gue fundies pre reqs

[liuk3]

There's no pre-requesite number of dives for Fundamentals. I don't think that you really need to prepare and drill for the class. I didn't do any drilling at all. The problem is that if you try to drill for the class, you may be drilling or practicing the skills improperly without adequate instruction.

I found some buddies who had gone through GUE Fundamentals and dove with them for fun. I would just do a lot of fun diving to increase your comfort in the level. It would be good to already be in the backplate and wing and have someone help you with the long hose configuration of the rig. The only other thing I would recommend is just practice staying still in good trim and looking at things when you are on your fun dives. It's not drilling, but rather just trying to stay still and look at that moray eel or fish in the water while you are diving for fun. If you have trouble staying still and looking at things in the water, you may want to consider taking the GUE Primer course first before taking Fundamentals. The only reason I mention this ability to stay still in the water is because they demonstrate skills underwater, and if you can't stay still to watch them then you might miss out on the demonstrations.

I took the class in a single tank and received a recreational pass. I bought a set of doubles the following week after my class. A month later, I rechecked to receive my technical endorsement in Fundamentals. The cool thing about GUE is that all their standards and requirements for the class are publicly disclosed on their website, so you can figure out what you exactly need for the class. Good luck with it and have fun!

Edit: I'd also just bring an attitude of learning as much as possible rather than passing or failing. When I went through, I wasn't trying to pass anything, rather I was just trying to learn as much as possible. I think that the people who put so much pressure to pass end up going through the class with a lot of undue self-imposed stress. Takes away a lot of the fun of the class. Just bring a good attitude.

 

[wedivebc]

This becomes problematic for people who either have to travel a long way to take the class, or are flying an instructor in at great cost. This leads to the phenomenon of people trying to learn everything that is in the class from somebody else before they take it, so they can just march through and demonstrate what they know and get their pass to go on to Tech 1 or Cave 1. It's not a good use of what are usually some very good, talented and motivated instructors.

And that Lynne, has been the experience of many of the disillusioned DIRs I have met. I know the situation is improving with better proliferation of instructors.
Nowhere did I say don't take fundies, I do say don't rush into fundies if you expect to pass.

Merry Christmas

 

[liuk3]

Shouldn't this thread be moved to basic scuba rather than technical diving specialties section? Fundamentals is not a technical dive class.

 

[StreetDoctor]

I think you should get quite a few dives with the equipment you will be using and get some mentoring before you enroll in fundies.
GUE fundies is NOT a class, it is a final exam. You will pay a lot of money only to find out you failed due to lack of preparation. Do a poll on this or any forum and ask how many people passed fundies first time out. Very few from my observation. I was interested in taking fundies but by that time I had been diving technical for quite a few years but I wanted to learn the secret of how they teach so much in so little time. Well I ended up saving the $600 fee and learned the secret anyway. The secret is they don't teach squat. You are expected to know all these skills and techniques going in then you get evaluated by an instructor who explains why you failed to miserably.

Someone sounds like there ego got bruised because they couldn't hack it... The perception some of the people on this board give fundies really is laughable, especially those of you who haven't even taken it! Fundies is a great class and you will learn a LOT, if you put the effort into it. FYI everyone in my fundies class passed 1st try with Tech passes

 

[Gombessa]

FYI everyone in my fundies class passed 1st try with Tech passes

to be fair, it seems like you fit wedivebc's alleged model to the letter; didn't your team prepare and drill extensively for the goal of tech-passing on first try?

I think that Lynne, as usual, hit the nail on the head. If you come into the class without any preparation, with the goal of getting a "pass," you may likely fail in that goal. If your goal however is to "learn," most people i've talked to who have also taken the class agree that fundies is by far the best, most bang for the buck they've ever gotten in a scuba class. My diving improved immeasurably in the dives immediately following the class, as I really got to apply and implement what I learned during the 4-5 days of the class.

Like many, I would have loved it to be a 10-15 day program and have the instructor personally tutor me to mastery of the skills learned, but ideal world aside, it was what I learned and not whether I got a card at the end that really gave me respect and admiration for the program.

 

[TSandM]

NOBODY passes Fundies the first time through with a tech pass, without having had some instruction or mentoring and a lot of practice beforehand. Streetdoctor, you have to admit you had some really good resources before the class. Raising people's expectations of breezing through with a tech pass is really unfair, unless they've had the kind of background you had.

On the other hand, if you go into it with the view that it is a CLASS, and you are there to LEARN things from a good instructor with great diving skills, it's an incredibly valuable experience.

The great thing about Fundies is that, with the exception of Nitrox if you haven't already got that, it doesn't give you the ability to do anything you couldn't do before. Unlike Tech 1 or Cave 1, it doesn't really MATTER if you pass the class when you take it. You can still go diving and have a great time while you are working on mastering the Fundies skills. And when you are ready, you can reeval and get your pass, if you have the ambition to take GUE technical classes.

I used to see quite a few people take Fundies who had no technical aspirations. I wish more people still did that. Learning better buoyancy control, control of one's trim and balancing one's equipment, mastering the basic skills while horizontal and neutral, and becoming more aware and a better team member are things that would make most people's diving more enjoyable, safer and more fun. But I think a lot of people are put off nowadays, thinking that you have to be in doubles and a drysuit and a canister light to take Fundies. It's not true. You can still take this very good class in a single tank, and benefit from it.

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

Shouldn't this thread be moved to basic scuba rather than technical diving specialties section? Fundamentals is not a technical dive class.

Ditto.

 

[sufur]

i do have aspirations to do tech diving at some point in the future but right now what im looking for is more basic. the last dive instructor i had for AOW drilled buoyancy control constantly and showed me briefly how to frog kick, back kick and turn. i havent had much luck with turning and backing up but everytime i dive im always trying and find it frustrating not to be able to dive to a level i know exists.

i think that my bouyancy control is good but could be a lot better along with other skills so im just looking to learn more in that respect, i dont care if i pass the class as long as i can walk away from it a better diver with a better understanding of what i need to practice to move towards tech 1 in the future.

i dont want to continue on my own without further instruction and risk developing hard to break bad habits. during my diving in thailand the dive master would point something out and i would start swimming toward it and i would try to back kick to stop after getting close enough but never got it. i eventually just gave up on turning. i was able to swim right up to a zebra shark about 5 feet away and hover in front of it while it laid on the bottom with only a few inches below me and the sandy bottom. while trying to take a photo. the camera was a rental and the picture ended up coming out pretty crappy

what is the difference between gue primer and gue fundies?

 

[sufur]

do you have to bring all your own equipment for the class?

 

[Scott L]

I just took the class and ingorned advise repeated often on the boards which is make sure you have at least 25 dives with the configuration that you plan to utlize during class. Also, completely ignore advise from the agency or others to simply show up for class to be taught skills. A very fine young genetelman in the class was much wiser than I and had trained quite exstensively with GUE-Tech 1 graduates before hand and passed with flying colors including acheiving the tech pass and had a very enjoyable week.

Seek out such divers in your area willing to spend multiple shallow water sessions with you and your experience in class will be far more enjoyable and you will have a very good chance of gaining the tech pass the first go-round if that's your goal. I calculate with the class fee, lodging, food, highway tolls, etc. that this was a $1,200.00 mistake. I already have a very talented GUE diver lined-up who is more than willing to assist me before my followup efforts.