What is Hogarthian Divng?

[ehuber]

Sorry... didn't see an FAQ here... what is Hogarthian Diving?

 

[El Orans]

How to select divegear:

1. Don't bring what you don't need.
2. If you need it, bring two.

 

[karstdvr]

Hogarthian is a concept by Bill Main (his middle name is Hogarth). Bill's obsessions are streamlining and minimalism. Hogarthian philosophy has it's strength in that anybody can challange the system to develop a better system,I know Bill well enough that he'd appreciate anybody coming up with an innovation. Many people compare DIR to Hogarthian. Even though Hogarthian was around first,and adopted by JJ,DIR encompasses other attributes besides gear and configurations. I think one of the strengths of Hogarthian vs DIR is the ability of everyone to improve upon the process;in DIR the system is only modified by a select few. I see frequently the Hogarthian philosophy on this forum is thought of as adopting a BP/W to your diving,but a normal BC can still made to be streamlined with minimalism.

 

[texdiveguy]

Hogarthian is a concept by Bill Main (his middle name is Hogarth). Bill's obsessions are streamlining and minimalism. Hogarthian philosophy has it's strength in that anybody can challange the system to develop a better system,I know Bill well enough that he'd appreciate anybody coming up with an innovation. Many people compare DIR to Hogarthian. Even though Hogarthian was around first,and adopted by JJ,DIR encompasses other attributes besides gear and configurations. I think one of the strengths of Hogarthian vs DIR is the ability of everyone to improve upon the process;in DIR the system is only modified by a select few. I see frequently the Hogarthian philosophy on this forum is thought of as adopting a BP/W to your diving,but a normal BC can still made to be streamlined with minimalism.

Thanks for the brief description of the 'H' system.

I have a question,,,,for all those within the technical diving community that don't fully prescibe to either of these two systems....were do they fall in terms of a labeled diving format?

 

[Doubles]

Recreational (sorry couldnt resist the tempation at humor)

Seriously, I see your question relates to some technical diving discipline. Given that, I do not believe that there is a "label". Not that a label is needed. I adopted the hogarthian philosophy, but you will find my rig a hybrid. As I understand it, the philosophy does not require any strict adherence to a specific rule set. That it encourages improvements or differences based upon the individual. So while you may not consider yourself to be a Hog diver, you may in fact be unintentionally diving that path.

You have asked a rather interesting question, one which I look forward to seeing others answer

Cheers

 

[Quarrior]

I dive Hog. My rig wouldn't qualify as DIR for several reasons. However, the rig I have setup works great for me and that is all I care about.

Anytime I am diving with a new buddy I give them a full briefing on what is where. The main thing I make sure they understand is that in an OOA situation, they get the reg in my mouth. In fact, if they are willing to do so, we will do a couple of OOA drills on our first dive together.

Usually, after experiencing how things are with the long hose, my new buddies switch over to the long hose too, not to shortly after they get home.

As described before, Hog is whatever works for and keeps you safe. If there is something you are not sure about, just ask someone on this board, like you did here. You can also get a good mentor as I did and learn a heck of a lot.

 

[texdiveguy]

Thanks fellows for 2 good replies to my 'sub' question.

 

[Cave Diver]

Here is an excerpt regarding Hogarthian from the DIR article I wrote a while back.

Perhaps the most widely known and most often discusses aspect of DIR is the equipment. The equipment is based on a Hogarthian setup. This set up, although popularized by GUE, has been around for many years before they ever came into existence. The Hogarthian setup is named after William Hogarth Main. Bill was always working on his gear configuration, trying to find an optimal setup for convenience, reliability and streamlining. It involves diving with only what you need, and placing your gear in the same place every time, no matter what type of diving you are doing. This facilitates responses in an emergency as a diver will always know exactly where not only their gear is, but where the gear of their buddy is as well. Consistency is the key here. The minimalist approach with optimal placement and function is at the heart of the DIR equipment configuration.

You can find the article in it's entirety here: What is DIR?

 

[ehuber]

Thank you! I really enjoy intelligent, thoughtful answers like these...

So, if I followed this correctly, Hogarthian principles are inherently a part of DIR fundamentals, but perhaps a bit more streamlined and simplified for habitual response in emergency situations... or are there some parts of Hog principles that are fundamentally contrary to DIR?

It sounds like if there is contradiction, it would be in rec vs tech diving...

 

[grazie42]

To me, there is a difference in the "focus" of optimization...

Hogarthian tries to optimize for each dive while DIR has looked at "the whole spectrum" of dives and tried to optimize for that...

Hogartian need not necessarily be DIR and DIR need not necessarily be Hogarthian...

ymmv