modern diver with computers and bungeed plastic Zeagle singlehose regulators were to show up on the beach in 1965 he would make quite a stir, especially if he had a 2006 copy of the Wall Street Journal. So that would be the "we". Of course, in 1965 I was but a wee lad and only wee wishing I could be like you when I grow up. To be more specific about my generic use of "we" I am referring to divers of the 50s and 60s of which I barely squeek in the door and those of today who seek to recreate those good times even if "we" were not officially there. Does that explain "we" to ya, next, do you want my take on the use and meaning of "is".
Why do all DIR related threads wind up arguing over the use of words? N

 

[captain]

Nemrod, man you are my idol. Spokesperson for the old geezers. Them yun'uns probably think you are using rebreather in your avitor

 

[daniel f aleman]

"Originally Posted by Snowbear

As for you ~ you are at the very beginning of your diving experience. If you let it, the DIR system can teach you how to be a safer (to yourself as well as to your buddies, DIR or non) diver with skills that will ultimately make your dives more fun and relaxed than you can imagine.... in far less than 30 years."

DIR is a marketing term of GUE. GUE instructors might be able to teach you how to dive safely, to dive more fun and relaxed; but so can instructors with NAUI, YMCA, PADI, PDIC, AUAC, BSAC, IDEA, CMAS, PSDA, SSI, SDI-TDI, IANTD, ANDI, the Navy, NOAA, NASA, et-freakin'-cetera...

 

[H2Andy]

there are many roads to safer, better diving

DIR is a darn good one, but not the only one

the great thing about GUE is that it teaches tech-tested skills
to the recreational diver, something few other agencies, if
any, do... outside a tech class

for my money, there is no better system than DIR
as taught in a GUE DIR-F class to
get a diver "the big picture" of what his/her diving
should be

but no, it's not the only way.

 

[Snowbear]

DIR is a marketing term of GUE.

Yep, that it is.

...so can instructors with ... et-freakin'-cetera...

Yep a few of them probably can.
But unfortunately, there are very few who actually do, regardless of "rec" or "tech" level, who have not also had some level of training with GUE.

 

[daniel f aleman]

Yep, that it is.

Yep a few of them probably can.
But unfortunately, there are very few who actually do, regardless of "rec" or "tech" level, who have not also had some level of training with GUE.

OK Snowbear, you've pretty much ended the thread. Feel free to go to IANTD, ANDI, and NAUI TEC and look at their instructor trainer lists. And gander at the NACD and CDS instructor lists, look at those with low numbers - they've all been diving and teaching long before DIR came into existance. Who do you think the GUE people learned from? Aliens?

 

[Snowbear]

Who do you think the GUE people learned from? Aliens?

LOL... Nope daniel I don't. All I'm saying is that it's rare, in my limited experience, to see the evidence of the kind of training I've seen from GUE. I never said that quality of dive training is not available elsewhere. I'm sure it is... I just haven't seen it yet.

 

[El Orans]

Why I dive DIR (sort of)

Though I do only recreational dives, I like the methods they use to do my current dives at a higher level.

Will I ever advance to Tech1 etc.? Probably not. Who cares?

 

[Lightning Fish]

Now that might not seem much to some people considering Alberta is landlocked but you would be surprised at our diving activity for instance we have over 150 commercial divers in Red Deer which only has about 100000 people and more certified Divers than British Columbia. So it is still something.

Okay, an unsupported statement like that deserves a comment. Actually I after reading the above statement I got curious and had a quick look on the web.

From http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/oceans/Policy/scubafact_e.htm

On average, between 1996 and 2000, 19,000 British Columbia residents per year became certified scuba divers. This alone would amount to an expenditure of about $5 million per year in basic training courses. In 2001, for example, it is reported there were 115,000 PADI certified scuba divers living in British Columbia.

and

Internationally there are three certifying organizations of which the Professional Association of Dive Instructors (PADI) has the largest market share in British Columbia (estimated at 75%) with the remainder being divided amongst Scuba Schools International (SSI) and the National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI).

Which would put the 115 000 to about 150 000. Anyway, 115 000 certified divers in BC is greater than 100 000 residents in Red Deer, so, ....

Now if you were referring to all of Alberta, I couldn't find a number for Alberta. But, from http://www.betherecommunications.com/btc/portfolio_4.htm puts the number of certified divers in the Calgary area at 20 - 35 thousand.

The article also states

Training is key to maintaining a safe sport and PADI’s training services were utilized by 17,500 Canadians in 1999 and 17,600 in 2000 out of 946,000 certifications worldwide.

This article, http://www.tourism.bc.ca/PDF/DIABC_Survey_Report_Final_Sept_2004.pdf states that about 9700 people became certified by BC diver operators in 2003.

Interesting stuff.

Cheers,
Bill