Differences Between UTD and GUE

[TSandM]

If you think Nitrox suffices for dives below 100 feet, you haven't been in Ginnie with me on 32% . . . I guarantee you that you want me breathing something with helium in it!

 

[LiteHedded]

it's 'ginnie gas'. but i dive the nfl caves all the time so I'm ok with it.
seems kinda limiting for the rest of the folks tho.

 

[ucfdiver]

it's 'ginnie gas'. but i dive the nfl caves all the time so I'm ok with it.
seems kinda limiting for the rest of the folks tho.

I know some people who like using it at Madison since DPV's aren't allowed and sometimes you're forced to do a double/triple stage dive. I think if I were doing more than 2 stages at manatee I'd use 30/30 or 18/45 to get some of those bottles lighter.

I just wish PFCAJ would leave the country already so we'd have his scooter and could plan some longer dives where we'd have a use for high helium mixes in NFL caves?

 

[PfcAJ]

You're never going back to Manatee, James. Lets be real

 

[ucfdiver]

You're never going back to Manatee, James. Lets be real

Let me babysit your scooter and we'll see

One scooter at Manatee makes for a silly dive anyways. All you get is crappy viz and a tiny teaser of the clear water that's beyond the milk/sewer tunnels.

 

[LiteHedded]

Let me babysit your scooter and we'll see

One scooter at Manatee makes for a silly dive anyways. All you get is crappy viz and a tiny teaser of the clear water that's beyond the milk/sewer tunnels.

maybe that's what YOU get
we'll have more fun next time. when ur light dies on that dive you can scooter 10000 feet on a scout instead of 4 or 5 like last time

 

[ucfdiver]

maybe that's what YOU get
we'll have more fun next time. when ur light dies on that dive you can scooter 10000 feet on a scout instead of 4 or 5 like last time

That will make a better story for the kids one day.

 

[theriel]

Hmmm I will allow myself to ask a small question as regards the main subject:

Do UTD and GUE recognise each other's certifications? E.g. if you do GUE-F, can you start advanced UTD courses and vice-versa?

 

[Rainer]

With some possible "it could maybe be done" exceptions:

UTD recognizes GUE's. GUE does not recognize UTD's.

Hmmm I will allow myself to ask a small question as regards the main subject:

Do UTD and GUE recognise each other's certifications? E.g. if you do GUE-F, can you start advanced UTD courses and vice-versa?

 

[FreeFloat]

...As far as the training goes IMO there was a world of difference. With UTD the instructor physically removed masks, turned off valves, removed wing dump valves, etc. etc. ...

Forgive me for straying just slightly off topic... your quote (above) reminded me of something.

First, a touch of background: I was certified in '03, did my first 100 dives in 8 months, logged my 150th a little after a year from my cert date. Then my diving rate started to decline until I was scarcely doing a dive every two months... largely coincidental with my relocation to a very expensive city in which GOOD diving is extremely scarce. So now I've returned to an extremely diving-friendly city, where I was originally certified, and am enthused about getting back in the water.

So I log back onto SB for the first time in a couple of years, to find this new UTD organization running alongside the GUE/DIR I'm familiar with (having taken DIR-F in 2004).

In short, your post above sounds a lot like my original OW pool training - except for the buoyancy part. We were "encouraged" to remain hovering with good trim, but were not required. However, our instructor DID turn off valves, steal masks, play keep-away with primary second stages, etc. In a controlled environment, of course. I remember posting the story about it on SB, and a lot of other divers were horrified (I was so naive about the dive community back then) but to this day I feel that immediate problem-solving like that is crucial to the development of self-sufficient divers. (story link: "Stress Time")

For the record, my OW instructor was not DIR-trained, and I do not believe his agency necessarily endorsed this particular training method (if they were even aware). He was, however, fully tech and cave trained (from what I understood at the time) and his personal portfolio included cave and tech dives and total "logged" dives in the hundreds if not thousands.