Best practices of GUE versus other dive programs ?

[boulderjohn]

Could someone list what gear I need to replace so I can dive with the other "90% of divers in the world"?

Pretty much anything except the backplate and wing with a long hose primary and bungeed secondary. Only a tiny portion of the world's divers use them (including me, BTW), but on ScubaBoard it seems to be about 60%.

 

[stevensamler]

This is why GUE and UTD not only teach you to dive but also build a dive community of like minded divers. I always wanted to have myself as my dive buddy. GUE and UTD will give me that.

That's why most GUE divers dive with other GUE divers , it's cool to travel half way around the globe to find a GUE community and dive knowing you're going too dive with someone who has trained the same , use standard gas , rec/tech profiles , deco obligations are all the same and thinking on the same page on time.

 

[Ayisha]

That's why most GUE divers dive with other GUE divers , it's cool to travel half way around the globe to find a GUE community and dive knowing you're going too dive with someone who has trained the same , use standard gas , rec/tech profiles , deco obligations are all the same and thinking on the same page on time.

You could even arrange to arrive half way around the world without travelling with gear and a whole set of gear will be ready for you to use, by GUE divers in the area. Happens quite a lot. The sense of community is pretty amazing.

 

[Ayisha]

Exactly what I was thinking. The lack of flexibility is GUE's biggest weakness in my opinion...

I believe that is their biggest strength and allows them to maintain their quality standards.

PADI has estimated that it certifies 80% of the world's OW divers, but many people think they are purposely underestmating with that figure to avoid potential monopoly issues. Some people believe the total is closer to 90%...

There's no question that perhaps most of us were originally trained by PADI, and that is not an issue here. Many of us, however, chose to pursue further training that we did not choose to pursue through PADI, such as training through TDI, SSI, GUE, UTD, RAID, and so on.

 

[Trace Malinowski]

You could even arrange to arrive half way around the world without travelling with gear and a whole set of gear will be ready for you to use, by GUE divers in the area. Happens quite a lot. The sense of community is pretty amazing.

Back in the 80's that was called the ScubaPro rental package at most resorts. Geez! I'm old. I traveled with my own gear even though you could pretty much just show up and get quality dive gear rigged what was across the board standard back in the day.

 

[taimen]

I am in a CMAS club and I assure you that it has no comparison. I’ve done both by the way.

CMAS regulation is quite loose. National federations modify the standards, and individual clubs training under CMAS may exceed them freely. I have seen this fantastic OW course (certifying with CMAS a card) that essentially included everything Fundies and/or Rec1 does, and it was taught by very enthusiastic instructors who are technical divers. So it does happen.
I have chosen GUE path myself, but I think most of the good stuff can and should be ported to "general" OW training quite easily.

 

[huwporter]

Do people think that GUE people explode if they touch a jacket BCD or something?

I'm GUE trained to Tech 2 plus and Cave 2, and I'm still happy to dive in rental gear when I get a chance to fit in a dive on holiday when I don't have my gear with me; I've also happily dived with instabuddies in a BPW/long hose setup, I just make sure to have a slightly more thorough buddy check with them than they are expecting...

 

[AJ]

^
This

GUE divers take their skills allways with them, not always their gear

 

[Ryan Mcshane]

Do people think that GUE people explode if they touch a jacket BCD or something?

I'm GUE trained to Tech 2 plus and Cave 2, and I'm still happy to dive in rental gear when I get a chance to fit in a dive on holiday when I don't have my gear with me; I've also happily dived with instabuddies in a BPW/long hose setup, I just make sure to have a slightly more thorough buddy check with them than they are expecting...

I touched a jacket BCD once and my hand fell off.

 

[Dogbowl]

I touched a jacket BCD once and my hand fell off.

That’s ok. As far as I know, GUE divers have the ability to reconstitute.