Super secret DIR equipment? Post your stories (all in good fun)

[FireInMyBones]

I have been called disciple at my LDS until on a charter a few legit DIR guys show up on the boat yeasterday. The air was 35*F, we were going to 185ft with H2O temp @ 48*F, I was breathing air with a deco bottle of 100% and I was wearing a wetsuit. The DIR guys just looked at me in their nice DUI suits and with 21/35 (only going to 150ft) on their backs with this look of "you're not serious" on their faces.
Ended up a great dive and the DIR guys were great in the water, but my LDS operator had to stand back and think about my set up. I dive what works, and what I can afford (thus not having a drysuit yet or breathing Trimix).
But the look on those two with more training than I have, was priceless.
BAck on the boat my group leader, just to be a joker lit up a cigarette.

 

[StreetDoctor]

Long hose / short knife. I bet he was really confused!

now THAT is funny!

 

[Ben_ca]

Oh great....another DIR bashing thread.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Oh great....another DIR bashing thread.

Not really, Ben ... just some silliness. Lots of people see a long hose or a backplate and automatically think you must be DIR. I had a guy talking to me one day while I was getting ready for a dive who said "I thought you DIR guys didn't solo dive" ... figuring it wasn't my job to correct his assumptions, I said "We don't" ... then walked down to the water and went diving ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Brewski]

Sorry guys, I know you're just trying to have fun, but I'm really not getting a good vibe out of this thread. I don't think this a good public image for DIR to be associated with. Just IMHO.

Oh great....another DIR bashing thread.

Come on guys lighten up. Just because your DIR doesn't mean you can't have fun too.

 

[Crush]

(The same fellow said, "You have hundreds of dives, and you don't dive with a pony bottle yet?")

OK, TSandM - I will bite and reveal my ignorance of DIR diving. I thought you always wore doubles? If you were wearing doubles (with a manifold), AND it was suggested that you needed a pony, THAT would be funny. Were you only diving a single? If so, it that DIR-allowed? Also, is it preferable to dive a single only and not endure the disgrace of a pony bottle?

Cheers

 

[StreetDoctor]

Come on guys lighten up. Just because your DIR doesn't mean you can't have fun too.

Thank you! Fun must come before DIR lol

To the above poster, single tank diving is perfectly acceptable, no pony tank necessary.

 

[Crush]

I dive what works, and what I can afford (thus not having a drysuit yet or breathing Trimix).

:applause:

I really like your post. A year ago I received the BBC series Blue Planet for Christmas (for those of you who have not seen it, you really have to). The extras disk was face-time with the divers who until then were invisible in the footage. These guys had thousands of dives under their belts. Clearly these folks were excellent divers, so I paid special attention to what kind of gear they were wearing. Some wore rebreathers, some wore tanks. Some had split fins, some did not. In fact, it looked as though the lot had descended upon a small LDS and emptied them of all their gear, forming a melange of sorts.

I have no doubt that some gear is superior to other gear in a given situation. The take-home message for me, however, was that a truly excellent diver can execute the dive, regardless of what kind of gear they wear. Gear-worship is a bit over-rated for me...

 

[StreetDoctor]

Not necessarily a DIR funny but the look on someone's face is priceless when they realize they've shutdown both valves during a valve drill. Being called a "dur" diver is also pretty common around here.

 

[Jayde323]

My husband and I and another couple went down to the Keys in October for a weekend of diving. The charter we were diving with puts DM in the water for guided dives, but we decided to set out on our own. We had done 2 dives in the morning and just finished our first dive of the afternoon. The boat was just getting to the second dive site and the DM's were getting their groups together. We decided to wait to get into the water until after the 2 guided groups had. I was sitting at the back of the boat by myself enjoying a bit of quiet time (hubby and friends were set up at the front of the boat) when one of the DM interns comes up to me demanding I get ready. I explained my group was waiting until the guided dive groups had gotten the water and she said "I will help you get in your gear and then you wait here until I come get you!". Remembering when I first started my DM training, I was not going to argue with her. I slip into my BP/W and reached back to turn my air on. The DM pushes my hand away and turns the air on...fine...I'm not going to argue. She is just doing what she was trained to do. As I am putting my octo around my neck she grabs my primary. Her eyes get big and says "Is the hose supposed to be like this?!?". I told her yes, it is a 7 foot hose, typical for a DIR set-up. "DI-what?" Rather than try to explain, I tell her its my "tech" diving rig. With that, she hands me my primary and walks away without saying another word to me.