Buddy breathing and GUE?

[CanadianDiverGirl]

I think that when they considered the GUE course curriculum they may assume that the divers engaging in this level of training already know and have practiced this skill. In the past, the majority of people taking the course were either dive professionals and other highly dedicated divers who were already versed in buddy breathing. But, more and more, with the growing popularity of DIR and GUE, they are seeing an increasing number of students taking DIRF right after OW.

Frankly, as with PADI, i think it is ridiculous that they don't teach buddy breathing in their regular curriculum, I didn't learn the skill until i took my divemaster.

My two cents, just my opinions and thoughts, not actual facts and research has gone into this post.

 

[Mako Mark]

Frankly, as with PADI, i think it is ridiculous that they don't teach buddy breathing in their regular curriculum, I didn't learn the skill until i took my divemaster.]

CanadianDiverGirl, the other buddy breathing thread degraded into a PADI vs the world bun fight, which is why this thread was split out. Lets try to keep this thread about the value of the skill rather than than whan ior if it should be taught.

.

 

[netmage]

CanadianDiverGirl, the other buddy breathing thread degraded into a PADI vs the world bun fight, which is why this thread was split out. Lets try to keep this thread about the value of the skill rather than than whan ior if it should be taught.

.

In this day and age at the recreational level the purpose of buddy breathing is replaced by the safe second, or octo. In the context of technical diving, for back gas, buddy breathing is replaced by the donation of the long hose.

I believe there is merit in making sure divers can buddy breathe sharing deco gas - as that is one scenerio where there is value, but then its not entirely life threatening, as proper planning should have dictated you also have a lost gas table and available gas.

While not GUE, I recently took Adv Nitrox/Deco from a DIR minded TDI instructor. We didn't drill on it during the live portions of a dive, but afterwards we went over to the shallows and he wanted to make sure we could share deco gas while hovering and not fighting over the reg.

 

[netmage]

But, more and more, with the growing popularity of DIR and GUE, they are seeing an increasing number of students taking DIRF right after OW.

IMO, sending a diver to DIRF immediate after OW is a mistake. Have em take OW, maybe immediately after AOW. Get 30-40 dives under your belt, if you've got the basics down, DIRF.

I put the 30-40 dives out there as a symbolic number of the curve I assume it takes 'most' divers to get absolutely comfortable in the water and control bouyancy, fin technique and breathing. If they went into DIRF for dives numbers 5-8, they'd get their head handed to them and likely give up the sport.

 

[FreeFloat]

I put the 30-40 dives out there as a symbolic number of the curve I assume it takes 'most' divers to get absolutely comfortable in the water and control bouyancy, fin technique and breathing. If they went into DIRF for dives numbers 5-8, they'd get their head handed to them and likely give up the sport.

I took DIR-F after accumulating about 70 dives on my OW card, and still had my 'head' handed to me. A couple of us (including a buddy with twice as many logged dives, and an AOW ticket) nearly gave up diving anyway! (We no longer felt qualified to even conduct a bathtub dive)

 

[detroit diver]

I have to strongly disagree with you here (and so would most of the instructors that I have spoken to). When you are a new diver, you have not practiced all the wrong techniques that seasoned divers have done. The poor techniques are not ingrained into your "dive style". The instructors are basically starting w/ a clean slate, and can mold your diving into the DIR system without having to unlearn the bad stuff.

As for "handing you your head", it all depends on what you want to get out of this class. If you're there to collect a DIR c-card, then I think you've got the wrong kind of class. If you're there to learn new skills that you can use in advancing your diving, then, IMHO, that is the attitude you should be taking.

Dive safe.

IMO, sending a diver to DIRF immediate after OW is a mistake. Have em take OW, maybe immediately after AOW. Get 30-40 dives under your belt, if you've got the basics down, DIRF.

I put the 30-40 dives out there as a symbolic number of the curve I assume it takes 'most' divers to get absolutely comfortable in the water and control bouyancy, fin technique and breathing. If they went into DIRF for dives numbers 5-8, they'd get their head handed to them and likely give up the sport.

 

[MASS-Diver]

IMO, sending a diver to DIRF immediate after OW is a mistake. Have em take OW, maybe immediately after AOW. Get 30-40 dives under your belt, if you've got the basics down, DIRF.

I put the 30-40 dives out there as a symbolic number of the curve I assume it takes 'most' divers to get absolutely comfortable in the water and control bouyancy, fin technique and breathing. If they went into DIRF for dives numbers 5-8, they'd get their head handed to them and likely give up the sport.

I strongly disagree - why waste time learning bad habits? Just about everyone gets their heads handed to the fundies, I think it's harder to deal with (realizing how poor your skills are) if you have a lot of dives. If you a new, you probably would not feel as bad.


DIR-f teaches you the basics. I say take it ASAP after your OW, I sure wish I had.

 

[MHK]

I think that when they considered the GUE course curriculum they may assume that the divers engaging in this level of training already know and have practiced this skill.

I think I might be in a slightly unique position when it comes to what we considered during the formation of the DIR-F course curriculm ;-)

I don't want this to sound condescending or inflamatory in any way, but the reality of the DIR-F class is that it was an unintended byproduct of many students that were signing up for advanced level training, but yet lacked basic skills, hence the name of the class "fundamentals". In reality the way we approach the teaching, and the course curriculm, of this class is to assume that the student knows nothing, and then we start with bare bone minimums. That is true whether the student has 10,000 dives or 10 dives. By leveling the playing field, the easiest way to communicate how we do things is to assume the student doesn't know anything and start from scratch.

Hope that helps clarify the issue.

Regards,

Michael Kane

 

[MASS-Diver]

 

[Mako Mark]

In reality the way we approach the teaching, and the course curriculm, of this class is to assume that the student knows nothing,

Thanks Michael, I think that this is the proper way to approach tech and tech based training. Assume nothing, check everything.

Now tell us what you think about buddy breathing, and from your unique perspective how does it fit into the DIR philosophy.

It seems the only real situation that it would be useful in would be in the event of a lost deco mix right?

Has anyone on this thread actually encountered this situation. I personally have not, but could see the possibility that someone would prefer to share deco gas rather than switch to deco on back gas.