PfcAJ
Contributor
Because little displays of "skill" is what it's all about.
Oog massless smb shooter does not a tech diver make.
Oog massless smb shooter does not a tech diver make.
Anyone have experience with GUE Rec 2&3?
- Thread starter MKrauter
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West.Coast.Diver
Registered
PfcAJ
Contributor
Too much to soon.
Take Fundies. Go dive your face off. Then learn doubles. Go dive your face off. THEN maybe think about tech 1 if (and only if) there are things you want to see deeper than 100'.
There is NO substitute for time spent in the water. Exposure to all sorts of things. Exposure to problems, both minor and maybe not so minor. Familiarity with all the equipment. Familiarity with yourself. Familiarity with the procedures. All the things.
Just look at the standards for T1 vs R3. For R3, you don't have to manage failures. So wtf are you diving doubles. at 130ft. with a deco bottle. if you can't manage failures? Might as well strap on a big single tank. Does an extra 20ft (thats less than 2 aisles at the supermarket, to put things into perspective) really make all the difference? If the diver isn't good enough to manage the gear properly, why are they using it? I can get behind diving doubles on dives where they aren't needed to get used to them, sure. ok. But 130' w/ trimix + a deco bottle is pretty firmly into the 'needed' territory.
Like I said, I really like GUE's courses. I think its the best game in town. But R3 smacks of one of those halfway 'courses' designed to placate divers who a) don't belong in the environment because they don't have the skill or b) to placate divers that have the outward skill but not the mindset needed for proper deep diving. Even the old RecTriox course made more sense than introducing some faux deco gas nonsense. I really like that the R3 deco gas is 32%. And one of the bottom gases is 30/30. Gunna switch from that 30% to 32%? Just kidding I think its dumb. Why even bother switching?
tl;dr: get some proper experience, don't chase cards, ignore rec3, take t1 when ready IF needed.
Take Fundies. Go dive your face off. Then learn doubles. Go dive your face off. THEN maybe think about tech 1 if (and only if) there are things you want to see deeper than 100'.
There is NO substitute for time spent in the water. Exposure to all sorts of things. Exposure to problems, both minor and maybe not so minor. Familiarity with all the equipment. Familiarity with yourself. Familiarity with the procedures. All the things.
Just look at the standards for T1 vs R3. For R3, you don't have to manage failures. So wtf are you diving doubles. at 130ft. with a deco bottle. if you can't manage failures? Might as well strap on a big single tank. Does an extra 20ft (thats less than 2 aisles at the supermarket, to put things into perspective) really make all the difference? If the diver isn't good enough to manage the gear properly, why are they using it? I can get behind diving doubles on dives where they aren't needed to get used to them, sure. ok. But 130' w/ trimix + a deco bottle is pretty firmly into the 'needed' territory.
Like I said, I really like GUE's courses. I think its the best game in town. But R3 smacks of one of those halfway 'courses' designed to placate divers who a) don't belong in the environment because they don't have the skill or b) to placate divers that have the outward skill but not the mindset needed for proper deep diving. Even the old RecTriox course made more sense than introducing some faux deco gas nonsense. I really like that the R3 deco gas is 32%. And one of the bottom gases is 30/30. Gunna switch from that 30% to 32%? Just kidding I think its dumb. Why even bother switching?
tl;dr: get some proper experience, don't chase cards, ignore rec3, take t1 when ready IF needed.
I hadn't realized that there were no failures in Rec 3. That does seem silly. And 32% as a deco gas IS silly, and they admit it; the purpose of the "deco gas" is to get used to carrying a bottle and doing switches using something you can't hurt yourself with. In many ways, the class is like a Primer for Tec 1.
LiteHedded
Contributor
what does rec 3 cost? is it the full deal 2000 dollar thing? or is it cheaper?
PfcAJ
Contributor
No, I meant you could get the card and practice at home and not hurt yourself.
I have no idea what Rec 3 costs. Every time I think I know what the classes cost, they raise the prices.
---------- Post added May 2nd, 2014 at 05:26 AM ----------
In discussion with GUE instructors -- there ARE failures in Rec 3. There is no air-gunning; the failures are signaled by hand signals. There are no cascading failures, and the intensity is milder than in T1. As I said, it's a T1 primer for people who aren't sure they want to do bigger dives, or aren't sure they're ready for T1.
I have no idea what Rec 3 costs. Every time I think I know what the classes cost, they raise the prices.
---------- Post added May 2nd, 2014 at 05:26 AM ----------
In discussion with GUE instructors -- there ARE failures in Rec 3. There is no air-gunning; the failures are signaled by hand signals. There are no cascading failures, and the intensity is milder than in T1. As I said, it's a T1 primer for people who aren't sure they want to do bigger dives, or aren't sure they're ready for T1.
West.Coast.Diver
Registered
Thanks for that - good suggestions. My plan is to advance in training as my skills develop. No real rush for certification cards for me...it's not like the SCUBA police are out there doing random spot checks. That said, I think it's important for paths to be set out for students, so they have a sense of where they are and where they can go. It needs to be said though, that experience and outcomes need to be more important than collecting cards.
Cheers!
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PfcAJ
Contributor
AJ, I know you aren't this bad in real life . . . all of your GUE classes may have come easily to you, but none of mine did, and I didn't TAKE Tech 1 because I was too nervous to try it. I'm sure there are a lot of people who would like to dip a toe in bottle carrying and failures management, before having to put it all together for T1 standards. Whether it is worth it to YOU to have a stepping stone class or not, it may be worth it to others.
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