Best time for training?

[LakerPride]

I spoke with the person that gave me the info about GUE, perhaps I misunderstood, he said what he was trying to get across to me was that GUE will not count the dives I make with the researcher. He said that in order to log them and progress through GUE levels I have to be diving the GUE system and the researcher does not. Since I am unfamiliar with cave practices, if the lead diver does not follow GUE does that mean I can't or shouldn't? How does his setup, and hence his practices determine my setup? I'll try Jim tomorrow between classes, thanks AJ.

 

[ucfdiver]

I spoke with the person that gave me the info about GUE, perhaps I misunderstood, he said what he was trying to get across to me was that GUE will not count the dives I make with the researcher. He said that in order to log them and progress through GUE levels I have to be diving the GUE system and the researcher does not. Since I am unfamiliar with cave practices, if the lead diver does not follow GUE does that mean I can't or shouldn't? How does his setup, and hence his practices determine my setup? I'll try Jim tomorrow between classes, thanks AJ.

Eh, GUE requires you to log a certain number of dives to renew your GUE certification every 5 years or so. No one is going to quiz you on if everyone was diving within GUE's recommendations.

There are a few things GUE teaches in cave that just don't work if everyone doesn't follow. For instance, everyone in the team drops a cookie at each navigational decision, and picks it up on the way out. This lets you know if your buddy has passed this point if you ever get split up. If only you drop a cookie (other agencies teach one arrow/cookie per team) then you lose that bit of feedback. With that being said, not every GUE certified diver follows GUE's recommendations 100% of the time outside of class, and GUE doesn't yank their cert. I have done sidemount dives with some of the GUE staff-- make no mistake it's not as standardized as back mount as taught by GUE, but I think any reasonable person understands sometimes you have to use the right tool for the job.

If you're ready to start tech diving, taking a GUE Fundamentals course would give you some education on the organization and would greatly benefit you even if you never take another GUE class. Doug Mudry, Meredith Tanguay and Mark Messersmith are in cave country and could schedule a Fundamentals course with you. I had finished NACD full cave, NAUI Trimix 1 and had around 200 cave dives before I took Fundamentals with Meredith Tanguay and I still feel I got more improvement in my skills out of that class than any other scuba class I've taken. PfcAJ could give a first hand account of Mark Messersmith's teaching as he took a class with him.

If you don't want to go the GUE route, I strongly recommend Heather Armstrong or Dan Patterson for cave training. (Not to dismiss the two you previously mentioned, they have excellent reputations, I just don't have any first hand account of their teaching)

 

[moody s]

I think you should factor in the style of diving you want to do. Edd's great but if you aren't interested in sidemount is a sidemount guru the best choice for you? If you are interested in doing sidemount then scratch GUE off the list. I did not go the GUE route but have often dove with guys with what I shall call DIR tendencies, they started off in GUE but now dive with a few adaptations that they have picked up along the way, and I have never found them lacking in any respect when it comes to cave diving. There are a lot of good instructors out there any many teach a lot more than the curriculum, I had no idea that the 1 cookie per team member was a GUE thing as I was also taught this despite my training being from a variety of agencies (NACD for full cave, NSS-CDS for CCR cave, and IANTD for sidemount cave). Find a good instructor who you are comfortable with, if you aren't sure, then just take a cavern course with one and see how it goes, I think there is a huge value in taking cave courses from a variety of instructors and in a few different places and it will allow to maximize what can be learned. I have a mix of old school and new school training and have trained in both Florida and Mexico and think I am the better for it. For what it's worth my instructors were Paul H (a legend who needs no recommendations from anyone) and Patrick Widman who I think is one of the best explorers currently diving and a damn fine gear designer as well. If you need any further info or have questions feel free to PM me although I suspect there are far more experienced people on the boards than I. I would research on CDF more so than Scuba Board. Just my 2 cents.

 

[LakerPride]

I am interested in sidemount is-as-much as I have never tried it and would like to see what the fuss is all about. It has been recommended to me several times as occasionally I miss a dive because of my lower back. I currently dive with DIR tendencies myself as my dive buddies insisted before joining on ice dives and wreck penetrations. I have not heard back from Jim but like I said I will call again tomorrow. That said, I am certain I am at least going to take the GUE fundies then go from there.

 

[BabyDuck]

best time - winter to early spring, for florida. few bugs, generally lots of open sites, comfy temps for the most part. you've gotten some good recommendations for instructors. if you're on fb, you could friend the shops - cave country dive shop, extreme exposure adventure center, cave excursions, cave adventurers, dive outpost. then you get good intel on conditions and have the phone numbers easily to hand.

 

[FLSharkMagnet]

I would recommend you finish up for the season by February. In the case of this past spring, the rains came a little early to S Georgia and by the first week of March many of the caves were closed due to flooding in the Suwannee. However, the visibility is usually really good in the Marianna area (Merrit's Mill Pond) caves during the summer months--at a time when other FL caves can be sketchy.... There are a number of great instructors in the area, but you also need to take into account an instructor's style and personality.