Posted by Max Bottomtime on January 04, 2001 at 16:21:54:
In Reply to: The view from here posted by Wayne on January 04, 2001 at 12:56:16:
Wayne wrote in message..."It is the notion that there in only ONE way to dive in all dive environments that I object to. I really think there are good points of DIR that will find their way into mainstream recreational diving. But I do not think that all of DIR will be adopted as I do not think it is 100% applicable to 100% of the diving done. And rather than have all of us change why we dive, it is easier to adapt dive gear and protocols to match what we dive.
Another problem I have in the "You are either all DIR or you are DIW", is that this gives rise to ego based cult status. We all have uniforms that we respect when we see them. I respect wearers of wet suits that have patches and beat up knees and call them 'brother'. I see people with gear from different ages and call them 'brother'. I see people hanging just outside the surf zone counting sets of waves, and call them "my brothers", too. I esteem these divers because of their outward appearances. I do not necessarily esteem divers because of their new SS backplate and bungie wings. It takes more than this to make me want to swap sea stories and share the catch. I belong to a different cult."
I feel like the "middle child" now. A recreational diver would look at my double tanks, manifolds, 7' primary routed DIR style with a necklaced backup and call me a techdiver. A DIR diver would look at my BC, console and wetsuit with steel doubles and call me a Stroke. While I agree with the DIR gear configuration, I don't believe that someone using something different is unsafe. Is a backplate/harness more streamlined and adaptable than a BC? Yes, but using a BC probably will still allow me to make my dive safely. Would the proper mixes make my dives safer? Absolutely. If I had unlimited funds, I'd be using a trimix rebreather. Unfortunately, I'm just another poor California dive bum spending a couple bucks to fill my tanks with...AIR!!!