Any reason not to do fundies equivalent with ISE?

[ZephyrNYC]

Thanks for the update, I was wondering what you decided on this. I've been wondering about GUE versus UTD here in SoCal, and this thread has been helpful.

C Dub, which way did you go? How was it?

 

[C Dub]

C Dub, which way did you go? How was it?

I went with GUE. Many more GUE divers in LA/OC than UTD (I've only met one so far). Apparently there are quite a few UTD in San Diego. Anyway, I've done GUE Fundies Rec and Tec, Drysuit, Doubles, DPV1 and Tec 1. I found the training to be VERY high quality, and it is quite hard to pass if you are a 50 dive OW diver like I was. I strongly recommend GUE training.

 

[ZephyrNYC]

I went with GUE. Many more GUE divers in LA/OC than UTD (I've only met one so far). Apparently there are quite a few UTD in San Diego...

Don't GUE, UTD, and other DIR divers dive with each other?

 

[C Dub]

Sure they do, quite a bit. Especially on recreational profiles. I dive all the time (Rec profiles) with a UTD guy in his UTD sidemount rig. He also recently chose to take Fundies in back mounted doubles, eyeing GUE Tec 1.

But, as a newish Tec1 diver, I choose to only be a team mate with GUE for technical dives due to my own newbyness. That means, at a minimum, there is one other GUE Tec diver specifically teamed with me. Often there are other agency divers with us, in their own teams. This is not a GUE directive, it is the choice I've made.

The great thing about GUE is that you can be anywhere in the world, jump into a team, and everyone is on the same page immediately. This benefit can not be overstated.

 

[decompression]

Welcome to the darkside, glad to have another teammate!