Posted by Jim Hoffmann on June 07, 2001 at 09:02:16:
Lost in the Flames.
The DIR message is a good one, but this message seems to have been lost with all the
flame wars. The message is a simple one, you dive with equipment that has as few failure
points as possible and as streamline as possible. You don’t dive with a buddy that could
get you killed, you don’t dive with high P02’s, you dive as a team, you plan the dive
before you make the dive and you have the right training and experience to make the dive.
The DIR message shows leadership, leadership that has been missing in the dive industry
for a long time ( and I think that is why their following has grown from some good old
boys in Florida, to a world wide acceptance).
The dive manufactures and the training agency’s have lost sight of what’s really
important. Everything in the dive industry should be base around the well being and the
safety of the diver! Yet you don’t hear the dive manufactures talking about failure points
(no they talk about the features on the equipment, have you ever read an ad telling you
how safe their gear is ?, no they tell you about there Gold Core Technology, their EZ-Lok
Buckle system, or how powerful and effortless kicking their new fin design is). It’s the
same with the Certifying agency’s. They give lip service to diving safety, but that’s about
it (all we see from the training agencies is shorter programs, more visual aids, and
programs for little children).
The DIR message is all about the safety and the well being of the diver. The DIR
message is a good one, don’t let it be lost in the flame wars.
Jim Hoffmann
Scuba Toys