DIR- Generic Fundies as a first encounter with doubles

[wKkaY]

IMHO a Fundies class is not the best place to try out any new significant equipment if you actually want to experience the full skills development of the class.

Agreed - fundies is more than just about equipment, buoyancy, and trim ... IMO what sets it apart is that it also develops higher order skills like planning, communication, teamwork, situational awareness, etc.

 

[happy-diver]

DIR-Übungen / Ventilmanagement

 

[TUH]

I totally understand the reservation to attend a class in new equipment, and it good advice for most classes. However, my understanding of fundies is, well, to get the fundamental parts right. Fundies is not an advanced class. Mind, fundies can be very tough though, but that is because there is so much information and such a high level of detail to anything (gear setup, skills, buoyancy).
Diving monos or twins is not so much different, if your equipment is set up right, and with that you will certainly get help during the class. You will undergo the same basic equipment setup during class whether you dove twins before or not and chances are that there will be changes to your setup regardless. I don't think it is particularly heplfull to practice befor class in a sub-optimal setup. If the drysuit would be the new piece of equipment, I would aggree that you do yourself and your buddies no favour at all.

That said, I see you are from Switzerland and if you happen to be based in the Zurich area, you can borrow my d12 if you want to give them a try first.

 

[KevinNM]

Fundies is hard enough using equipment you are very familiar with. Adding stuff that is new to you isn’t improving your ability to master the core skills. For example, the valve drill in a single is trivial. It takes quite a lot of repetitions for most people to master doing a doubles valve drill correctly staying flat and keeping your depth inside the window.

 

[Ayisha]

Agreed - fundies is more than just about equipment, buoyancy, and trim ... IMO what sets it apart is that it also develops higher order skills like planning, communication, teamwork, situational awareness, etc.

Definitely. In my estimation, you have the first day to get buoyancy, trim, and precise control figured out in addition to practicing propulsion, valve drills, and minimum gas descents/ascents (graduated descents/ascents).
If you need much more time than that to maintain trim and buoyancy windows while maintaining team awareness and communication, all while task loaded, you will cut into the other skills you would normally go on to. Before they add task loading, the team needs to be stable or you'll stay on Day 1 or 2 skills.

I mentioned above the effect of new gear and/or environment on a course I helped out on - none of them got to S-Drills or SMB's on the 3rd day, while one did not even get to the basic 5 u/w on the 3rd day. They were almost all too preoccupied with figuring out the new gear/environment to progress, and there was an excessive amount of individual attention needed.

May I say that one of the most useful things you can do before Fundies is to do all the readings and complete all the worksheets. If even one person has not done the homework and is having difficulty grasping the math and physics in each formula and lecture, it adds hours to the day and potentially reduces the dive time. The Instructor was incredibly patient and understanding, but everyone lost hours of dive time.