What does DIR mean?

[DBailey]

I was at a popular inland diving site a few weeks ago and was witness to a GUE/DIR fundamentals course being taught. Everyone looked miserable being berated by the instructor. I have to say I had thought about it before but was put off by the little fascist running the course. Probably just the instructor, I know, but it all seemed a bit humourless to be frank.

That said, read the manual and found it interesting, genuinely thought provoking and not as rabid as you'd have thought.

I have been around when courses were being taught as well. I didn't view it as being berated, but being humbled. I don't think enough people take the course as serious as they should.

 

[BDSC]

Similarly, I've always thought that if I go out for a sunday drive, push my car to its limits after having removed the airbags and seatbelts for "weight" issues, enjoy myself and arrive home safely, I must be "Doing It Right."

Stupid, argumentitive analogy, I know. But it serves the purpose. Safety isn't necessarily best measured by result (i.e. after the fact).

You lost me on all of that.

 

[JeffG]

I have been around when courses were being taught as well. I didn't view it as being berated, but being humbled. I don't think enough people take the course as serious as they should.

Its an instructor/student thing.

People deal with instructors differently...GUE or not.

A lot of people didn't like AG, but I got along with him.

 

[Thalassamania]

DA, with all due respect . . . The DIR forum was created as a place where people could come and ask questions about the DIR system, without getting beat up about WHY they were interested (as can and does happen in the open forums on just about any board). The rules of the forum specifically state that it is a place to get DIR answers. Uncle Pug, who I believe was instrumental in creating the forum in the first place, kicked out even DIR-related threads, if they weren't specifically questions about the system, and in his day, non-DIR answers of any sort were simply deleted.

If you come into a forum where the rules say the answers are to be DIR, and you propose a solution which is not accepted in the system, you are quite likely to annoy the people who still see the forum as being supposed to follow the rules.

The system is a highly standardized one, because standardization brings some significant strengths to any system. But it is neither completely rigid nor fossilized, as the people who teach it are actively engaged in exploration and research diving, and they change things when they see something better. But I have found, in the three and a half years I've been diving this way, that many of the things I have chafed against have eventually proven, in everyday diving, to have good reasons behind them.

I have never understood the people who want to argue passionately for doing something some other way, in the DIR forum. The people there have generally chosen the system because standardization doesn't irritate them and they like the benefits it brings. People who don't like the standardization are free to make any changes in any area, be it gear, mixes or procedures, and dive as they please. It's not DIR, though, and shouldn't be proposed as a solution in the DIR forum.

But it gets pushed to the level of absurdity by some of the DIR forum members. I recall suggesting to you that glueing a small neoprene "nose block" might make "hands free" ear clearing easier

I must apologize, I thought most folks were familiar with this, but then I can see this may just be something that just the commercial and research divers know about. It's one of the first things that you master with most full face masks (esp. Band Masks) or Helmets.

There are equipment supported methods for those who can't not manage the, "use the force Luke" approach to ear clearing. Here are two: one is to wear a loose set of nose plugs. Gentle exhalation will go past, but more forceful exhalation will raise the pressure in the pharynx and equalize (you MUST stay well ahead of the need, even the slightest edema around the Eustachian tubes will prevent this.). Another approach (the one I use for those days that I can't "use the force") is to build up a neoprene nose block in the nose pocket of my mask, My nostrils are complete occluded by the block and if I exhale gently the air goes by, but if I exhale more forcefully (or push my nose, well the nose pocket of the mask) against anything (forearm, instrument housing, back of my hand, etc.) I can close off my nostrils and equalize. Again, stay ahead of the need, try and keep slight positive pressure in your pharynx all the way down.

and being roundly thrashed because that was not "DIR" and because I was suggesting an "equipment solution to your skill problem."

I can sorta clear my ears hands free, not reliably at least. But I would not put a peice of neoprene in my mask, having to remove my mask to deal with it if it were to come loose would be a pita. And would likely happen at a bad time knowing Murphy.

it's an interesting idea but it sounds decidedly out of place in a DIR thread to me... Nothing minimalist about it....

Since none of these are DIR I see no need for such solutions at least in this forum. However, some people can done it without any additional tool especialy when descending slowly.

Ok, listen guys I don't want to start anything here. I just think that sticking bits of neoprene up your nose before the dive doesn't sound like something the DIR masters are likely to see as a brilliant addition to the DIR portfolio.

That's not to say that it doesn't work or that there is no application for it....just that I don't think that the DIR superstars are going to get in line to buy it.

It was not until I emailed a "DIR superstar" who proclaimed it alright, that the rabid DIR claque backed off.

I can't see any problems with that modification. I sometimes use a similar technique because I let my mask slide up a bit so that the nose pocket is close to my nostrils and I can to some extent equalize the same way.

One has to remember that equalizing is different for different divers. Some can do it by just wiggling their jaws and some have to use a proper valsalva or other technique. With your modification one would just have added another way of doing it in addition to the rest - another tool in the toolbox so to speak.

To keep in mind though is that we in general strive for ambidextrous operation of our equipment, even if we have a default like light in the left hand and scooter in the right. A proficient diver should be capable of riding a scooter both left and right handed, be able to use left or right hand for operating the wing, holding the primary light, reels etc. As long as the mask "modification" is not used as an excuse to NOT develop these ambidextrous skills there are no problems. To use a favorite buzz word in the dir community we could say that we still need to be "thinking divers".

Feel free to post my response wherever you see fit.

In the interest of ideological purity I started a new thread in a different forum for that suggestion, but somehow that seemed incredibly inefficient.

 

[DBailey]

Similarly, I've always thought that if I go out for a sunday drive, push my car to its limits after having removed the airbags and seatbelts for "weight" issues, enjoy myself and arrive home safely, I must be "Doing It Right."

Stupid, argumentitive analogy, I know. But it serves the purpose. Safety isn't necessarily best measured by result (i.e. after the fact).

Intersting that you made the leap that BDSC pushes his dives to the limit or that he is diving without safety gear.

 

[Gombessa]

Intersting that you made the leap that BDSC pushes his dives to the limit or that he is diving without safety gear.

That's the point. He's refuting the logic, not the details.

 

[gcbryan]

But it gets pushed to the level of absurdity by some of the DIR forum members. I recall suggesting to you that glueing a small neoprene "nose block" might make "hands free" ear clearing easier and being roundly thrashed because that was not "DIR" and because I was sugesting an "equipment solution to your skill problem." It was not until a "GUE God" stepped and proclaimed it alright, that the rabid DIR claque sheepishly backed off.

That's just group mentality. It doesn't matter what the group is you will find incidents of that at times with any group. If I were to go to a forum for scientific divers and suggest that something they were doing was wrong most would jump on that post in a negative way without thinking and a few would address it on the merits. It's just human nature in a group setting.

 

[Blackwood]

You lost me on all of that.

My fault for trying to be clever.

I'll just state it outright: a lack of injury doesn't indicate that a dive was performed safely. If anything, it implies that nothing went wrong.

Every so often a thread pops up with something like "OMG I WAS ON VACATION AND THIS GUY WENT TO 170 FEET ON A SINGLE ALUMINUM 40 AND GOT NARKED OUT OF HIS MIND UNTIL THE DM PULLED HIM UP AND HE HAD TO FINISH HIS SAFETY STOPS ON MY OCTO! But he wasn't hurt."

"he wasn't hurt" is not the equivalent of "he dove safely."



Safety in diving has to do with preparedness for when things DO go wrong. It's measured during a dive, not after.

Take OOG scenarios. Maybe you never run OOG, but what if you you do? Diving with the theory that you'll never run out of gas may lead to a lifetime of injury free dives. But it's unsafe unless you have a way to get to the surface in the unlikely event you DO run out of gas. (I'm not going to suggest one method or another)

 

[Cave Bum]

DIR = Divers Ignoring Reality

Stroke Alert

STROKE!

I revel, nay, I glory in the term STROKE! Apply George Irvine's (negative) term to me any day. To be sure, per George, any one who doesn't dive his way doesn't know how to dive. I'm proud to have my name listed amongst those who cave dive with procedures and gear configuration other then those espoused by DIR.

Although I think you'd be safe to say Bill Main is diving Hogarthian I don't think you'll see his name on a list of recent DIR converts... nor Wes Skiles... nor Woody Jasper... nor Lamar Hires... nor Jill Heinerth... (and on and on and on and on).

And, no, I'm not saying I'm in that league, I'm definitely not! But if we're looking for role models, those are mine.

I have the greatest respect for JJ (including for his recent push at Wakulla but) mostly because he's an authentic marketing genius! I just wish I had figured a way to make the hordes of recreational cave diving converts spend $100 per dive on Gueyy Trimix for a hundred foot deep dive at Ginnie, not to mention all the associated classes to be certified to dive mix! (Although they use to sneak down the street to the fill station I was working at and get it for $65. But, of course, they'd park around back where nobody would see their car).

And least you think I'm disrespecting the illustrious holder of the Wakulla permit, George Irvine, out of some misguided ire due to his accomplishments, please read the attached link for insight into this DIR originator and practitioner.

Fear & Loathing On The Internet

This is NOT a one-size-fits-all world and one set of procedures and one gear configuration will not serve all divers in all forms of diving.

DW Squared: Doing What Works

That's my opinion. You're welcome to your opinion. You'll notice above I haven't said anything negative about the procedures DIR practitioners use. I've simply said there are other worthy procedures and gear configurations out there. I can only wish the Gueyy folks were so tolerant of others.

Be safe and have fun in the water! Bruce

 

[John_B]

I was at a popular inland diving site a few weeks ago and was witness to a GUE/DIR fundamentals course being taught. Everyone looked miserable being berated by the instructor. I have to say I had thought about it before but was put off by the little fascist running the course. Probably just the instructor, I know, but it all seemed a bit humourless to be frank.

I wonder how the actual students would see this. Given that the course in question is specifically taken to improve skills. I can only imagine how I must've looked after, for instance, completely screwing up an ascent drill. People take DIR classes to learn, first and foremost.

I also wonder how the instructor would feel about your personal attack: "little fascist"... (TOS be damned, I guess.) There are not that many GUE instructors in that part of the world. Maybe I can find him elsewhere, perhaps on DIRExplorers, and ask for his take on all this?