UTD/DIR Equipment Configuration

UTD/DIR Equipment Configuration

UTD/DIR Equipment Section

The UTD/DIR equipment philosophy, also known as Hogarthian or DIR, was born in the Florida Cave diving community in the late 1980’s from such names as Parker Turner, Sheck Exley and Bill Main. As cave diving grew in popularity, there were an increasing number of accidents and fatalities. While other factors certainly contributed to these accidents, such as improper training and diving beyond one’s capabilities, the need for an equipment standardization of some sort became very apparent. From that emerged the idea that the equipment configuration needed to be very simplistic and streamlined. This would be the basis of the Hogarthian (named after Bill Hogarth Main) or UTD, DIR equipment configuration.

The UTD equipment configuration is in itself an entire system, with each piece of gear serving a very important purpose in the overall system. Rarely does one piece serve a single purpose. Instead, while each piece has a primary function, it also has secondary purposes that contribute to the entire system. The result is a well thought out, streamlined and simple system that will serve you for your entire diving career, regardless of your aspirations.

One of the biggest advantages of the UTD equipment configuration is that it is engineered from the top down. We “start with the end in mind”, meaning you’ll only have to build your system once, and that system will work well in any environment, whether it be open water, a wreck or a cave.

UTD/DIR Equipment Configuration
UTD's equipment configuration is rooted in the Hogarthian/DIR philosophy yet emphasizes

• Unification within the team.
• Consistent within a variety of environments
• Less is more
• Only take what you need
• Simplicity
• Streamline
• Most importantly - "Start with the end in mind" and you will only have to build your system once.

UTD/DIR Equipment Configuration

Your base UTD equipment configuration should always be simply and consistent yet allow for the additional items as necessary. The addition or subtraction of certain items for a specific dive should not interfere the dive, team, or existing configuration. Conducting a team dive with a unified configuration prevents issues especially when it comes to understanding your team configuration

UTD/DIR Equipment Configuration

Mask and Snorkels

Regulators

Primary Lights
Backup Lights
Surface Marker Buoys (SMB's)
Guidelines - Reels and Spools
Backplate & Wings - Buoyancy and Trim Devices

Exposure Systems

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