Other "Cave" agencies and GUE.

[xiSkiGuy]

xiSkiGuy, did you bother to explain your reasoning for the way you had you gear rigged (or could you?).

Keeping in mind that I haven't taken fundies and that my gear is not 100% DIR: Yes, I made some brief explanations for why I had rigged my gear and he was open to what I said. Again, my gear didn't trigger the comments about DIR (in fact, it would trigger two comments from DIR divers). My original post was refering general attitudes and unsolicited comments about DIR that I encountered on my first trip to Ginnie.

Really curious as to who this instructor was.

I'll send you a PM

I have an idea as I've heard of the right D-ring requirement before and that instructor had a good reason actually. It may not be one you agree with but I'll bet had you not been hanging out here in the DIR forum on SB you would have been more open to his reasoning.

I considered myself very open to his reasoning, and made most of the changes he suggested (he didn't require any changes at the Cavern level). I think NSS-CDS has as much to offer me as GUE. I'm open to lots of points of view at this early stage in my diving career.

One more question....
Now that the class is over, despite the gear differences, did you gain anything out of the class? Skills? Remember, you can always change your gear to whatever gear configuration you want to now that the class is over.

Again the gear wasn't a big issue for me. It was the attitudes I encountered. I absolutly loved the class. It is the best training I've received to date. In the near future I'll take Fundies and NSS-CDS Intro. I'm sure I'll learn alot from both agencies.

Welcome to the overhead world! When are we going diving!

Thanks! Anytime. . .

 

[xiSkiGuy]

I can understand your desire to pass.. but I would be suspect of an instructor that would not pass you because you questioned what is being taught. Shouldn't the pass / fail be determined by your demonstration of the skills being taught?

It was a joke. The instructor wasn't like that at all.

 

[xiSkiGuy]

generally speaking, DIR divers are seen (right or wrong) as johnnie-come-latelies
with more cash to spend on equipment than common sense

DIR divers are generally perceived as "unfriendly" because they "only dive with
other DIR" divers

i've gotten (friendly) flack for having passed DIR-F from otherwise very
nice divers eyebrow

other than a computer, my setup is strictly DIR. i have gotten no comments on the equipment or configuration. it's never been an issue on the three cave
classes i've taken so far (cavern, cave intro, apprentice)

i think some cave divers down here see DIR (and DIR divers) as telling everyone
else that no one can dive well if they're not DIR (right or wrong).

i think this has a lot to do with the cave diver's ignorance and insecurities.
many cave divers don't have either issue.

if 0 were work-place friendly and 100 were Nazi Germany persecuting the Jews, i'd say any "hostility" towards DIR divers is about a 10 to 20 ... not bad at all, actually.

Thanks for putting things into perspective, Andy.

 

[Spectre]

I've not had any issues that I've noticed. My cave instructor asked a couple questions regarding my configuration and didn't have any issues after my explinations. He even commented on his surprise when seeing my rig since he knew I come from a wreck diving background in new england.

While I've heard plenty of stories, I've hardly witness anything first hand. I had overheard one instructor discussing the foolishness of the concept of the right post inflator. I talked to him about it, explained the reasons as I understood them, which were different then the reasons he had heard in the past, his comment was simply "That actually makes a lot of sense".

I've been involved in plenty of good natured ribbing, but nothing more than friendly joking around and I've not been witness to any true animosity, or at least nothing that bothered me. But then again, I dive the way I dive for the reasons I understand, and I couldn't care less what other people say or think.... so maybe I just miss it.

 

[Jasonmh]

LOL!

I know some great guys that are GUE divers. They entertain my questions all the time and we all learn from each other regardless of whether we decide to actually use it.

I was really interested in taking some GUE classes. Corresponded with Dave Sweetin quite a bit and was in the process of setting up a local class, but the more I surfed SB, the more I got turned off.

That is a shame, but I understand what you are saying. It is a shame that after meeting some GUE divers and corresponding with Dave, that it was this board that turned you off. I know that can easily happen, and have to remind myself that the internet (and the people who post on it) is not always how things are in the real world. I would have thought that the real-world experiences with GUE divers would have had more influence than this board. Certainly, and I can say this from experience, that DIR/GUE divers (on or off the internet) do not have the monoply on voicing strong opinions.

As for the instructor want his students gear to match his, isn't that one of the DIR philosophies? All team members in the same configuration?

Yes. I was trying to say that it seemed ironic that after hearing multiple people use the "gear matching" philosophy of DIR as a negative, that someone from another agency that does not especially promote gear matching put someone down for not gear matching. If that makes sense...

I see that you and I agree on one thing....our screen name (first 5 letters anyway).

Most definitely

And I'm sure we agree on alot more than that. I wish I lived closer to cave country, so that I could get the experience you have. I plan to, and am looking forward to, getting overhead training from GUE and NSS/NACD.. no such thing as too much knowlegde or too much experience.

 

[Marlinspike]

It has been my experience that the people who are the most vocal pro or against DIR/GUE tend to be people who feel they have something to defend, and in my opinion this comes from a certain feeling of inadequacy or inferiority.

Even the DIR/GUE gurus are way more chill about this stuff than some people on the boards, and this is probably because they don't feel like they have to prove anything to you.

~Marlinspike

 

[cerich]

The light only went in the left hand when scootering, otherwise you kept in your right (and wound the excess lighthead cord around your arm) to better illuminate the reel and to avoid errant light aiming while adjusting [FONT=&quot]buoyancy[/FONT].

A rebreather diver in europe had a problem and got to the surface, took unit off and it sank (like double steels would as well), he got dragged down and drowned by his light cord attached like that. This was recent.

Your call.

 

[darylm74]

This weekend I chuckled at: DIR=Divers Ignoring Reality

That is my best friend's favorite line when it comes to discussing DIR while we sit around for a few beers. He knows I'm planning on taking the fundies class next year and he jerks my chain about it, but when we talk seriously, he really doesn't care what I do. If I feel it is right for me, he is all for it, but he certaintly won't let me get off the hook easily without throwing a few jokes my way about it.

 

[H2Andy]

A rebreather diver in europe had a problem and got to the surface,
took unit off and it sank (like double steels would as well), he got dragged down
and drowned by his light cord attached like that.

we dont' know that he had it coiled around his arm or not.

also, it appears that he had his computer strapped OVER the light chord
(to help secure it)

i don't think we know enough about the particulars of this accident to
draw conclusions from it quite yet