Why not Fundies?

[mtg]

I think you need to google "Fundies -underwear" and you'll get a more refined search. The - (minus sign) will eliminate any of the underwear for 2 results.

still in the dark...Fundamentalist divers??

 

[jonnythan]

See my last post. It's on the previous page so you may have missed it.

 

[MikeFerrara]

I agree, and I really want to ... but I just wish that there were less roadblocks. I do not know if it (DIR) will be right for me, but from all that I have heard the class would be right for me as far as helping me improve my skills either way. And, until I hear the full reasons, and experience the difference, I can't make a valid judgement.

I am not afraid to fail the course, and in fact I know that I will. If it is as good of a learning experience as I have heard then it would not be a true failure in my mind.

Are there shops that rent BP/W's? The ones I have seen just have the cheap vest types for rent. That would make it much easier for me to try the class right there.

Some shops do rent the equipment that you would need. From what I've seen, any shop or group that sponsors a DIRF usually makes sure that there is rental stuff on hand.

I don't care to ship my stuff accross the country but I have some extra stuff that I could let local divers try or use in a class. That might not help you but I'm sure there are others who have stuff they could loan out.

As far as DIR being right for you...who knows? I'm not "DIR" but, GUE has really done a great job of organizing and simplifying so much of dive planning and other aspects of diving that I can't find grounds for recommending against taking the course. Whether or not you decide to apply a strict DIR methodology to your own diving, the course really is a good course designed by good divers and will help most divers be better. It's a free country. You take a class, develop your own skills and make up your own mind how you want to do things. That goes for any class and this one is no different. The only time you would be obligated to adhere to strict DIR is in a class (as student or staff) or working on a DIR exploration team of some kind.

 

[mtg]

See my last post. It's on the previous page so you may have missed it.

Ahh, thanks for the light!:blinking:

 

[TheRedHead]

I've always had an interest in DIR diving, but could never bring myself to take a course. I've got the books, 2 DVDs from 5thd-x, equipment, the time and money to travel anywhere I wish to take it. Everytime I start to warm toward it, some DIR diver mostly on this board will make a mean-spririted, unkind, gratuitous comment to a non-DIR diver about their diving or gear, such as a pony bottle. It rubs me the wrong way to the point that I won't persue it. I would probably feel differently if my first experience with DIR had not been on the internet.

 

[jonnythan]

Does it bother you at all when non-DIR divers make mean-spirited, unkind, gratuitous comments to DIR divers about their gear or mentality?

This stuff goes both ways. If you let it get to you going either way, you'd quit diving before long.

 

[TheRedHead]

Does it bother you at all when non-DIR divers make mean-spirited, unkind, gratuitous comments to DIR divers about their gear or mentality?

This stuff goes both ways. If you let it get to you going either way, you'd quit diving before long.

Sure it does. I dive the same configuration and people have made snide comments to me. I've chosen to take classes from instructors that impress me with their attitude, integrity and diving skills. The agency wasn't the issue with my choices.

 

[TSandM]

TRH, this is one of the saddest things about "internet DIR".

The two GUE instructors I've had the good fortune to meet are far from that kind of attitude. And the DIR divers I know are the kind of people who are going to turn out in force to be mentors for my "big buddy" dive later this month -- and they'll be mentoring all kinds of novice divers, not DIR ones.

I'm really sorry that the misbehavior of some people behind keyboards has put you off this excellent source of diving education.

 

[TheRedHead]

Lynne, you are a very positive role model on the board and a wonderful spokesperson for DIR. The good news is that the concepts are being incorporated by instructors in other agencies. My IANTD instructor used the Intro to Tech DVD.

 

[Quarrior]

I've always had an interest in DIR diving, but could never bring myself to take a course. I've got the books, 2 DVDs from 5thd-x, equipment, the time and money to travel anywhere I wish to take it. Everytime I start to warm toward it, some DIR diver mostly on this board will make a mean-spririted, unkind, gratuitous comment to a non-DIR diver about their diving or gear, such as a pony bottle. It rubs me the wrong way to the point that I won't persue it. I would probably feel differently if my first experience with DIR had not been on the internet.

Somewhere a few pages back in this thread I mentioned diving with a great bunch of folks in the PNW, Seattle area. Those folks were NWGratefuldiver, Uncle Pug, OE2X, and a few other that I saidly can't remember their online names.

At the time I dove with them the only one that was not DIR was NWGratefuldiver.

These guys are regular posters here on SB and are great fun to be around and great divers as well. If you want a sampling of diving with some DIR folks without the attitude, get in contact with them and take a trip to Seattle. Just be prepared to bring some deco pills (donuts). hahaha

They will help you with anything you want to know about diving, that they know the answer to. Believe me, I doubt UP doesn't know the answer to much.