Posted by MHK on September 26, 2000 at 13:41:49:
In Reply to: Re: In Re: Jason & MHK posted by Gerry Smith on September 26, 2000 at 12:47:16:
First the easy question.. I generally dive AL 80's on any dive from 200' and shallower, for dives deeper than 200' I use twin 104's.. That is more out of convience than any strict application of DIR.. I dive off of different boats with different people all the time. I found in certain circumstances I would dive with a wetsuit and a steel tank, and then maybe the next dive dry with a AL tank etc. etc. so rather than trying to keep up with the every week change thing I decided to simplify my life and use 2 standarized sets of tanks and it seems to work just fine..
As to DIR and it's application to recreational diving I would argue that it is directly applicable to recreational diving. What DIR really is all about is taking the best ideas from diver's that dive under very demanding conditions and applying it to every day use. I often liken it to the auto industry, most of us will never drive a car at Indianapolis freeway, but we welcome the aerodynamic advances that have stemmed from auto racing, especially with gas prices at $2.00 per...
The misconception that I often find confusing is that many diver's believe that when we plan a dive to 400', we take more gear ( absent additional tanks ) but in thruth we don't do that. So I then extend the arguement by saying that if I don't need it at 400' in the open ocean, why would you need it at 60"???
DIR is about streamlinning and taking only what is needed. We have a saying that says if you don't need it don't take it, or better yet don't waste your money on it in the first place...
So in my mind DIR is directly applicable to recreational diving. As a side note, I was with Jarrod Jablonski this weekend and he told me that he is 90% finished with a book respecting DIR and recreational diving and he is also in the process of finalizing a recreational class for GUE..
Hope this helps...
Later