Doing it Ridiculous

[radinator]

[writing about divers using doubles for an 80' dive]
Is that sort of gear really needed for that dive?

Why not? Perhaps they have nitrox and want to extend their bottom time past where a single tank will take them. Who are you to tell them what's needed for their dive?

In the DIR-F class, you learn some good reasons to use doubles for a 100' dive, having to do with rock bottom, usable gas, and the like. I could see the same reasoning apply to 80', and though the reason gets a bit less compelling, it doesn't disappear altogether.

I've taken doubles on a dive where I never got below 30', just to practice trim, buoyancy and valve drills. Were the tanks needed to go to 30'? You might say no, but my practice would have been pointless without them, so I say they were needed.

I also know a lot of non-DIR divers who use doubles for non-penetration 80-100' wreck dives, sometimes for the same reasons the DIR divers do.

 

[rmannix]

I have no problem with their equipment choices, though it seems many are getting only whatever DIR dictates rather than what really suits them.
I have no problem with anyone using the same gear shallow or deep, especially if you need to train or familiarize yourself with it. I've had problems in the past with people using marginal or inadequate equipment for conditions which DIR divers aren't about to do.

I DO have a problem with the title, "Doing It Right" implies to me that non-DIR must be wrong and is probably the biggest source of animosity. With 33 years of accident-free diving I really don't care to be referred to as a "stroke" by anyone.
Never cared for the term "technical" diving either.

 

[fishnchips]

Don’t be upset when meet people who Donno It’s Ridiculous, sympathize them. And stay far away from them. As the saying, he who knows he doesn’t know, help him. He who doesn’t know he doesn’t know is a fool, stay away from him.

Just watch the video in this link and you will see why. They teach student deploying lift bag underneath the diver.
http://www.divetekadventures.com/Videos/VideoShotBag.htm

Have you ever seen an out of control diver being dragged to surface on a 7' hose by a panic diver? Witnessed the incident couple yrs back in Florida keys on a same boat with a group of heavily equipped divers who told me my gear set up not only endangering myself but also others on the boat. They either mentioned deer, or dirt or dumb or something in that nature over the engine noise. The hose was too long for the diver to regain control of the panic diver who decided to shoot to the surface while sucking on the rec on the other end of the long hose. I never heard of DIR then and was wondering why people would be so stupid to use such a long hose…. We were not cave diving….

If I go back to my old profession as dive guide and encounter any group who identify themselves as DIR or GUE, before I lead the dive, I would definitelly request every single one of them doing a check out dive to make sure they at least know the basic diving skills and some common knowledge about dive safety.

Throughout my dive career, I’ve led many newbies in Calif. cold water and warm water in Caribbean and Pacific. Some of them even need hand holding and that was fine with me. But I would not dive with people who don’t know they don’t know, led by false assumption that what they learned is always right, and then do stupid things underwater (i.e. deploying lift bag underneath a diver). In my opinion, the safety standard trained by this group is just way too low for me to accept and I would never want to risk my life diving anywhere near those divers.

 

[radinator]

Stroke is an insulting term which is widely used despite the protestations from reasonable Stokes.

The only time I ever hear the term used is by non-DIR divers complaining about DIR divers...I've never heard a DIR diver use it.

Oops, wait. There was once I heard it. It was used as a satire of the 'DIR diver', in the same way someone might affect a hillbilly accent to make fun of those 'city slickers'. But the joke there was on the DIR diver stereotype, not on anyone else.

The anti-DIR crowd gets lots of milage out of the word, though, and they seem to use it the most.

 

[WaterDawg]

If I go back to my old profession as dive guide and encounter any group who identify themselves as DIR or GUE, before I lead the dive, I would definitelly request every single one of them doing a check out dive to make sure they at least know the basic diving skills and some common knowledge about dive safety.

In my opinion, the safety standard trained by this group is just way too low for me to accept and I would never want to risk my life diving anywhere near those divers.

Good for you! Dont they know that cave skills can get you killed in o/w!

 

[TheRedHead]

Oops, wait. There was once I heard it. It was used as a satire of the 'DIR diver', in the same way someone might affect a hillbilly accent to make fun of those 'city slickers'. But the joke there was on the DIR diver stereotype, not on anyone else.

The anti-DIR crowd gets lots of milage out of the word, though, and they seem to use it the most.

What about "stroke mix" or "stroke gear?" Lots of GUE divers blog and they talk about strokes, stroke mix and stroke gear. This forum is PC enough to discourage it, but if one reads widely about diving on the net, you'll find it pretty common. I have never encountered a GUE diver, and I don't have any opinions about what they might or might not say. I have enountered plenty of writing by GUE divers.

 

[Nemrod]

"Good for you! Dont they know that cave skills can get you killed in o/w!"

Well, apparently they can if your drug to the surface by an OOA diver by your 7 foot hose atop a lift bag deployed incorrectly. Cave skills are out of place in OW. Ever seen Napoleon Dynamite? He got skills too, they just did not apply very well to reality. N

 

[boomx5]

Just watch the video in this link and you will see why. They teach student deploying lift bag underneath the diver.

Nice try, but you still have no clue.

 

[MikeFerrara]

Mike: In my original post I mentioned that I beleive GUE/DIR has much merit. I was simply being critical of the high school like attitudes of these particular divers who were having a running commentary regarding other divers who were gearing up. They never insulted me in any way. I had finished diving and was having lunch nearby. What I have learned from this thread, and should have realized previously, is that diving and practicing in the gear configurations they intended to use for more extreme diving makes total sense. I also will add that after I asked one fellow how many dives he had and he told me over 50, I then asked how long he had been diving and he said one year. So, that is a good thing 50 dives in one year, out diving mid week with a buddy, and practicing skills. I will not hit 50 dives in '05; so another thing I've learned from this thread is just to shut up and go get wet.

No arguement here. If they think they have a better way and are concerned with what other divers are doing they might try to set an example or help in some other way. Poking fun is for one's own entertainment at some one elses expense and it's just unpleasant to be around.

 

[MikeFerrara]

With all the posts here insulting recreational divers' gear choices via the point system, how can one not believe that DIR divers are jerks? DIR divers are a very tiny minority of the diving population, yet the signal to noise ratio is so large that they need protection from flaming.

Well, I had some fun with the point system in this thread and I might be a jerk sometimes but I am not DIR so whatever I do should have nothing to do with how you feel about those who are.