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Speaking out of turn as a non-GUE diver, but I would hazard a guess that you'll get more out of T1 if you take C1 first since more skills apply from Cave into Trimix vs. the other way around.
Edit from the comments below.
Note the careful wording that you'll get more out of T1 if you take C1 first. IMO if you go into T1 right after something like Fundies then it just becomes Fundies + extra bottle, obviously over simplified, but you're still focusing a lot on the basic skills of diving and you will miss a lot of the nuances that you could be getting from that class. Depends on your primary goals for diving and which one you will be doing more of.
Edit from the comments below.
Note the careful wording that you'll get more out of T1 if you take C1 first. IMO if you go into T1 right after something like Fundies then it just becomes Fundies + extra bottle, obviously over simplified, but you're still focusing a lot on the basic skills of diving and you will miss a lot of the nuances that you could be getting from that class. Depends on your primary goals for diving and which one you will be doing more of.
Most GUE instructors I've talked to say it doesn't really matter which one you take first.
If you're planning on taking both either way, then maybe just do what is more convenient for you. I don't know where you are in your diving progression right now - do you have a tech pass, are you confident - but there is something to be said for starting with what is locally available so you have time to hone your skills without the pressure of time or travel. And then when you're more experienced and skilled, do the course you have to travel for, that will put more pressure on you to perform and complete the course within the planned time slot.
Personally, I took T1 first, as it was locally available, easier to practice and more "useful" for local diving. And I'm very happy that I did. It was challenging, but being in a very familiar environment made it easier to focus on learning the skills.
After T1, traveling to Mexico to do C1, I was very glad to have the T1 training. The environment was new and overwhelming, and while there were new skills to learn - line protocols and reading the cave - I already had a solid grasp on the basics and all of the manifold failures, as well as some training with a reel. That made it a lot easier to focus on the new skills and navigate the environment while being task loaded. It also meant I was never scared of failing the class or stress over the cost of redoing the class later.
I see @tbone1004 advising the opposite, which I guess just shows that either progression is viable. So I think that brings me back to just doing what is more convenient, and possibly keeping in mind the advantage of starting out locally to have more time to hone your skills as you progress.
If you're planning on taking both either way, then maybe just do what is more convenient for you. I don't know where you are in your diving progression right now - do you have a tech pass, are you confident - but there is something to be said for starting with what is locally available so you have time to hone your skills without the pressure of time or travel. And then when you're more experienced and skilled, do the course you have to travel for, that will put more pressure on you to perform and complete the course within the planned time slot.
Personally, I took T1 first, as it was locally available, easier to practice and more "useful" for local diving. And I'm very happy that I did. It was challenging, but being in a very familiar environment made it easier to focus on learning the skills.
After T1, traveling to Mexico to do C1, I was very glad to have the T1 training. The environment was new and overwhelming, and while there were new skills to learn - line protocols and reading the cave - I already had a solid grasp on the basics and all of the manifold failures, as well as some training with a reel. That made it a lot easier to focus on the new skills and navigate the environment while being task loaded. It also meant I was never scared of failing the class or stress over the cost of redoing the class later.
I see @tbone1004 advising the opposite, which I guess just shows that either progression is viable. So I think that brings me back to just doing what is more convenient, and possibly keeping in mind the advantage of starting out locally to have more time to hone your skills as you progress.
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I would do T1 first. You can practice those skills locally much easier both before and after class. Then a year after T1 you'll have a broader & more familiar base to build on once you travel for a class which then has legit time pressure feels on it. C1 will feel much easier with T1 and ~30-50 T1 dives under your belt.
Rich1280
Contributor
Do what you think you'll use most and easiest. We did T1 with a view to C1 next to round out our diving. We're now CCR2 and still saying we'll get to C1 at some point when we get chance. In the UK I can dive ocean and wrecks all around, but caves (or mines) is a dedicated trip.
No doubt we'll make the trip at some point, but in the meantime I've got undived wrecks and projects easily accessible we can drive to.
Do the diving you can do the most of and enjoy easily, because that's what will keep you diving. If it has to become "a thing" then it's easy to prioritise other things over it.
Rich
No doubt we'll make the trip at some point, but in the meantime I've got undived wrecks and projects easily accessible we can drive to.
Do the diving you can do the most of and enjoy easily, because that's what will keep you diving. If it has to become "a thing" then it's easy to prioritise other things over it.
Rich
My experience (Vancouver Island T1 course) is that the reel is primarily there as a tool to add task loading. It was explicitly billed as not a line-running workshop - we spent about 30 minutes on dry land messing about with the reel, and then for most of the skills dives, we tied off the reel to a cinder block at 10m and ran the line out into the sand. While we were running the reel out, some bubbles would undoubtedly appear, and then we'd have to deal with the failures while also not getting wrapped up in the line.
In reality, we were taught enough about using a reel that if you descended a shot line in poor viz and couldn't find the wreck, you could handle tying off the reel and run a line over the sand while looking for your target. There was zero practice of running a line through any kind of complex environment, and I think we only practiced a secondary tie-off or a final tie-off once each.
T1 isn't a wreck penetration course. Reel skills taught are fairly limited and focused mainly on navigation.
Even T2 is similar. For our final experience dive the boat captain dropped the shot line out of sight of the target wreck in Puget Sound (bad visibility) and so we had to tie in a reel and swim around in a search pattern to find it. But we didn't go inside.
Even T2 is similar. For our final experience dive the boat captain dropped the shot line out of sight of the target wreck in Puget Sound (bad visibility) and so we had to tie in a reel and swim around in a search pattern to find it. But we didn't go inside.
I took C1 first because my primary interest is caves, and I live within driving distance of caves, so it was a no-brainer. I still have not taken T1, but had all things been equal, I suppose T1 first might have had benefits later for C1.
In C1 the simulated gas failures felt like a disproportionately large part of the course, given how rare those are relative to the skills you will use in every cave dive. (Yes, yes, when one occurs you had better be ready to handle it, coolly.) It occurred to me how wonderful it would have been to have already been exposed to the skill of handling failures before starting C1. C1 would have been a piece of cake (well, as much as any GUE course could be, I suppose).
In C1 the simulated gas failures felt like a disproportionately large part of the course, given how rare those are relative to the skills you will use in every cave dive. (Yes, yes, when one occurs you had better be ready to handle it, coolly.) It occurred to me how wonderful it would have been to have already been exposed to the skill of handling failures before starting C1. C1 would have been a piece of cake (well, as much as any GUE course could be, I suppose).
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