I'm advanced in both PADI and NAUI.
My suggestion is this: Before you start off tomorrow, research "DIR diving" tonight and see if you want to get into that instead. DIR is a completely different style of diving using a backplate/wing and standardized equipment - and provides extra safety. I started off conventional, but if I had to do it over I would absolutely start with DIR - otherwise you have to unlearn some bad habits.
The main benefit of DIR is safety. The second benefit is freedom - with DIR you're naturally horizontally oriented, where with conventional you're vertically orientated and all the cool stuff to look at are below your feet.
On DIR and Other Religious Subjects ( a joke )
Warning: Politically Incorrect
I converted to
DIR ( "Doing It Right" ) about 6 months ago and I have found that the philosophy extends way beyond diving. I think most people tend to view
DIR as a gear configuration or diving objective type of thing but it really is a philosophy that you can use in other parts of your life. For instance, below are just some of the ways I've extended the
DIR way of doing things into other areas of my life.
Last week some of my buddies came over to my house. Now, not all of them are divers but they do understand the
DIR philosophy. So, first off, we all drink the same beer. This avoids any situations where you might be enjoying a lager and accidentally pick up an ale ( or the other way around. ) That can be very uncool. That could quickly lead to a panic situation so we avoid it all together. We also drink only from cans, not bottles. And we never put the beer in the refrigerator. It always goes in the ice chest in my living room. 47% of Drinking Related Incidents (
DRI ) occur when someone is going to the fridge for another beer, so better to be safe than sorry. Of course, this is all rigged up while we're still 100% sober so there's no impaired judgment once things get cooking.
All of us wear a bungie necklace with a full beer on it just in case someone experiences an Out Of Beer (
OOB ) emergency. I can offer my already opened beer to my buddy and simply reach down and grab the backup off my beer necklace. And, without exception, we always use the 7-foot hose on the beer bong.
Of course, we don't stay in every night, so when we do decide to go out we make sure we're still
DIR. All of us wear exactly the same clothing:
- Levi's 501 Jeans, black ( button hole, straight leg )
- Gap Black T-shirt
- Haynes boxer shorts, black
- Gold Toe socks, black
- Kenneth Cole shoes, Brad Bitt style, black
- G-Shock watch, black band
- Nylon belt, black, with military buckle
- Black Leather Jacket ( optional, depending on weather conditions )
This may sound a bit silly or overdone but believe me, when you're penetrating a night club, knowing exactly what you buddies are dressed like can make all the difference in the world if you're hoping to snag some hottie. Let's say I see some cutie and just before I get up to go talk to her a waitress spills a drink in my lap? No problem, because I can always swap pants with my buddy. I don't have to worry if they match, because I know he's wearing Levi's 501's. Bam! Swap pants and I can still complete my objective.
One thing to keep in mind about nightclubs is that you seldom want to penetrate a club on beer. I know, some of the macho jerks do this and brag to all of their buddies. Believe me, it's not
DIR. You have to do it on mixed drinks. Obviously the mix will be different on different nights but a good vodka tonic mix is pretty standard. Again, there's a right way and a wrong way to do this. You can't just order any old vodka or depend on some bartender to get the mix right. That's what the strokes do. No, you order Stoli vodka, which has an excellent reputation in the
DIR partying community. The correct blend is 2oz Stoli with tonic water poured over ice in a highball glass ( lemon or lime optional. ) I always bring a testing kit with me and if the blend is off, I send it back. It's just not worth the risk and it's not
DIR.
So you penetrate the nightclub and you've got a good mix, now it's time to meet the ladies. I should have said this earlier but watch your drink consumption. It's a well-known fact that women look 25% - 30% better in a nightclub and if you get all narced up on vodka tonic, it increases your chances of a coyote ugly blackout. You have to keep your wits about you.
If it's early, you probably have pretty good viz. Later in the evening when the smoke silts up the room it'll be harder to make out the women on the other side of the club so get your headings early. On a few occasions I've had to bust out the wreck reel just to get to the bathroom and back.
If you are lucky enough to hook up with a nice hottie, this is when doing it right really can pay off. Now, let's face it, there's a certain degree of danger involved here that I don't want to downplay. You need to minimize your risks by using the proper equipment. I carry 2 condoms. One I put on my - well you know, and the second I put on a bungee that goes around my waist. If there's a malfunction on my primary, I can quickly go to my backup without skipping a beat.
So, as you can see from these pretty basic examples,
DIR is not just for diving. It's something you can use in all areas of your life.
Keep it real.
