DIR to go Sidemount?

[LakeCountyDiver]

I went back 4 pages and did not see this questioned asked so here goes.

Is DIR/GUE ever going to try to stake a claim in Sidemount??? I have read the requirements of gear for your BM diving and I can't honestly say I agree with it but who cares right...

With ALL the different configurations in SM I think I would find it amusing to say the least to see what a DIR approved SM configuration would look like.

I am sorry if I am not gung-ho DIR but I have heard and read too many stories about divers being made fun of and called wanabes because of something as simple as they didn't have a Halcyon harness, added an extra D-ring, used the wrong kind of light, and I can go on and on and on and on but I wont. I just dont think it is right to pick on another diver because he chooses a different configuration but has some things DIR's use.

 

[ucfdiver]

I went back 4 pages and did not see this questioned asked so here goes.

Is DIR/GUE ever going to try to stake a claim in Sidemount??? I have read the requirements of gear for your BM diving and I can't honestly say I agree with it but who cares right...

With ALL the different configurations in SM I think I would find it amusing to say the least to see what a DIR approved SM configuration would look like.

I am sorry if I am not gung-ho DIR but I have heard and read too many stories about divers being made fun of and called wanabes because of something as simple as they didn't have a Halcyon harness, added an extra D-ring, used the wrong kind of light, and I can go on and on and on and on but I wont. I just dont think it is right to pick on another diver because he chooses a different configuration but has some things DIR's use.

Those who designed the DIR system and coined the phrase are tied up with various back mount friendly exploration projects and expeditions. There are some outside of this circle who are actively diving and promoting side mount configurations which have much more time, experience, and knowledge. Unlike UTD, GUE doesn't seem to be as money hungry and anxious to slap a DIR badge on untested gear configurations, so I doubt you'll be seeing it anytime soon.

That being said, I have dove with GUE Cave 2 divers in a side mount gear configuration using similar protocols as we'd use if we were to dive back mount together. It's not a complete system like DIR, so it doesn't work as well, but we do use it in mission specific diving. The OCDA guys are experimenting with side mount currently and I think making great progress with integrating team concepts with that gear configuration.

 

[JeffG]

Let me google that for you

 

[gsk3]

"I just dont think it is right to pick on another diver because he chooses a different configuration." Neither do most people here. So why come into the forum to start a fight? I'm not referring to whether GUE will ever adopt sidemount. I'm referring to the ridiculous attitude.

Sorry you got picked on. Here's the dirty little secret. There's a good chance they are not themselves "DIR"--whatever that means. Plenty of people dive the gear and talk the talk but have never actually received any training. Consequently they know about the gear but miss the larger point.

Go take a Fundies or Essentials class with an open mind and then come back and talk. I think you'll be surprised.

 

[stairman]

If your diving with a GUE team then you might want to comply with their choices. If your with your own non GUE team or solo for that matter, who cares about their snarls and comments. I dive what works for me and if they dont like my gear or me then so be it. Lots of chest pounders in this sport, some GUE some NSSCDS etc. If they get too smart you can always knock the crap outta one of em.

 

[rongoodman]

I dive a pretty stock GUE/DIR configuration in BM and have kept my side mount set-up as close as possible to that. I would be interested to hear what JJ and the other GUE guys have to say about what a sidemount system should look like.

 

[TSandM]

Is there a smilie for putting my face in my hands?

"DIR" is a poorly defined term. UTD, which at least BEGAN as a DIR agency, HAS a sidemount setup. I don't personally like it, but they have one, and it was designed to be compatible with their backmount and rebreather diver setups.

GUE does not have an approved sidemount configuration and does not teach sidemount diving. That doesn't mean that some GUE-trained divers haven't adopted sidemount for some of their dives -- it just means there is not a standardized configuration and protocol which is approved by GUE for this type of diving.

I sure wish you could have found it in yourself to have simply asked your question, without having to append what is really a bunch of nonsense. You have read stories of people being criticized or made fun of? Have you ever HEARD a GUE-trained diver doing that sort of thing? Has anyone ever done it to you?

I have been diving with GUE divers for six years, in places more or less all over the world. I have never heard anyone be rude or unpleasant to another, non-GUE diver. I have heard us complain and make snide comments about people who silt up dive sites. I'll plead guilty to that one! But the only time I have ever heard a diver come up to a stranger and begin criticizing her gear, it was a PADI diver who came up to explain very nicely to me that there were better fins nowadays than those heavy rubber ones I had, and I should try them. He then went on to tell me he was surprised that someone who dives as much as I do hadn't acquired a pony bottle yet. I smiled politely and thanked him, and went off to dive my incomplete and antiquated equipment

 

[mikemill]

Is there a smilie for putting my face in my hands?

 

[LakeCountyDiver]

Sorry you got picked on. Here's the dirty little secret. There's a good chance they are not themselves "DIR"--whatever that means. Plenty of people dive the gear and talk the talk but have never actually received any training. Consequently they know about the gear but miss the larger point.

Go take a Fundies or Essentials class with an open mind and then come back and talk. I think you'll be surprised.

O I never got picked on because of my gear if you read my post you would have picked up on that. I dont give a damn what people think about me and my setup but I really don't care to see other divers getting picked on because there choice of gear or placement of it.
I do not want to take a fundies class and have never had an interest to do so.

Is there a smilie for putting my face in my hands?

" You have read stories of people being criticized or made fun of? Have you ever HEARD a GUE-trained diver doing that sort of thing? Has anyone ever done it to you?

Yes I have "heard" divers do that sort of thing thats why I put "heard" in my original post. Were the GUE trained??? I don't know but they claimed to be real "DIR" divers and were not happy to be in the same water with divers that were not. I work with a lot of new divers some kids through adults and see a wide range of diver mentalities. Some want BP/W's others Jackets. I dont have a problem with there choices and from my experience the few that "DO" claim to be "DIR" divers. I dont knock the "DIR" approach because of a few a$$holes I dont like it because it does not suit MY style of diving, thats it.





This post was a question about if there was going to be a DIR approach to SM NOT about my particular views on the DIR approach. I put that in there to be clear on where I stand. As you can see I do not post in this forum because I am not a GUE/DIR diver but it was the right forum for my question.

 

[ucfdiver]

As you can see I do not post in this forum