Why not Fundies?

[lamont]

guys, the swimming requirement is really easy, all you have to do is hit the pool a bit.

i started doing 300 yards in 12.5 mins backstroke and 50 ft breathold on a good day. i had that down to 300 yards in 10 mins backstroke within a week or two (2-3 times a week in the pool, so after about 6 days). took me longer to learn how to do the crawl (about 2-3 months, mostly just figuring out how to breathe). now the crawl is much more comfortable to me than backstroke, and i can do 300 yards in about 7 mins, and 500 yards in 14 mins -- and on breathold i consistantly get 60-70 feet with about 8 months of work (although i've been slacking a bit lately) and my longest distance without stopping is 600 yards (1/3 of a mile).

biggest thing that'll help you initially is probably getting used to cholorine and getting used to breathing u/w while swimming. since you scuba dive you have a natural bit of advantage -- but you can practice just by taking breaths above water and exhaling u/w at the side of the pool.

you should also notice advantages to your SAC rate by swimming crawl since it forces you to have a controlled breathing pattern while excersizing (this is the biggest immediate benefit of continuing to stick with swimming), and it should help you some with mask-off skills and comfort with the reg out of your mouth.

for underwater swimming the biggest thing i found which immediately improved my distance was to not use the large muscles in my legs as strongly, but to primarily focus on my arms (which also helps with learning to do the crawl) and to visualize grabbing onto the water and pulling through it...

and i really really sucked at swimming beforehand. i'm fairly negative so on a full inhale i can barely float with my lips out of the water and i have all the hydrodynamics of a brick along with short arms and legs. if i can get good enough at it, anyone can.

 

[gangrel441]

Matthew, you're way too focused on the card.

Forget that the card exists.

The card is irrelevant. The card doesn't matter.

I think you're just grasping at any excuse you can come up with here..

Why on earth would anyone need to come up with an excuse NOT to take DIR-F. I didn't see anything at any of my previous divesites that said "Warning: If you have not taken DIR-F, do not attempt this dive." I don't recall any legislation saying that you cannot dive if you have not taken DIR-F. This is one class offered by one agency. The title of this thread comes across like DIR-F is the expectation for anyone who wants to dive. That isn't fair to a very large number of people out there who have looked into it and determined that they don't agree with DIR, are happy with the type of training they have already received, or don't want to fork over $300 for another class. What is it y'all criticize PADI about again? Last time I paid more than $300 for a class, it was for basic open water, and that included equipment rental, quarry entry fee, pool time, books, etc., etc... I really don't wish to engage in flaming, and please feel free to let me know if that is what you feel I am doing now, but posting a thread asking people why they HAVEN'T taken DIR-F strikes me as some serious flamebait. This class is expensive, the underlying concept is controversial, its practitioners have a reputation (established by some and unfairly applied to all in many cases) as being eletist and arrogant. Translation: This class is not for everyone, and I don't mean because they don't have what it takes to "pass" it.

I thought we had a separate forum in here somewhere for discussion of topics like this one....

 

[jonnythan]

Why on earth would anyone need to come up with an excuse NOT to take DIR-F.

No idea.

He obviously wants to.

As for the rest of your rant, TSandM clearly said that she's wondering why people *who are interested in the class* have not taken it.

 

[gangrel441]

No idea.

He obviously wants to.

I have been teaching martial arts for well over a decade. I hear people who tell me they want to try it sometime, but they never find their way into the school even though I make sure they know what times the classes are and that they can drop in and take a class for free. You know why that is? Because despite what they say, they really don't want to do it.

As for the rest of your rant, TSandM clearly said that she's wondering why people *who are interested in the class* have not taken it.

drumroll please.......

Please read the last line of my post.

 

[jonnythan]

We do have such a forum.

It's called "Basic Scuba Discussions"

 

[ppo2_diver]

Matthew, you're way too focused on the card.

Forget that the card exists.

The card is irrelevant. The card doesn't matter.

I think you're just grasping at any excuse you can come up with here..

Agreed. Even if/when you pass, it will still take a year to get the card.

 

[cummings66]

you mean because of the swimming requirement, right?

i think you're right... might as well not take the class until you know you can fulfill the minimum requirements

Exactly what I've been meaning to say. It's not that I don't think I wouldn't learn anything, of the learning I'm sure I would and that has value. But to take the class without being capable of the minimum requirements would be silly.

 

[stas]

I was very interested in taking a dirf class. I am un-ashamed to admit that for me, the reason not to take it was price. First, the two quotes I recieved from two "local" indtructors were $500 and $550. That and nothing else would be tolarable. However, there are no classes so close to me that I would be able to go back home at the emd of the day and come back the next day very early in the morning. That means hotel and food. Adding gasses, fees and other msc. things, for a four day class, that comes out to be at least $750, Thats way too uch for me. I decided to take NAUI's intro to tech instead. Price is smaller, classes more available, and the skill sets develped are comparable.
Stas

 

[cerich]

26 pages and 258 posts in a day over this. Guess that answers the question "Why not Fundies?"

This stuff shouldn't be about ego, DIR, passing or failing, it should be about being open to trying new things and a desire to improve ourselves.

 

[cummings66]

For what it's worth I do intend on taking the class when it's offered around here. I've had a lead on it but upon calling the shop they know nothing of it, so they say.

My point is that before I take the class I want to know that I meet the physical requirements of the class, and yes I do intend to go further than DIRF. My end goal is to be a technical diver, wreck diving specifically and over the course of years I'll work on the skills to get there. It's not something I have to do right now.

I am not looking for an excuse to not do it, but rather answering the question of why are those who are interested not taking the class.

For me it's simple, none in the area and concern over my swimming a timed event. I'm working on that part at least twice a week and it's improved a lot in the last month. I've still got to get a couple more pieces of gear, spool and SMB but I do intend on taking the class and when I take it I intend on passing the swim portion. The rest is something that I'll take when I earn it. It's not about the card, in fact I didn't even know there was a card because from what I knew being DIR gets you squat. You can't present it to get anything anywhere from what I understand, it's just for use within GUE as I get it.

Do I need the card? No. Do I need the training and skills that come with the class? Yes. Will I take the class if it shows up in my state? Probably if I can swing the time for it.

The things I require to be met before taking the class is this, I want the gear needed and I want to easily pass the swim bit. In fact that's a long term goal of it's own I've been working on for a couple months now. I got the total immersion DVD and book and it's helped my swimming a lot, I can do a full hour now where before that was a pipe dream.

Do I consider my swimming good enough? I don't know. Is my diving good enough? I know it can be improved.

I'm not on the fence, I'll be taking it as long as it doesn't break the bank and it's in my state.