Posted by AADIVER on January 17, 2001 at 16:39:00:
Much has been posted on the Board about Failure Points in diving gear. I personally consider all my gear to be failure prone and I pre-plan accordingly: if such and such fails I will do such and such, etc. The DIR philosophy of reducing failure points before entering the water is the ideal. But due to the nature of my diving I generally need a lot of non-DIR "stuff" and its failure points go with the territory I choose to explore. My routine rig is a DIR's worst nightmare: 7 hoses, a console, two computers, a wraparound BC, tool bag, tools, lift bag, surface sausage marker, two knives, two torches, two reels, a rock pick...jeez, just listing all this crap's enough to give a DIR a heart attack! But the bottom line is this: blindfolded or in zero viz I know where everything is and how to deal with it should it fail. Apart from enjoying all this clutter, it's why I dive independently. I mean, come on, who in their right mind would want to buddy up with a Christmas tree? Most recreational divers wouldn't need or want half the stuff I pack, but when I'm on certain unnamed wrecks I need every piece of it, and sometimes more. Oh, yah, I forgot my titanium crow bar and my camera!