ScubaFeenD
Contributor
You are right. Everyone I talk to that is involved with either GUE or UTD training always says, "I wish I knew about this when I first got certified." I too am in the same situation financially, but I am lucky enough to be able to acquire the necessary gear, which has really made the difference. I have learned a lot from just watching the 5thD-X videos and trying myself though, so dont knock it too much
Regardless, I think if from the beginning standards were high and basic skills were really taught well, the necessity of going to GUE and UTD just to learn skills to be competent as a diver would be gone. This is somewhat related to the OPs post regarding the standards of what makes a diver today. Im not saying UTD and GUE are the only places to go (certainly I have seen many PADI and NAUI instructors on this board that claim to teach many of the same basic skills that are in fundamentals), but they seem to be the agencies responsible for really pushing the need for competent entry level divers.
Regardless, I think if from the beginning standards were high and basic skills were really taught well, the necessity of going to GUE and UTD just to learn skills to be competent as a diver would be gone. This is somewhat related to the OPs post regarding the standards of what makes a diver today. Im not saying UTD and GUE are the only places to go (certainly I have seen many PADI and NAUI instructors on this board that claim to teach many of the same basic skills that are in fundamentals), but they seem to be the agencies responsible for really pushing the need for competent entry level divers.
I don't disagree with any of that, but when I thought "I should learn to dive", I didn't walk around local places and find a GUE shop that offered me a BP/W. I found NAUI, PADI and SDI shops that offered me BCs with integrated weights. So, right after OW, most of my friends had large amounts of gear that was incompatible with basically no resale value. The scalability of the gear that they already didn't buy is no longer a real selling point. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the true cost of GUE-F to the "50-100 dive rec diver" (gear+training) seems to be about $1500-$2000. Good training costs good money, and I don't have a problem with that, but if the money's not there, flopping around in the water with 5thdx YouTube videos seems like the only option.
On a personal level, I'm hoping to take primer, essentials or fundies at some point in the next year, once I can find the money. However, my gear setup is currently "stuff I found on craigslist for $20 and SB DIYers helped me fix", and there's very little DIR-style gear being sold significantly below value (presumably because people buying that sort of gear have passed the dropout point).