While stumbling about the interweb looking for review and recommendations on gear I stubbed my toe on this thing called DIR.  If you happen to be stumbling around like me, then let me educate you.  It means ?Do It Right.?  I say this not to be pedantic, but because it took me a couple of searches to figure out what it actually was.  What I did know from the first thing I read about it:  many feel very strongly about it one way or the other.

As near as I can tell, DIR was developed by a group of technical divers WKPP.  These guys kind of developed a set of gear setups that all in their group would follow to the T.  The idea is a good one.  If there is an emergency, you know your kit, you know your buddies.  More importantly, the kit setup doesn?t change between different types of diving (well, obviously things like the type of exposure suit might change but that?s splitting hairs).

Gear is not the only thing covered under DIR.  I don?t have much knowledge of the details of their ideas, but there are some. 

One result of this system is that you don?t tend to dive with anyone who isn?t DIR.  These folks are called strokes.  Strokes also hate babies? and puppies.  Calling someone a stroke makes people feel bad and will get you flamed in forums. 

The reason I?m interjecting this DIR stuff is that if you are starting to buy equipment, you may want to take a look at DIR gear setups and let them influence your buying.  Or you might decide like one local dive shop owner, ?DIR is a system to make you buy a bunch of gear.?  This comment struck me as a little odd as one of the main principle of DIR is to dive with the minimum amount of gear you need to be safe. 

His comment (and further reading) has lead me to believe that there are several types of DIR people out there.  There are those who use it as an excuse to buy a bunch of stuff with H?s plastered all over it (H stands for Halcyon).  There are those who like to say they are DIR to sound very technical and impress chicks.  And then there are those who embrace the spirit of DIR in their diving and their buddy choosing to make themselves and those around them safer.

I think I?m going to be one of the latter.  So, keeping this in mind, lets set out to find some gear.