"The DIR equipment configuration tends to generate the majority of interest and debate, initiating the common misconception that one part of the system can be adapted and others can be ignored. For example, individuals may endorse the equipment configuration, but ignore essential aspects such as the team-centered approach or physical fitness. DIR is a holistic system and although incorporating parts of DIR into another system is possible, the result is not DIR. The mutation is also likely to be fraught with complications.

Divers using the same clean, well thought out configuration are safer and more able to assist one another. Changes to that system, however seemingly slight, invariably create complications.

The DIR system is amazingly flexible and can be used in caves, in the ocean, in wrecks and under ice. It is ideal for relaxing reef dives at 30 feet, extended penetration cave dives or difficult wreck dives. It is a perfect system for zero visibility as well as crystal clear water. The DIR system focuses on the concept of minimalism. Equipment that does not enrich the dive is considered a liability and should be left at home

The DIR approach need not be modified in order to function in different environments. In fact, the system was not developed exclusively as a cave diving system and the issues that it addresses are far from cave specific. Its flexibility is owed to careful research and development dives in diverse conditions including: the Baltic Sea, the Red Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the Great Lakes, the Puget Sound, the St. Lawrence Seaway. Cold water DIR divers use gloves and dry suits inflated with argon. In freezing water these divers use dry gloves and thicker undergarments with argon and possibly electric heat. Cold water divers use slightly larger bolt snaps, but otherwise exactly the same system is employed whether the dive is below the ice or in the balmy tropics."