Hogarthian Configuration Explained

Before there was DIR, there was the Hogarthian rig: a way of setting up gear so that every item had one place, one reason and nothing extra. Today it's the equipment foundation of DIR and of the configurations taught by GUE and UTD.

Where does the name come from?

From William "Bill" Hogarth Main, a cave diving pioneer. He began diving in the late 1960s, moved into cave diving, and developed what became known as the Hogarthian configuration in the 1980s, helping refine it in the 1990s with divers of the Woodville Karst Plain Project. The goal was an ideal configuration that the whole team could standardize on.

The name started as a joke. A fellow diver, John Zumrick, first called the streamlined rig "Hogarthian," and it stuck.

What are the rules?

There's no single rulebook, but the principles are consistent. Jarrod Jablonski described the style as having many minor variations while asserting "a policy of minimalism."

1. Minimalism. Take only what you need for the dive.
2. Streamlining. Nothing dangles, nothing snags, nothing adds drag.
3. Standardization. Every item in the same place, on every diver, on every dive.
4. A reason for everything. Each piece is placed where it is for a practical purpose.
5. Accessibility. Required equipment can be reached and used in the planned configuration, while the diver maintains awareness and judgment.

UTD's covenants echo the same ideas: a minimalist approach, a holistic system where every component has a solid reason, and equipment that's streamlined yet accessible.

What does a Hogarthian rig look like?

Everything else is either in a pocket or left on the boat.

How does it work for singles and doubles?

Singles. A single cylinder on the backplate, with one first stage supplying the long hose, the necklace backup, the gauge and the wing inflator. It's the same layout as doubles, scaled down.

Doubles. Two cylinders joined by an isolator manifold. The right post supplies the long hose and wing inflator; the left supplies the necklace backup and gauge. Confirm the drysuit inflation arrangement for the actual system; it may use a separate appropriate inflation supply. The isolator lets you separate the two sides if one fails.

That scalability is the point. Divers learn the layout once, on a single cylinder, and the same habits carry to doubles, stages and decompression bottles.

How does Hogarthian relate to DIR?

Early on, the two terms were used almost interchangeably. Over time they separated: "Hogarthian" came to mean the equipment configuration, and DIR the holistic system built around it, adding fundamental skills, team diving, standard gases and gas planning.

UTD's standards describe its own roots the same way: grounded in the Hogarthian and DIR configuration and principles, then extended for consistency across backmount, sidemount and rebreathers. See GUE vs UTD vs Hogarthian.

Try it for yourself

For the full configuration piece by piece, see DIR Gear Configuration, Piece by Piece. To learn to dive it, start with Essentials of Recreational Diving.