virginia dir divers

I was wondering if there are any gue ,utd trained divers in the virginia area.I plan on taking gue fundies with bob sherwood next year at dutch and much later plan on persueing more advanced classes (dependant of course on my skill progression, don,t want to rush into anything to soon)but would like to dive with someone who dives dir to help me along the way as when i,m an experienced diver i will pay it forward.This is the the way i have thought all my life training should be,the more experienced teach the new .Now what i would like to know is this a common practice in the dir community or did alot of you train with a non dir mentor.I would like to say that i dont want anyone to think if they are diving non dir that i would not dive with them as long as safety and being a good buddie is important to them as a diver ,this is not the case as they and they alone decide how they dive.now obviously i,m not dir since i have no training in this aspect but it is a way of diving i wish to achieve through training and practice.would like to know your thoughts on the subject.

thanks,
Vince

There is a decently sized and growing community of fundies level + divers in Pa. I live in Maryland and hope to be GUE trained soon, as I am taking Fundies with Mr Sherwood in a month.

My Fundies classmates last month were all three from WV. Two of them dove at Mt. Storm. I'm not sure of geography here, so that might be too far to travel for you. They're great folks though.

And yes, mentoring in the DIR community is definitely alive and well, as best I can tell.

I don't know where you are in Virginia, but cmalinowski is in the DC area, and has indicated he's more than happy to dive with people interested in the DIR approach.

And yes, it's VERY common for people to dive with more experienced mentors. That's how I got my start in DIR. It's one of the things I really like about the community.

GFK,
I see you had bob sherwood as a instructor and i think he is the right choice considering all the good thing i have heard about him and he is some what close(4 or 5 hours drive). did you do essentials first or do fundies right away.I need to talk to bob about costs and dates ,but have not done so yet.one of my concerns is i had a couple of poeple tell me "that dir is an all jock club with a military mentallity and if you aren,t a certain height,weight and pro athlete condition no matter how well you dive you wont be part of the club or be allowed to pass".Now i find this hard to believe and do not know why they think this, maybe they failed a class or had a bad experience who knows.I did not want to carry on with the subject with them further so i just changed the subject. they seemed to have a problem with the mention of dir and did not speak to me again till that night and all was well.

Thanks for the info
Vince

zenheadhunter:

one of my concerns is i had a couple of poeple tell me "that dir is an all jock club with a military mentallity and if you aren,t a certain height,weight and pro athlete condition no matter how well you dive you wont be part of the club or be allowed to pass".

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I would suggest you talk to Bob, and then stop by dutch springs in Pa where he teaches and meet some of the graduates of fundies. They are the farthest thing from what you describe, but are in fact extremely nice, friendly, and amazingly capable divers. Of course, don't just take my word for it though, make up your own mind after you meet them.

Vince . . . ain't so. DIR divers come in all sizes, sexes, ages and attitudes. Some are techy wreck divers. Some are reef divers. Some are cave divers. Some are arthritic little old ladies, like me.

People have a lot of misconceptions of DIR. It's simply a highly standardized approach to diving, with a heavy emphasis on good skills and operating as a team. As our local shop owner put it (and I rarely quote him, but he was right this time), "DIR is just such a SIMPLE way to dive."

Bob is 100% worth taking the class with. As for taking GUE Primer first (Essentials is UTD, and sounds like it would be good prep too, but you'd have to fly somewhere or fly an instructor in as last I checked there were no East Coast instructors, and there's no reason to when you can just have Bob do Primer), here's what I had to say about it in my Fundies report:
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/dir/340216-fundies-report-dutch-springs-10-a.html#post5316608
"Taking Fundies with only 30 dives under my belt - Not an issue. If you've been diving the BP/W / longhose setup and have reasonable buoyancy (aka if popping to the surface is a rarity for you), then you should take the class, period. Don't wait, don't worry about practicing the specific skills (there really aren't that many), just do it."

Now, that's not to say that if you can arrange a Primer class before Fundies that you wouldn't benefit from it. But if you've got the basics of buoyancy down, you'll be fine taking Fundies, assuming you've dived the gear you'll be taking it in before and are comfortable in it (e.g. you shouldn't show up the first day with a BP/W when you've never dove one before, just in case you spend a day or two sorting out equipment issues you don't want those days to be valuable class time).

As for the military mentality, I haven't found that to be the case. The class does emphasize physical fitness as being good (reduces CO2 production, etc.), and there is a swim test (300m in 14 minutes), but I hardly fit the military archetype and it was not at all an issue. I know a few others of various different body shapes who have passed. Despite the reputation, the goal is not to fail people!

dr,

Thanks ,i never thought this was the case ,but not knowing any dir poeple i did not want to defend what i did not know yet.I have found in my experience that most divers are friendly, but people are people and some are not .I should have found out why they feel this way but at the time felt like it was pointless to ruin everyones good mood and the fun we all were having.Everyone on sb has been very helpful and i can,t begin to thank them enough and being a new diver, it is great to have a place i can c come to and ask questions and get advice and just talk to poeple that love diving.It has made my dive experience that much better

Thanks,
Vince

zenheadhunter:

dr,

Thanks ,i never thought this was the case ,but not knowing any dir poeple i did not want to defend what i did not know yet.I have found in my experience that most divers are friendly, but people are people and some are not .I should have found out why they feel this way but at the time felt like it was pointless to ruin everyones good mood and the fun we all were having.Everyone on sb has been very helpful and i can,t begin to thank them enough and being a new diver, it is great to have a place i can c come to and ask questions and get advice and just talk to poeple that love diving.It has made my dive experience that much better

Thanks,
Vince

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I have personally received a lot of gruff from many divers whenever I mention DIR (which i rarely do now, because I dont want the attitude). It ranges from disgust, ventures through a serious talking to about how DIRE "isn't really that good," all the way to LDSs and other divers immediately treating me like the plague and responding to questions with "since you like DIR, dont you know that already." I usually dont, because I am new and trying to learn myself. Its unfortunate, and stems from an insecurity I think many divers have. I've never fully understood it though, because there are many great divers diving that aren't "DIR."

All the "DIR" divers i have met have been super nice, helpful, and willing to go WAY out of their way to help me learn and get better underwater. I am not super fit, muscular, or the brainiest guy around, but I always feel like I am with family when I am around other "DIR" divers. I am glad you are keeping an open mind, and not letting a few bad words color your opinion.

In the meantime you might want to check out GUE and read everything you can there. You might really enjoy the book "Fundamentals of Better Diving," which describes the philosophy of GUE and the "DIR" dive method. You can also read the standards to get an idea of what is expected of you and the gear configuration area will give you and look to what you will want to start to acquire.

Good luck, and dont hesitate to ask questions or be discouraged by the less-than-friendly types out there.