Topics considered to be trolling in the DIR section

[lamont]

While the DIR section has been clearly labeled a non-trolling zone, what is missing is a definition of topics that are generally considered to be trolling. While people without knowledge of DIR may hear about trolling topics and post them, naively, with no intention to troll, the fact is that discussion of these topics simply isn't conducive to civility. These threads come up, typically about every 3 months, they are FAQs in the sense of being Frequently Argued Questions. There are many threads here, and other internet scuba forums that address these issues in detail. Anyone wanting information about these topics is encouraged to hit the search feature on this board, google and other resources. The answers are out there. If the answers are vague that's probably because there's no good answer and posting here will just generate another thread with hundreds of posts that doesn't produce any more signal-to-noise than the last thread.

1. Why do DIR divers were all black?

- They don't. You can wear pink wings, a yellow drysuit and orange drysuit gloves and nobody will take your card away, although you will have to answer to the fashion police, and probably find yourself some color-blind buddies.

2. Bungee wings.

- The predominant reason to not use bungee wings is auto-deflation if the wing has an issue. See the many, many threads on this issue for nuances and other arguments and counter-arguments.

3. DIR is insulting.

- GUE and Halcyon have both dropped the term. I'd love to have a better term, but "Unified Team Diving" was invented to address that problem and got gobbled up by a training agency. DIR remains the best term to use to describe both GUE and UTD oriented diving.

4. GI3 said lots of insulting things.

- He hasn't contributed anything for years, and the whole community has largely moved away from that.

5. I ran into a diver on a boat who insulted me and he looked DIR

- Not everyone with a long hose and an attitude is DIR/GUE/UTD. The equipment configuration got popular. NAUI-Tech is very nearly identical to the GUE equipment standard.

- It is also not going to win you any points to hold all divers certified by a given training agency responsible for the actions of a single other individual trained by that agency. You should talk to that diver and/or their instructor -- the DIR forum on scubaboard does not police the actions of DIR divers.

6. Why do DIR divers leave their second stages finger tight?

- They don't. That practice is out of date by at least 8 years (pre-2003).

7. Why do DIR divers shut down a post first instead of isolating if there's a gas loss problem.

- The best answer is to simply take Tech 1 or Cave 1.

- The short answer is that nearly all of the time the problem will be solved by shutting down the post and this will actually solve the gas loss problem. If the policy were to shut the isolator first then most of the time that would do nothing towards solving the actual problem. Only in very rare cases would an isolator actually need to be closed (most technical divers should never need to shut their isolator on a dive throughout their entire career). Time is probably better spent in changing and maintaining burst discs and preventing the need to shut an isolator, than worrying about this procedure.

- Again, there are at least a hundred threads by now on this topic on the internet.

This may seem restrictive, but it applies only to the DIR forum. Anyone is free to discuss any aspects of DIR they like in the Advanced Diving or Technical Diving forums or elsewhere. This forum is for an audience primarily of DIR divers and those interested in DIR diving.

It is not your right to be able to ask any question of DIR divers and demand answers no matter how it is phrased. We are not here for you. It may seem close minded, but we're generally not interested in the person who shows up with an attitude on their shoulder, demanding answers, having done none of the work to find out the answers for themselves. That is self-centered, and displays a poor general attitude towards team, and we are fundamentally team divers -- if you display no consideration of us, that attitude will simply be reciprocated.

Honest, naive questions asked by new divers are always *encouraged*, but this sticky is to advise those newer divers away from certain topics. Its also a better approach to couch your questions as questions, not as statements, like you are asking for help. I'm always willing to accept PMs and act as a filter and/or editor if there's any question about the appropriateness of of a post (I don't bite anywhere near as much in PMs, and I'd much rather get an inappropriate PM than an inappropriate Post).