Why not DIR ?

[H2Andy]

here's a brief snippet from George Irvine:

On a more serious note, figuring out some of the rest of the system wasn't quite so obvious. It wasn't easy. We stopped air diving when one of the guys got killed. We stopped using nitrox or any kind of air when we figured out we weren't getting the job done. We stopped allowing people to do different things when one guy got killed doing something different. I can just go down the list. A lot of the things we changed were because somebody got killed. Air diving was the first. Bill McFaden got killed and Gavin said, "That's it. No more air diving." That was 1988. That's when we stopped air diving in WKPP. Then JJ and I stopped the nitrox.

http://www.baue.org/library/irvine_baue_talk.html#History_2

 

[Cacia]

Yes. I don't understand the rub too much. I like the fact that the really safety conscious people for whom safety is paramount have decided to segregate themselves off and dive with each other. The rest of us get defensive, but think what it would be like if they did not...we would have the dive nannies following us around everywhere commenting on every move we made. I have been diving for 35 years and somehow have stayed alive and well diving with just about any yahoo that came along. It has worked for me, because I decide for myself what I will do and what I won't. Did I go in the "temple of doom" with eight non-cave trained divers? Nope. I was the only one and thats why I am fine on my own. I usually dive with people but I do not depend on them. They might come in handy.
If I have a heart attack..that argument: well so, now I cannot even swim in my own pool by that logic. Once you are labeled "Doing It Wrong" the options are endless!

 

[TSandM]

To answer the question a couple of posts back, my Fundies course cost me $335. They do vary from location to location, I believe.

The name DIR may be unfortunate. The philosophy and training appeal to some people and not to others. I don't think there is any question that the people who teach in this system have superb skills, and probably are also very good teachers. My instructor is a very good teacher, and the reports of other Fundies classes that I have read seem to indicate that others are, too. My delightful experience diving with Kidspot in Maui also suggests (with an n of 1) that the training is consistent enough that one GUE trained person can dive with another de novo and be on the same wavelength and really enjoy the dive. That's worth a lot to me.

You certainly don't have to go DIR to be a good diver. You have to care about being a good diver. You have to get some information and some technique that doesn't seem to be taught often in the course of normal dive training below the technical level, or you have to spend some serious time emulating other, skilled divers.

There are many roads to Rome. Some may be more certain than others, and some are less bumpy. I benefited enormously from my Fundies class. I enjoy diving with my fellow students, and with other people locally who have been GUE trained. I also enjoy diving with other people.

The OP should be getting one good reason not to go DIR -- you get an awful lot of flack for doing it.

 

[Cacia]

hope you don't think I am giving you flack. I have been very clear --just like you that divers have different priorities. I am just agreeing with your Fundies instructors that the two groups be clear about who they are.

 

[OneBrightGator]

Earlier in the thread I read that GUE frowns on pony bottles. In looking at the DIR rig, I don't see any first stage redundancy at all. Why would they frown on a piece of equipment that adds safety through redundancy?

In that particular rig they may be no first stage redundancy, but if a DIR diver needs to he/she can use an H-valve or doubles, which offer better redundancy in any situation (except solo) then a pony. DIR solutions address all the issues, instead of just one.

 

[Cacia]

I just watched the "5th dimension essentials" that one of my SB comrades mailed me. I was really impressed! What is the relationship between them an DIR? I will definitly practice all that stuff, it looks fun. You see how happy the spool and sausage thing makes me!

 

[Nemrod]

"And I think what may be most important -- if you are the solo diver type, firmly determined to be completely self-sufficient and expect anybody you dive with to be the same, then you won't fit in the DIR ethos. The idea of the unified team, shared resources, and looking out for one another, is one of the things I like most about the DIR teaching I got. But for some people, that approach just doesn't work."

I think it funny when folks generalize about things they know nothing off, forgive me for the times I have done so. I don't think you have been diving long enough TsandM to catagorize me or similar sometimes solo divers. Solo or not, I am a very good buddy, invisible except when needed and then I am there.

I think sometimes the anti DIR comes from the original resistence to back inflate BC units that dive training agencies put up a fuss over, one in particular. They stuffed everyone they could into a vest for nearly two decades, actually nearly three decades. That is a huge momentum to overcome. DIR is obviously a well thought out and regimented approach with solid thinking behind it but your just not going to find it being pushed in mainstream diving circles. In time that will likely change as more people understand the advantages, still, there will be those who go another way and that way may be fully equally thought out and equally adapted to their purpose. N

 

[WarmWaterDiver]

The OP should be getting one good reason not to go DIR -- you get an awful lot of flack for doing it.

I disagree - I get at least as much flak for speaking my mind! Flak knows no prejudice of its own in my experience, scuba or otherwise.

Doesn't discourage me too much though. I've been called a lot worse things than stubborn, often from those in higher authority than me. Often, I've taken that as a sign I'm either working in the wrong place or working with the wrong people for me. Either they move on or I do - and life goes on, with both parties happier for it.

I may pay a bit more attention if the source is Mrs. WWD though I know her well and respect her assesments, and have no desire to 'move on' from her!

TS&M, I appreciate your sharing the "many roads to Rome" perspective though. This I can respect and gives us something in common.

 

[onfloat]

I just watched the "5th dimension essentials" that one of my SB comrades mailed me. I was really impressed! What is the relationship between them an DIR? I will definitly practice all that stuff, it looks fun. You see how happy the spool and sausage thing makes me!

The man behind the video and in it used to be the training director for GUE until there was a disagreement of sorts. All of the skills shown in the video are what I learned in my fundimentals course. You know there is one coming to Oahu in March.

 

[Cacia]

Ohhh! thanks. i thought ...this is so strange: "perfect companion to DIR"and the word essentials is so like "fundamentals". bet thats a story.