Poll: DIR vs. Non-DIR vs. Undecided

[cornfed]

LVX once bubbled...
Thanks MK. Question for you. If an instructor with another agency wanted to work with GUE how would they go about it.

It's a long process in which you get AndrewG many cups of coffee.

Or at least that's the story I heard from MHK.

Drew

 

[cornfed]

MHK once bubbled...



At this juncture GUE does NOT offer an open water program. However that being said, the GUE OW program is largely written and is being beta tested in Seattle and San Diego and a few GUE instructors that also teach recreationally have started to incorporate the GUE based program into their OW programs..

Hope that helps..

Later

Mike -- How will the OW program fit in with Fundamentals? Will GUE OW satisfy the DIR-F requirement for Tech1 or Cave1? Or will GUE OW students also need to take DIR-F before moving on?

Drew

 

[Diver Mike]

I too am an inbetween diver. I use a DIR BC (Halcyon) for most diving due to its very low profile and lots of room to move with the cameras etc.

I use some of the DIR pronciples (spare light, no handles on di=ump valve, weight belt, not integrated etc).

Mike...

 

[MHK]

LVX once bubbled...
Thanks MK. Question for you. If an instructor with another agency wanted to work with GUE how would they go about it. Would they have to start over with this new "beta" OW and then go up the ranks again?

How do you see this working.

thanks

LVX

That is a really difficult question to answer on a internet forum and I "hope" that I can answer the question effectively without dispariging other agencies as that is not my intention. However, that being said it is important to realize that GUE was started to specifically change the direction of the industry. Accordingly, in doing a cross-over it is very important to understand from the outset that we have no desire to be the largest, in fact we prefer to remain a niche agency. What that means is much of what is promulgated within the industry in terms of relaxed skill based preformance, relaxed gear choices, relaxed fitness requirements will not be accepted. The idea is to remian true to the spirit and intention of changing the direction and focusing less on market share and more on quality..

The procedure will be much like it is now, as all GUE instructors are instructors from other agencies. The process is largely subjective in that I mean a cross over candidate will need to do an intern with one of the Training Directors, and solely at the discrestion of the TD will the candidate be invited to attend an ITC. At the ITC the candidate will need to do lectures and in-water skill evaluation. That evealuation will be video taped and critiqued by atleast two Training Directors and Jarrod Jablonski.. The candidate will need 2 TD's to sign off and then post ITC will need to co-teach with one of the Training director's 3 classes before getting let out on his own.. However, if the TD's feel that more interning is needed then GUE reserves the right to extend the process.. That is the process in place now for the upper level classes, will GUE modify that process on some level for the OW program??? I can't say for certain, but I doubt it as the intention is not to have every Tom, Dick and Harry doing crossover's.. We're not looking to cross over the masses, we are looking for instructors that share our belief's and are commited to staying true to the core tennents of DIR, the TD's do a good job of weeding those out that just want the GUE card as a marketing tool to get customer's in the door, but then teach something other then GUE..

It's a challenge but JJ, Andrew and David are pretty skilled at weeding that kind of stuff out.. It's not an easy road and I suspect that JJ is very cognizant that as we continue to grow in popularity that the challenge to stay true to core beliefs will only get greater, it will not disipate..

Hopefully that answers the question..

Later

 

[fins wake]

This is one heck of a skewed question. I promised myself never to be involved in an official "DIR" issue on a U.S. board, but really, what sort of a poll is this?

You're either PADI/NAUI/SSI or you're DIR? Or in-between? Huh?

PADI is still, in the main, a great recreational agency (despite the excellent DSAT TecDeep course), NAUI has superb recreational training and excellent tec courses, whereas the only DIR agency, GUE, has no recreational introductory scuba training at all (as yet ...) but some very interesting cave classes and some pretty nifty OW tech classes.

This is another thread where technical diving is equated with DIR and GUE. Nothing wrong with GUE:s training per se from an OC viewpoint, but there are other technical diving agencies out there. Ever heard of TDI or IANTD? NAUITEC? DSAT's technical division? ANDI?

Am I DIR?

Well, I use Halcyon gear, JetFins, a long-hose and all the superficial trappings when diving OC. I don't smoke, I don't approve of solo diving or deep air and I detest incompetent and lazy instructors, particularly the ones who find their teaching certificates in a corn flakes package at breakfast.

On the other hand, my mindset is way too PP to make me a true DIR diver. Whatsmore, my RB commitment automatically disqualifies me. And I find the St George act (red neck antics, profanities, obscenities & all) wearing pretty thin ...

So then I'm just another recreational warm-water diver with an '80 on my back? (Not that there is anything wrong with that!)

Uh ... no. And there are many like me out there, I'm not exceptional in any way, shape or form. Quite unremarkable, actually.

Can I learn from the DIR mindset? Yup. Will I accept everything from Saint George and his choir as gospel? Nope.

At the end of the day, who cares? We're all divers, and presumably we all want to dive as safely and for as long as we can. What works for you, might not work for me, and vice versa. That doesn't make me right and you wrong, and vice versa again. That said, I do believe GUE has shaken up the technical community quite a bit and it does need shaking up, getting its standards adhered to etc.

But for the purpose of this poll, I've not voted at all. It would be like voting in a "do-you-still-beat-your-wife-poll, yes-or-no-only?". Which for somebody who has never beaten any female at all seems a very skewed question ...

 

[MHK]

cornfed once bubbled...


Mike -- How will the OW program fit in with Fundamentals? Will GUE OW satisfy the DIR-F requirement for Tech1 or Cave1? Or will GUE OW students also need to take DIR-F before moving on?

Drew

Drew,

In all honesty, I'm not sure.. Many issues such as you describe are still unsettled and as I suspect we won't release the OW program for a year or so. the BOD I'm confident will resolve all these issues in due course.. We just released the Triox program, we'll have one more program coming out before the OW program and we only have approximately 40 instructors and JJ will not release a program until we have the infastructure in place to fully support a proper release of a program.. Short of speculating, I'm not sure how else to answer the questions..

BTW, the answer to your PM is yes, but don't tell anyone ;-)

Later

 

[WaterDawg]

Knavey once bubbled...
My ONLY exposure to DIR has been on this board. I would like to repeat that for everyone...MY ONLY EXPOSURE TO DIR HAS BEEN ON THIS BOARD.

Sorry dude,

I was introduced to it by an awsome DIR diver, If this board was my only exposure to DIR Im not sure how I would feel about it. You kinda have to see it to belive it. Plus some "DIR" people here can sometimes be overbearing.

As for my self, I have "the" gear properly set up, but I lack the skills (I've been working on 'em) This winter I hope t take a DIR-F class, but until I master the skills (wich I hope to do after many months of practice after the class) I would not consider telling anyone Im DIR. Like many people have said gear is just a part of it.

 

[cornfed]

WaterDawg once bubbled...

Plus some "DIR" people here can sometimes be overbearing.

Try rec.scuba. They are much friendlier there.

 

[WaterDawg]

fins wake once bubbled...

At the end of the day, who cares? We're all divers, and presumably we all want to dive as safely and for as long as we can. What works for you, might not work for me, and vice versa. That doesn't make me right and you wrong, and vice versa again.

AMEN. I personally like the DIR concept, and tell anyone w/ an open mind or willing to learn about it. But there are many divers out there who have not even heard of DIR and have been diving safely for yrs, maybe decades! IMHO I think DIR is the best way to dive (that I know of) but its not the only way, and if I someday found something I liked that wasent considered DIR I would research it and add it to my inventory, no matter what Others say. DIR is always trying to find a better way of doing things, but you cant do that by staying the same (not saying you should change just for the sake of changing).

Like Bruce Lee Said in the "Tao of JKD": ABSORB WHAT IS USEFULL.

 

[esperanza]

fins wake,

yours was one of the better posts on this board.

bra talat =)

- e