xoomboy once bubbled...
To put it in a geeky web developer's sense, it's "scalable" 
Scalable? Yes and no (Im going to address only equipment issues here).
The equipment is quite scaleable. The backbone of the system is the BP and wing, so to start all you need is to replace your existing BC and youre good to go. You can add the long hose, the short SPG hose and other stuff later.
To be so-called DIR theres a minimum configuration thats required. So though scaleable up, DIR is not scaleable down beyond a certain point. With the minimum configuration, as you add equipment nothing changes or moves. Lets say you have a single cylinder DIR rig and you go to doubles. Your interface doesnt change. You still have your regs, SPG and inflator hose and wing in the same places and they work the same. The only difference is youve got a bit more inertia to get used to and some knobs you need to learn to manipulate.
Adding a canister light? Put it on, nothing else moves or changes. Stages? They clip onto existing D rings and nothing else moves or changes. Scooter? Snap it to the existing D ring and youre good to go.
With recreational gear how many times have you decided to carry a small light, but to put it in the pocket you had to move your whistle to another pocket or take something out completely and leave it on the boat. Addition of equipment to recreational gear almost always results in reconfiguration or rearranging of existing equipment. That is until youve been diving for a couple of years and get a lot of experience, and then youll learn how to stow things so you add and delete stuff without disrupting your system. Why wait for those years of experience, when the DIR system has been developed to show you how and where to stow everything so you dont have to learn from the school of hard knocks, you can just DIVE and have fun?
The guys behind DIR didnt invent anything new, they just took existing configurations from Main, Turner and Exley for example, refined it, experimented with it and came up with the best of the best and, best of all, are willing to share their experience with anyone whos interested!
xoomboy once bubbled...
Question: Is it too much of a newbie thing to consider a gear this setup from the start? I would think that it is a safer way to dive in general...
Im going to patent the following quote some day
:
So called technical divers do things differently from recreational divers not because they want to be different, but because they have a safer and easier way of diving.
If its safer and easier, youd WANT to start out that way, wouldnt you? Why make things hard on a beginner?
[added on edit] In no way am I saying that a beginner should start out with doubles, stages and a canister light. But they should start out with the
interface that technical divers have.
Roak
