Posted by RaiderKarl on March 08, 2001 at 11:36:09:
In Reply to: Re: I was hoping somebody would citate the gospel soon! posted by MHK on March 08, 2001 at 09:34:11:
I certainly agree with the following points out of the brief D.I.R. article, as applicable to the open water Ocean and lake diving that I do:
always use the same configuration
backup 2nd stage must be instantly accessible
do not use "upstream" valve regs
use regs that operate at low IPs
redundancy [with each piece of gear]
all items not in use should be clipped to B/C with a breakaway clip / nothing dangling
pressure gauge left side / clipped
depth gauge viewable at all times
light on right & is factored into weighting
wrist compass
wrist computer
wrist watch/timer
buddies or teams should be geared & dressed alike
Beyond these observations, I would atribute many of the other "stroke" deemed requirements as primarily related to CAVE DIVING, which is a totally separate and highly specialized area of scuba.
Personally I love steel tanks and hate aluminum. Personally I have no problem with the negative buoyancy resulting from steel tanks used in the Ocean or lakes, since I personally am always able to DITCH ALL MY GEAR AND FREEDIVE if I have to.
Caves present many special problems. D.I.R. has come up with some great refinements for cave diving, and SOME of them are good ideas for open water diving too, in my opinion.
These are all advanced diving issues, as in "really advanced," and not applicable to new recreational divers, which we restrict and watch over intently at all times when we dive with new recreational divers.
/s/ RaiderKarl The Stroke
NAUI OW1 '75, SSI AOW & Rescue '00, PADI DMC '01