I tasted the Kool Aide and it didnt agree with me

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lamont:
huh?

it has nothing to do with the presence of a computer or not.

if you take two divers on the same dive and give one diver 20 minutes of O2 at 20 feet and another diver 20 minutes of O2 at 18 feet, I betcha the differential risk of DCS isn't statistically significant...

i can also speak from experience that i've gesticulated wildly to tech2/cave1 trained divers who popped O2 regs in their mouths at 27 fsw, and those divers didn't instantly tox... if everything goes completely to **** with manifolds exploding and masks being ripped off and long hoses being deployed and the whole team drops from 20 feet down to 25 feet on O2 they're still not going to die unless they sit down there all day after the emergency is over, and that's a 5 foot window...

i think a better gauge of a diver's fitness to technical dive would not be how perfect their buoyancy window is under the maximum amount of stress, but if they have the awareness to spit an O2 reg out and go back onto backgas if they're chasing a teammate down who has lost it bad...
Sorry, I was not clear enough. If you're a recreational diver using your computer to decompress, then the exact depth of your stop (as long as you have not broken your virtual ceiling, and you are shallow enough to be outgasing: e.g., decom at 15 instead of 10) is not critical.

But, if you decompressing according to a table or other calculation, depth is critical since one foot is the standard that most tables and calculations are designed for. Of course you woun't tox at 27' and a 2 foot margin of error is not likely to bend you, but does increase the odds of a bends event.
 
MBH:
Wow! That sounds almost like the beginnings of a GI3 rant!:14:

I ask those questions as a someone who truely wants to learn. I also want to know where you and others are coming from to better understand your position. Perhaps knowing your vantage point will give me insight into the wisdom you are trying to offer.

So are you willing to answer my questions are just call me someone who wants to rant?

I became interested in DIR after almost getting myself killed. So I come as a noob who almost lost her life and the safety of the system is a big draw for me. I come as a noob and don't try to make myself out to be anything else. I am open about my newness and desire to learn.

I am not an expert on DIR, as I said I am someone who wants to learn. I want to know what you and others are on this thread.
 
I'm sorry, I seem to have been misunderdtood. I don't think that UnderSeaBumbleBee was ranting. It was actually a compliment to her. She sounds like a person that has the fire and passion about DIR that reminded me of GI3.
 
MBH:
Wow! That sounds almost like the beginnings of a GI3 rant!
14.gif

MBH:
... that reminded me of GI3.
I think that came of as what they call "damning with faint praise.":D
 
Perhaps I should now turn and face Wakulla, kneel, and commit seppuku.
 
MBH:
Perhaps I should now turn and face Wakulla, kneel, and commit seppuku.

I rather than do that--I mean who knows what kind of compass you are using and if you would end up facing the right way. So any way rather than that I would rather have honest informative answers were provided to my questions.

Still no takers willing to answer my questions?
 
UnderSeaBumbleBee:
I ask those questions as a someone who truely wants to learn. I also want to know where you and others are coming from to better understand your position. Perhaps knowing your vantage point will give me insight into the wisdom you are trying to offer.

So are you willing to answer my questions are just call me someone who wants to rant?

I became interested in DIR after almost getting myself killed. So I come as a noob who almost lost her life and the safety of the system is a big draw for me. I come as a noob and don't try to make myself out to be anything else. I am open about my newness and desire to learn.

I am not an expert on DIR, as I said I am someone who wants to learn. I want to know what you and others are on this thread.
I think I know where you're coming from ... and I also think it's important to understand that not everyone who's "tasted the kool-aid and decided it's not for me" does so for negative reasons. I've always been careful to state that I am "not DIR" ... perhaps it would be a good time to try to explain why.

I took DIR-F twice. I've participated in two formal and a number of informal workshops that were run by either GUE instructors or very experienced GUE-trained divers. I worked for our local GUE shop for a year. After all of that, I decided that GUE training wasn't the path I wanted to pursue.

It had nothing to do with the quality of training ... to my concern, the training's excellent. It's very much in line with how I want to dive. My reasons had to do with more pragmatic concerns.

First, the limits of available instruction ... we now have a local GUE instructor here. At the time, we didn't. Importing instructors really limits how much time you're going to have with your instructor, and leads to some of the issues that have been discussed here. In my area, we also have an abundance of very good, very experienced instructors who teach for other agencies. I settled on NAUI for my tech training, in part because we have several excellent NAUI Tech instructors here. The one I'm currently using has also had some GUE training, which I consider a positive thing. I get to train with him, and dive with him, pretty much whenever our schedules permit. That continuum appeals to me.

The second reason touches on some other issues that have been discussed here. I went a year between my first and second DIR-F class ... primarily due to the fact that the instructor who taught my initial class never came back to re-evaluate the students who'd received a provisional. Eventually I just took the class again with a different instructor and passed. In the interrim, I almost lost sight of the fact that I got into diving for the purpose of having fun. Personally, I think too many GUE students get too caught up in practicing skills ... and spend way too much time in the shallows working, rather than getting practical diving experience. That's not for me ... I learn by doing, and learn best by diving. I don't want to practice to the point where I'll never make a mistake ... I want to practice to the point where I know what to do to avoid mistakes, or when I make one, recover from it and learn something from the experience.

Finally, as many have stated, DIR is a "holistic" system. Being DIR is like being pregnant ... you either are or you are not. There's no such thing as being "almost DIR". That whole concept just goes against my personality ... I am not, and never will be, "holistic" anything. There's just enough "rebel without a clue" in me to want to do certain things my way, for the simple reason that it makes me feel more comfortable to do it that way. For that reason ... and even though I strongly believe that DIR is an excellent system for diving ... I will not, and do not want to, "be" DIR.

So please keep any comments of mine that you read in this forum in context of this background and attitude ... DIR fascinates me, which is why I am here. But I'll pass on the kool-aid ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)
 
Thanks Bob, that is what I am looking for. I enjoy reading your posts as always they are well written. They are well thought out and provide reasons for your veiws and method of diving without attacking anyone or anything. With your post and telling me where you are coming from, you give me things to consider and I am learning what kind of diver I want or need to be for me. It is helpful.
 
As another one of those who "tasted the Kool Aid and found it not for me" here is my perspective.

I took DIR-F not as an entry point to tec diving, but as a way of advancing/polishing my skills. To that end a pass/fail/provisional is irrelevant. From that perspective I found the course to be excellent and recommend it for anyone who wants to do the same and will say so to anyone who will listen. Which is why I participate in this thread and others like it.

As to why I am not and never will be a "DIR diver". I solo dive with a too small pony:shakehead:; I am a photographer that will take as much time as needed to get the shot:shakehead:; and much of my diving is tropical diving as a solo traveler (no DIR buddies). Not a criticism of DIR divers or the way they dive, just not for me.

My cert cards say "Scuba Diver", and "Solo Diver". They get me air when I need it and allow me to solo on some liveaboards.
 
Darnold9999
That is a fair post. You took the training. You learned from it. The way you want to dive is outside of the philosophy and rather than crying that DIR won’t accept or validate you, you say this is who I am and I how I dive and that is who they are and how they dive. Good for you!
 
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