DIR Information Network >> Buoyancy FAQ 5

Is the Halcyon MC system appropriate for recreational open water diving?

Halcyon's DIR approach is suitable for beginning divers whether or not they want to progress to technical diving. The DIR setup is less cluttered and restrictive than jacket style BCs. It creates far less drag in the water. It is also more stable than the jacket-style BC, thanks to the crotch strap. Because it is less cluttered, it allows the the novice diver to more quickly locate the inflator hose to add or dump air. The back-up regulator is always in the same place - reassuringly right under the chin - and not somewhere in the chest triangle or dangling down beside the tank. The student doesn't need to frisk herself to find it, then unclip it before breathing it. It's there right where it's needed.

Breathing the long hose means even a novice can donate air and still maintain room to maneuver - room which the short hose does not provide. The pressure gauge is easy to monitor with a quick glance down and to the side; remember, there is no bulky or partially inflated BC to obstruct the view. The depth gauge is right there on the wrist where it can be read at a glance - not dangling in a console with one or two other instruments or crunching along the bottom like a brick on a string. Because the DIR setup is so unencumbering, novice divers are, in fact, far less likely to feel claustrophobic and panicky than when they are wearing more the more conventional BC with wraparound inflation. In fact, one of the key points of DIR is the conservation of energy - it is so smooth and slippery in the water that students can concentrate their energies on practicing their skills rather than using large amounts of energy just to move a bunch of clumsy, high-drag dive gear through the water.

In other words, if the most demanding exploratory diving fosters the use of a clean gear configuration, beginning and open water divers would benefit just as much (if not more) from the reduction in the amount of gear one carries, from a streamline profile that has been stripped of a bird's nest of unsecured hoses and dangling attachments, and from a technique that makes management of out of air situations all the more safe.

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