gue accepting certs from another organisation, experiences?

[KevinNM]

I got a rec pass in a WS and single and a provisional a few months later in doubles & DS. It's harder. S drills with a light are more complex, double valve drills are a complex series of things you have to do correctly. Then for the tech pass the angle and depth requirements are significantly tighter and you overall have a lot less margin for doing things "good enough".

However you also need to keep in mind that fundamentals is a team exercise. If everyone works as a team a lot of things are much easier. If you get task loaded (and you will) and start to drift depth during an exercise your teammate can and should be getting your attention to that, and you need to do the same thing for them. This is not just a nice to do thing, it's very important to the instructors (and hence your passing or not) that you are part of the team and see what is going on and help them out, and vice versa.

I suspect that no matter how great you skills are that if you just watch passively as your less skilled teammates float haplessly to the surface or sink into the muck that the instructor will not be giving you a tech pass.

 

[Beiji]

It can take a while to become comfortable in doubles and a drysuit. If I were you, I would take Fundamentals in a single tank and wetsuit, and after that take the GUE drysuit class and the GUE doubles class.

Try not to become overly concerned about the kind of pass you get or even passing. Unless you get mentoring before class, you will be learning a lot of new stuff, and it can take some people quite a while to comfortably incorporate the new stuff into their diving. I went into my Fundies class with a lot of dives using a drysuit and doubles, but I had also picked up a lot of bad habits over the years. I took a provisional, and three months later was very happy to get a recreational pass.

Your instructor will give you lots of feedback and will let you know if you are on the path to a tech pass.

 

[beester]

Getting back to the original question: I also know a GUE diver who skipped T1 and got a waiver to go straight to T2. Fact that he was already C2 and normoxic Tx from another agency might have alleviated some concerns

 

[bradells]

Hmmm, my question opened up another can of worms. I've never donned a dry suit or doubles before. Should I go ahead and take an outside dry suit specialty class before I sign up for Fundamentals?

Take fundamentals in whatever you are diving now (provided it meets the equipment requirements).

If thats singles and a wet suit, that.

You can always go back and do a checkout dive later for an upgraded rating.

Doubles aren't too hard to get used too, but a drysuit is! Especially if you haven't gotten it down before fundies.

If you have quite a number of dives between now and fundies, no harm in taking a few days to learn how to use the drysuit, and what you need to know about doubles (and then prepare with enough time if you can't reach the valves due to mobility) and then dive dive dive to get proficient in it.

BRad

 

[beester]

Hmmm, my question opened up another can of worms. I've never donned a dry suit or doubles before. Should I go ahead and take an outside dry suit specialty class before I sign up for Fundamentals?

Like said above, the only thing you need to take into fundies is an open mind and familiarity with the equipment you are diving now! No use going into fundies with a cable light, drysuit or doubleset if you are not yet accustomed diving that equipment. During my fundies a while back one of the guys in my team had less than 5 dives on a double set and of course it showed (he basically lended it from his girlfriend who was already T1-C1 at that time). He got a provisional... and took the full course again a year later after having dived a lot in his drysuit and doubles and got a tec rating on 2nd try.

My wife will take fundies this spring... she's a diver since 2008 and has about 400 dives in and finally bit the bullet. So I put her in a drysuit, and put her in a bp/wing, setup her gear, gave her my old cable light, set her up with new heavy jetfins, etc... And it works... I won't drill with her, just dive... but by the time she's doing fundies she'll have 50 dives in her new gear... and will enjoy it.

 

[AJ]

So no advantage in having both. It's better to shoot straight for Tech Pass. Thanks.

My advice: aim for a very good training, learn new skills and see what level comes out. Fundies is very different from other certifications imo. You really have to earn your cert. No matter how experienced you may be, these instructors will push you to your edge and beyond. Those four days were more intense than all the rest of my training but made me a much better diver than I could ever have imagined on forehand.

 

[C Dub]

Hmmm, my question opened up another can of worms. I've never donned a dry suit or doubles before. Should I go ahead and take an outside dry suit specialty class before I sign up for Fundamentals?

I'd recommend that you do what I did:
1. Fundies in wetsuit and single tank - Rec pass
2. GUE Drysuit class
3. GUE Doubles class
4. Practice fundies skills a lot in Tec configuration
5. Fundies Tec pass check out dive

 

[PfcAJ]

I'd recommend that you do what I did:
1. Fundies in wetsuit and single tank - Rec pass
2. GUE Drysuit class
3. GUE Doubles class
4. Practice fundies skills a lot in Tec configuration
5. Fundies Tec pass check out dive

GUE instructors LOVE you

That's a lot of classes...

 

[C Dub]

GUE instructors LOVE you

That's a lot of classes...

Haha, well, 3 classes. But I was quite rough and inexperienced, I needed the training and lots of practice in between.

 

[decompression]

Hey Cdub, free helium for sending students my way.........