Do you have to be GUE trained to be "DIR" ??

[liuk3]

I wouldn't get caught up with the whole DIR label. I'd just try to find the best dive instruction and system that works for me. That being said, I've been very happy with the GUE training I have undertaken and would highly recommend them. I don't use the DIR label for myself because I'm not so bold as to think I do it right all the time, rather I do the best that I can. I honestly don't really know what the DIR label really means anyway. Congrats on signing up for your Fundamentals class. I do think that it's a great dive class whether your aspirations are to become a better recreational diver or move to a technical one. Have fun!

 

[FishDiver]

There is a lot of information packed into a Fundies class. I think it would be difficult to gain the DIR mentality/skills without extensive mentoring and/or formal instruction. I tried.

I read the Fundies book, swapped to DIR equipment, dove with many DIR divers, watched GUE/DIR CD's, lurked in this forum for many months, asked a million questions and tried hard to mimic the techniques on the 5th DX demo CDs. These efforts all combined together into “DIRsih” diving .

I showed up to my class fully kitted out in DIR equipment, with bits and pieces of the skills/ philosophy, but learned quickly that a well tuned system doesn’t function properly without all its parts.

So--the instructors generously sorted me out in no time. In retrospect, I think it would have been much more efficient to just start with the class .

This sounds familiar. Maybe its time to break down and take the class.

 

[kathydee]

This sounds familiar. Maybe its time to break down and take the class.

Hey Jon,

That's great to hear! I bet you love it !!

 

[andercb1]

This sounds familiar. Maybe its time to break down and take the class.

Sounds familiar to me too!! That is why I am asking the questions I am. The main reason I asked is because I live in Texas and it is very expensive to spend weeks in Florida or California getting trained by UTD or GUE. I am going to take my fundies class this summer. But afterward I have come across some classes where I will be that are taught in a "DIR MANNER" but are taught by another agency. Some one in Texas needs to become a GUE instructor or one needs to move here. We are a big state with allot aspiring and current technical divers. There is money to be made here!!

 

[ScubaFeenD]

Sounds familiar to me too!! That is why I am asking the questions I am. The main reason I asked is because I live in Texas and it is very expensive to spend weeks in Florida or California getting trained by UTD or GUE. I am going to take my fundies class this summer. But afterward I have come across some classes where I will be that are taught in a "DIR MANNER" but are taught by another agency. Some one in Texas needs to become a GUE instructor or one needs to move here. We are a big state with allot aspiring and current technical divers. There is money to be made here!!

I was in your situation for awhile until i discovered the instructors around me (luckily, and with some help from other SBers)

So, I dont know of any more classes near me this year, but if you are ever interested in visiting the north east I can help you get set up with instruction in GUE. I, and many others, are up at a large local quarry there GUE trains around here, and I would be willing to help arrange to get you there and arrange for cheap housing.

Just an option for you, but I suppose Cali or florida is similarly close to you as well.

 

[diverdoug1]

When I started diving DIR, it was Hogarthian. I don't always dive DIR (but always when I am diving outside the normal range of recreational diving). I don't have GUE training.

 

[lobstah]

I live in Texas and it is very expensive to spend weeks in Florida or California getting trained by UTD or GUE

Both agencies have instructors who teach closer to you and many instructors will also travel to you if you approach them.
UTD Instructors - Unified Team Diving
GUE Instructors | Global Underwater Explorers

 

[TSandM]

As lobstah says, andercb1, your best bet is probably to put together a group of people who want to dive the way you do, and import an instructor. It isn't that expensive, if you have someone who can put the person up.

If you don't have any buddies who want to dive this way, you're going to be a lonely DIR diver

 

[kanonfodr]

As lobstah says, andercb1, your best bet is probably to put together a group of people who want to dive the way you do, and import an instructor. It isn't that expensive, if you have someone who can put the person up.

If you don't have any buddies who want to dive this way, you're going to be a lonely DIR diver

I will also agree that getting a group of divers wanting the training together and importing can be a much better idea than doing what I did and flying to the instructor for their class, under certain circumstances. For one you will be in familiar waters and that is a big cut off of the stress block.

I had no divers in the area that wanted to pursue the training so I dropped into California on my way back home from Texas to Hawaii and took an Essentials class. The experience was still superb and I learned a lot, but acclimating to the water conditions there just didn't happen. I was diving in a wetsuit in 56*f waters, I'm not a warm-blooded person by any means. But my team took great care of me and it allowed me to get a lot out of the class.

Now that I am trained and diving in my home water again (Hawaii), it gets pretty lonely sometimes. There is one other DIR diver here that I know, and we have gone diving together but our schedules rarely match. When I catch wind of another DIR diver visiting I always welcome them to join me for some great shore diving. But other than that, my regular crew is pretty Anti-DIR (so I gotta grin and bear it) or some pretty new divers who don't have a team mindset. It makes me super grateful for those visitors and the chances when me and my DIR buddy can get together.

In closing, I don't know of too many divers who cannot benefit in some way from DIR instruction, whichever agency they choose. But getting the full benefit; diving with team-minded divers, may not be fully realized if you are the only one in your area.

Peace,
Greg

 

[b1gcountry]

I think the most effective way to learn DIR is over the internet