Fundies cost?

[Rick Inman]

... no matter how well you do on skills, you will get a "rec" pass.

Well, I like your positive attitude, but you can also get a "provisional" (or so I've been told ).

 

[Gombessa]

Well, I like your positive attitude, but you can also get a "provisional" (or so I've been told ).

You can outright fail too, from what I heard. But reading Lynne's post, it seems she means that if you take the class in singles or without a can light, the highest pass rating you can achieve is a rec pass, even if you're the gilled, unholy, unconsummated offspring of GI3.

 

[TSandM]

I lost interest when I found out its $500, and you're required to have (buy or rent) specific equipment that I don't own and I am unwilling to buy (when I have perfectly serviceable equipment now).

Well, the standardized equipment is one of the central principles of DIR diving, and although they have changed the name to GUE-F, it's still the introduction to the DIR approach.

I've taken three GUE classes, and their prices are always at the high end of what's around, and I have not a single complaint about paying them. (And in at least one case, I have a direct comparison with the same class given through a different agency.)

 

[Bismark]

Well, I like your positive attitude, but you can also get a "provisional" (or so I've been told ).

Lynne is correct.

If you do not use a can light in your course, you will not be considered for a tech pass or a tech provisional pass, regardless of your skill level. The can light thing is a show stopper. I know of two instances in (I was present in both cases) where the student did the course in doubles but in one case, did not use a canister light and received a tech pass, and in the second case, was provided with a canister light for the last dive of the course, demonstrated proficiency managing the light cord, and received a tech pass. You can upgrade your rec pass to a tech pass, but in order to do so you have to demonstrate skills to the tech standard (doubles valve drill, higher standard for trim, etc,) as well as proficiency with the canister light. I was recently present in another course where two students wished to upgrade from rec to tech passes, and did the "graduation dive" in full tech gear, demonstrated the skills required, and achieved the tech upgrade.

 

[CuriousRambler]

$500 doesn't seem too bad to me, since I paid around $300 for my AOW that was all but $300 spent for a few "fun" dives with no real learning value, other than rental regulators have a tendency to freeze up and freeflow when you're sitting in 27* water at 110'. Of all the reports I've read written by those who have taken the fundies course, it sounds like a MUCH better value for the money.

Bismark, thanks for the heads up on fundies incorporating nitrox, I wasn't aware of that. I've already paid for the class and it's set for tomorrow, but I'll talk to the instructor when I get there, maybe flip the money into something to carry out of the shop and squeeze into my gear bag

 

[orange_diver]

There are a couple very solid Fundies instructors here in SoCal, Michael Kane was mentioned also i believe Karim Hamza from Hollywood Divers is now a Fundies instructor, but as an alternative, since you are local, you may want to consider doing a similar class such as taught by Andy Huber at Ocean Adventures in Venice.

Andy is strictly DIR and holds solid GUE credentials but not as an instructor -- he teaches thru IANTD and TDI. My team and I have been training with Andy for about 2 years now, and he brought us all from very average rec divers to the IANTD/TDI equivalent of GUE Tech 1. It's been a slow but very rewarding experience.

The great thing is you get a ton of face and ocean time with an instructor that is there whenever you need him. It becomes more like a mentoring situation than a class that's over in 3 or 4 days. If you don't give up, then Andy won't either.

The only disadvantage is that if you are dead set on pursuing further training solely thru GUE and no other organization, then you must do Fundies. Here in SoCal, being so close to Monterey where you can get excellent training from Andrew Georgitsis thru Naui Tech, that wasn't an issue for my team. (in case you don't know he used to be GUE's Training Director). Plus there are some excellent cave instructors in both MX (so close to us) and FL that are not GUE but very DIR friendly.

Feel free to PM me if you want any further info. Whatever path you choose you will be a much better diver for it.

 

[CuriousRambler]

Thanks for offering an alternative, I appreciate the info. I'll probably end up going through GUE for my fundies though, simply because once I get out of the military I most likely won't be around the area to continue pursuing any relationships with a specific instructor, which makes following an organization much easier. I might have to get a can light together though before I dip into fundies, or find one to rent/borrow for a week..

 

[TSandM]

Agency politics aside, you will benefit from Fundies. Even if you go on, as Rick Inman did, to do all your technical instruction elsewhere.

I have been recently in correspondence with a tech instructor from another (other) agency/ies. He has talked about his curriculum, which includes a significant amount of deep air diving, simply because they fear putting divers on helium when they haven't developed the control to do deep ascents, which dealing with issues, without any buoyancy problems.

One of the things about Fundies is that, if you PASS, you have demonstrated a degree of control in the water, and tolerance of task loading, and maintenance of situational awareness, that most other agencies do not expect of their entry level divers. Even if you go on to Cave 1 or Tech 1 equivalent with another agency, you will be ahead of the curve.

Money spent on Fundies is almost never misspent, IMO.

 

[NudeDiver]

If you take a look at the instructor list, you will see that there are not very many GUE instructors in the USA. If you live somewhere where there is no instructor, you will either have to import one, or travel.

Yeah - we have one local, so I didn't think much about it. I guess I would have thought it more common to go to the instructor, rather than bring the instructor to you - but I guess not

As for the equipment requirement, this is the DIR forum, so you might get a couple of comments about that part of your post..........

I didn't comment on the worthiness of the eq requirements. Merely my financial reality.

 

[NudeDiver]

Well, the standardized equipment is one of the central principles of DIR diving, and although they have changed the name to GUE-F, it's still the introduction to the DIR approach.

Well, I know. My point was more along the lines of, the class is kinda empty if you don't have the equipment, and if you can't afford the equipment, why take the class? From past experience, receiving training one isn't going to put to use any time soon is not effective. Better to wait for the training until you're able to use it - in this case, I define that as being able to buy the equipment you're training to use. Further, since I know a bit part of the philo is same gear and training as buddy - now you're talking all costs times two (for my wife) - putting even further off my financial reality radar