Gear required for Dirf

[Grajan]

"In the end you're right, there are other "less 'gear fixated'" courses and your time would be better spent seeking them out then making (what I feel) are unfounded criticisms of this course."

I agree by the way.

 

[SeaJay]

Grajan once bubbled...
...there are other "less 'gear fixated'" courses and your time would be better spent seeking them out then making (what I feel) are unfounded criticisms of this course."

I found in my DIR-F course that they couldn't have cared less what sort of gear I dove with. In my course, I dove a borrowed plastic bp with a Halcyon 27 lb. wing, a wetsuit and a single AL80. I rented my regs - I think they were the baseline Aqualungs.

At the end of the course, I traded some rental gear and instead dove a Scubapro Glide BC and used a weight belt. This was a jacket-style BC.

The entire time I used my Mares Avanti Quattros... I was mildly successful with a backwards kick, too.

Yes, we did go over gear... And I found out why they prefer a bp/wings to the gear I was diving. I challenged them time after time with questions, and got real answers. By the end of the weekend, I envied those who dove with Jet fins. If this doesn't make sense to you, that's okay... It wouldn't have made sense to me either unless I'd taken the course.

The bottom line is that I learned a lot, and took with me a whole slew of new skills. It was a very positive experience.

I recommend the course highly... But I completely disagree with the idea that GUE (and thus DIR) is "gear fixated."

Sorry, man... They simply weren't pushing any sort of gear whatsoever. Instead they were pushing skills... Which was awesome. I learned a lot.

I can understand how DIR-F would be less than attractive... It was definitely the hardest class for me to date. Nonetheless, it was also my most valuable, and I would recommend it - with or without the "right gear."

I had no canister light, and no long hose. I took the course anyway... They never even hiccupped.

My recommendation would be to show some interest in the course - that is, if you have any interest whatsoever - and ask the instructor if it's okay to show up with what you already own. I think the answer would surprise you.

On the other hand, if you're that willing to give up on the course anyway, then perhaps it isn't for you.

Nobody said that everyone had to get *that serious* about diving, anyway.

 

[cornfed]

Grajan once bubbled...
"In the end you're right, there are other "less 'gear fixated'" courses and your time would be better spent seeking them out then making (what I feel) are unfounded criticisms of this course."

Right, but that still doesn't mean what you said it does.

Cornfed

 

[Big-t-2538]

BigJetDriver69 once bubbled...

I would have to disagree with the statement that their passion for the sport is "un-paralelled" because, by strict definition that means that no one else in the diving world reaches their level of passion for the sport. After over thirty years of diving, and about half of that spent teaching, I would have to respectfully disagree. There are other agencies whose instructors "hold Ph.D.'s in diving" and who are extremely passionate about the sport.

O.K...point well taken...in my limited expericence of diving compared to yours (4 years) I haven't met someone (yet) with that amount of experience combined with the passion they had.

The instructors I work with on a regular basis have a passion for diving that is very very high....they just don't have the experience and diving knowledge that the GUE instructors I met have. None of them (the instructors I work with) have ever done decompression or cave dives, or know how to do helicopter turns and back-up kicks. These are all things that I learned and hopefully can broaden the base of knowledge & skills we show our students in BOW.

The beauty of holding a PH.D is that virtually every one of them knows that it is a license to continue to learn, research, evaluate, and test...at least the good ones realize that. There are certainly other instructors out there that fall into this category.

 

[bradyr]

my wife and I just competed the DIR-F class two weeks ago. I highly recommend it, as was stated earlier, the reviews of the video of your performance was well worth the time.

My wife and my normal dive equipement is not DIR spec. I dive a SQ Balance and she dives a SQ Libra. Although I diving in the puget sound, I don't dive a drysuit, we're both still diving a 7mm wet suit. I dive a cobra AI computer instead of a brass SPG. We do have long hoses on our Mares M16 Axis regs and since our OW instructor was a DIR diver, we were actually taught from the very begining some DIR concepts like donating the reg in our mouth.

My instructor required that we dive a BP/Wings and set us up with a rental halcyon. It was a bit of a hassle, and we were actually not looking forward to that part at all.

Since the class I won't say I've become a BP/Wings convert. (some of that has to do with cost, as I can't see spending more money to replace my almost new gear already) But I do completly understand why it was better for all of us in the class to be diving the recommended DIR configuration for the class. And I did come away with a great respect for this configuration. If I was buying equipment again, I would seriously consider a BP/Wings.

The purpose of the DIR-F class is to familarize you with the concepts of DIR and one of those concepts is the gear configuration. It's much easier to teach and for us to understand why DIR recommends a particular config if we try it.

Having said that, my instructor isn't trying to force me to change. If I ask her opinion on how I should do something, she believes in DIR and would clearly recommend that I do it that way. And she explains to me why.

However, she isn't refusing to be my dive buddy or telling me I'm doing it wrong because I don't have all my gear up to speed. The impression I got was that as an instructor she wanted me to understand why I would have more trouble with some aspect of diving with my current gear configuration.

For example, even though we dove with BP/Wings, we used our regs. since my computer/depth gauge was on my hose instead of my arm, I had one more thing to worry about doing the controlled asent/desent drills than those who had it on their arm. Mine worked and I'm not going to throw mine out, but I do see how much easier it was to causually glance at my right wrist while venting my BC with my right hand then it was to have to unclip my computer on the left side, pull it over to my right hand, etc. Next time I need a computer, I'll be getting a wrist model.

I do understand why many who read the DIR books think it's a fundementalist cult. But they really aren't (although some DIR divers may very well take things to the extreme) The purpose of the class is to explain why DIR wants things done a certain way.

You can choose not to follow it, you can believe everything they say isn't necessary, but they do have very well though out reasons for what they teach. They aren't just silly rules.

but having said that, DIR won't excommunicate you if your equipment configuration isn't fully DIR. They just feel there configuration is better.

Bradyr

 

[SeaJay]

Bravo, Bradr!

As has been said in the past, DIR seems to most to be more of a journey than a destination.

When you see one of the instructors employ all of the equipment, skills, techniques, and recommendations, it's easy to see how good diving can be.

Getting to that point is where most of us "DIR types" really are.

Welcome to the "cult." Lol...

As I've said before to anyone I dive with... Dive what you like best... Then I do my best to be on my best behavior and watch them. If they have a skill I haven't seen before, then I ask questions and try their techniques... And I offer the same in return.

Heck, I've only been to one DIR-F course, which I felt I did horrible in. But I have to (painfully) admit that it was quite an eye-opener, and my diving has progressed significantly because of it.

Nice post.