Posted by MHK on June 01, 2000 at 13:01:32:
I've been out of town for a week but I just checked in on the thread that was going on while I was gone about DIR. Several questions were raised that I believe warrant a response. I propose to do that by giving a GENERIC overview of DIR and then I will be happy to respond to any specific questions.
DIR is an approach and a philosophy to a dive. Although it is most well known for it's standardized gear configuration it is much more than that. DIR, admittedly, started with the Florida cave diver's. An early form of a DIR diver was Bill Hogarth Main. Bill was an early pioneer who studied various dive accidents in cave situations and concluded that for the most part many of those fatalities could have been prevented by streamlinning of gear. Thus the Hogarthian gear configuration was born. In it's infancy this configuration generated much interest and then George Irvine and Jarrod Jablonski began taking the Hogarthian gear configuration to the next level. While DIR and Hogarthian are often confused as being the same thing it should be noted that the Hogarthian gear configuration is an early template of what is DIR today and they bear little relationship at this point.
The various NON GEAR related philosophy's of DIR are as follows:
1) Keep your P02's at 1.4
2) The selection of a proper dive buddy ( NO SOLO DIVING )
3) No deep air diving
4) Keeping your EAD's or END's at 100' max.
5) Incorporating deep stops into your profiles
6) A unified team concept
7) good physical fitness
8) Minimalsim and streamlinning
9) Increased pre-dive preparation
and then of course the DIR gear configuration.
The gear configuration tends to generate the most debate but not to be forgotten is the other aspects of the DIR philosophy.
But since the questions in the other thread centered around the gear I'll do what I can to adress them..
Why a long hose and why should I donate my primary regulator???
By standardizing the gear a paniced OOA diver does not need to waste time looking at a different gear configuration to find the retaining device that will hold the *octo*. In some cases a diver may have an AIR II which will require the OOA diver to get the reg from the donor's mouth, in some cases it will be in a retianing device that may not be easily retriveable or located when needed, and in some cases a diver skimps when buying the *octo* and you hope it works when needed. Furthermore, if it is not retained properly or if it isn't retained at all it may have collected contaminents during the dive and rendering the octo useless at the very moment it is needed. By donating the primary regulator you are insuring that the OOA diver get's a known working regulator, as you have just been breathing it. This may be his last opportunity and you don't want to take a chance of giving the OOA diver a reg that may not supply his last breath.
Why a long hose???
By using a long hose ( 5' or 7' ) you provide yourself and the OOA diver the ability to exit any overhead environment while sharing air. ( ie; wrecks, caverns, caves and the like ). Moreover, it allows the donating diver to have some room to help handle the paniced diver. You can hand him the reg you can hold him if need be or you can keep a few feet away if that is required.
Why bungee around the neck for back up reg???
Several reasons, but most notably you don't need to search for a retaining device in an emergency situation. Also if your back up reg is leaking and it is in a retaining device located on your side you may not realize that it is leaking. If it is free flowing under your chin you will know.
Does a 5' or 7' hose decrease preformance ???
There is no decrease in the ability to breathe off your reg whatsoever...
Isn't DIR for caver's only and does it work on the open ocean???
The system works just as well in a cave as it does in the open ocean. Streamlining is streamlining. By reducing the drag and trim you will get increased bottom times, you will be less likely to get entangled in the kelp beds, you will have easier access to bugs..
My sense is that there is a bunch of misinformation about this approach but by in large as more people learn about it they invariably conclude that it is applicable to our diving, it isn't as Nazi as everyone once thought and it just plain and simple makes much more sense.
I'll be happy to answer any question either publicly or privately about the system and I can be found of the Great Escape most weekends and usually have an extra rig available if you want to demo one. But to be safe give me a call a few days before to make sure I'll have one.
Later