Quote:
| Originally Posted by Mal Bridgeman I read posts on here and other fora about the way people have developed their own diving system.
SSI have 4 parts to their teaching philosphy, Knowledge, Skills, Equipment and Experience, GUE have 3 Education, Experience & Equipment yet all we ever seem to talk about is the Equipment.
Generally people start with the standard Recreational Agency recommendation of a BCD, single tank, Regs, mask, fins which, although advised to go for comfort and fit, they trust that judgement to the Dive Store at that stage and tend to choose based on colour  Brand awareness is pretty low at that time.
As their diving develops, they see things that other people have and think ooh I'd like that, either they think it's a good idea, or they have an experience which makes them think their current approach needs changing or they are just greedy and want something shiney and new, normally associated with the adoption of some sort of brand loyalty.
This leads to a plethora of kit configurations and of each one the owner feels quite passionate.....and will defend it because of how they went about building the config because there is a lot of the person invested in its creation. This is great for Internet fora because people will argue endlessly about why their individual choice is better than the other person's individual choice.
But the arguments are generally about equipment only e.g. inverts vs uprights, indies vs manifolded, crack bottle dSMBs vs oral/suit inflate dSMBs, reels vs spools and so it goes on.
Rarely do people discuss how the equipment integtrates with the other parts of the system they have developed .... e.g. buddy checks or planning, or in water positioning etc etc.
I am very supportive of the GUE approach to diving and dive training where these things (Equipment and procedures) go hand in hand to formulate a complete diving "system".
I asked a question a while ago what people liked about DIR and generally the responses were about the kit config and equipmen choices. It strikes me that considering individual elements could be missing the bigger picture of the value of a complete diving system.
What do others think?
Ok....as Mrs Merton would say.... "Let's have a heated debate...."
Mal |
Some of us / most of us started life in diving with a single a jacket BCD multi console compass and possibly a computer.
Then as our diving progressed we added kit and experimented with it making 100's of mistakes but having fun developing our interpretation of doing it right.
Experience further hones the kit and configuration and to this day I am still fiddling with the best way to do this or mount that etc.
Its fun.
On the more serious side, experience of problems and difficulties makes us adapt safety aspects of how we dive and how we use and configure our equipment. If the progression through diving is steady then this is rarely dangerous.
This side is very interesting some time challenging and again fun.
The GUE / DIR system takes away all of the learning curve it takes away all choice and provides a virtually standard one size fits all rig and then builds a predetermined set of standards around the rig to make it work. (or vice versa depending on your view)
This removes a risk element and the standardization makes for very simple execution of teem and expedition type dives. In its self this is perfectly valid. The system on its own wont work the kit configuration without the support of the system is less than ideal / wont work. Separating the configuration from the system is therefore not possible.
To some divers the one size fits all idea is attractive, having an instant off the shelf "tec rig" is attractive. For other divers (like me) the standardization of equipment and diving skills is attractive and for a very small group the ability to organize expeditions using the system is almost essential.
All perfectly valid reasons in my book.
Just for God's sake don't say its the only / best way, as this is obviously rubbish.
As for integration our own systems into our own kit configuration? well this happens all the time in buddy pairs. The problem is dive with a new buddy and the system fails or is at least marginalized. Not a problem with GUE divers, they can dive their normal system with any GUE diver in the world. A remarkable achievement and one they are rightly proud of.
As I have always said get a proper CCR in GUE and ill sign up tomorrow. On the other hand i am glad i didn't miss the fun of developing my own rig.
ATB
Mark Chase