Looking to get into DIR

[lavachickie]

Thanks stargost. I should have worded that differently. I'm not getting into DIR to get us into tech diving, but rather that my interest led me to DIR. The primary reason for wanting to get into DIR is for the educational/safety bennifits, although I do look forward to advancing my DIR education to cave diving.

Thanks for this thread. I'm in a similar spot (new diver, PADI OW/AOW but looking for... something different). My reasoning is the same.

Beware -- especially with existing relationships you may encounter a little friction when you talk about the path you're choosing. At least I have. Kinda surprising. But it's telling me a lot about folks.

 

[kanonfodr]

Thanks for this thread. I'm in a similar spot (new diver, PADI OW/AOW but looking for... something different). My reasoning is the same.

Beware -- especially with existing relationships you may encounter a little friction when you talk about the path you're choosing. At least I have. Kinda surprising. But it's telling me a lot about folks.

I think the reason that the GUE/UTD/DIR system gets such a bad rap is because a lot of folks come out of Fundies/Essentials/whatever in the "Evangelical" phase of DIR, where JJ is God and PADI makes run by Lucifer and his cronies. Don't get me wrong, the training is eye-opening. But those Evangelists among us can end up angering others who either don't care either way or will reject anything that is shoved in their faces.

Case in point: mine. A bunch of my regular buddies are somewhat anti-DIR, but they are still some pretty darned good divers including several tech divers and a tech instructor. I may catch flak when people ask me about my diving style but its more in jest than anything else. I just refrain from saying "You're gonna die!!" and if my input is requested I will provide it along with my reason for believing such.

So if people give you crap about DIR or even having an interest in such, smile and let it slide. We go diving to have fun, not start fights.

Peace,
Greg

 

[caverdave]

I think the reason that the GUE/UTD/DIR system gets such a bad rap is because a lot of folks come out of Fundies/Essentials/whatever in the "Evangelical" [snip...]

So if people give you crap about DIR or even having an interest in such, smile and let it slide. We go diving to have fun, not start fights.

nice post

Though I sometimes seem to find that the bad rap more so seems to come from people that have never taken a class or been around anyone that has... feelings particularly strong from a group that have "heard about it" or "read about it"...
Can't agree more with lets all dive for fun!

To OP and Lava
Enjoy the class. You will almost certainly learn a lot.

not sure if of interest or value but I too am another one of those people that took the class early on (~dive 25). Opened my mind up to a whole new level, and gave me insight to skill sets that I had never seen.

LDS and others really tried to talk me out of it. Had a few diveshops offer "their class" as a different option. I'm sure some of the other options would have been fine, but...
Just be sure that whatever route you go you there will be video and lots of time to talk with the instructor before and after; or at least that is what I'd encourage.

Again enjoy and keep us posted!

ohhh - - since you mentioned buying gear- - be sure to run any purchases by your potential instructor, and if possible try before you buy!
(ahem also in my experience ran into shops professing to sell "DIR gear" but actually had no idea what it was... I would again emphasize being cautious on any gear purchase... ) If in doubt- buy some books...
Dave

 

[gfyrasng]

Hey thanks Dave, I'll deffinatly try to try before we buy. I don't think there are any DIR shops in my neck of the woods, but I'll be looking around when it does come time to buy. I supposed if nothing else, we'll buy from one of the reputable online DIR dealers. I've been looking at some of DSS's equipment, looks to be fairly reasonable price wise.

 

[lamont]

I think the reason that the GUE/UTD/DIR system gets such a bad rap is because a lot of folks come out of Fundies/Essentials/whatever in the "Evangelical" phase of DIR, where JJ is God and PADI makes run by Lucifer and his cronies. Don't get me wrong, the training is eye-opening. But those Evangelists among us can end up angering others who either don't care either way or will reject anything that is shoved in their faces.

Bob Bailey suggested once to have a 6-month gag rule (self-enforced) after fundies...

 

[stargost]

Bob Bailey suggested once to have a 6-month gag rule (self-enforced) after fundies...

Waouw, this is tough. However, i'm glad he didnt make the rule 6 months before fundies . I have a few more months to mess around and practise the evangelization with my future ex-diving buddies (the non DIR ones who have 100x more dives and experience).

Just kidding.

More seriously, i indeed agree that for new divers switching to this system, it is easy to get experience divers looking at you strange, possibly despising your approach.
As usual, low profile and no comments solve the problems.
On the other hand, when the experience divers, basically coaching you are showing intertest, it is also very rewarding to be able to give back, with a small - no bragging - piece of information about why you do this and that.