gue fundies pre reqs

[Scott L]

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

That's nonsence. The vast majority of folks enrolling in GUE-F classes are divers with a good amount of experience including many tech divers crossing over from other agencies. If you are not interested in the discussion simply opt out of the thread...

 

[Scott L]

Lol, and you haven't even taken Fundamentals, yet you know everything about the class and how its taught (or isn't)?

Sufur, go ahead and take it as soon as you can. You will be taught a lot, and you can pass. My friend Justin just got a rec pass first time out. I've never been in the water with him, and I'm pretty sure he hasn't practiced with a GUE trained diver before. Even if you don't 'pass', you'll be shown exactly what needs to be worked on and given a path to correct any issues.

So much of what is taught in that class cannot be found online. By taking it early, you won't have to unlearn things (law of primacy), which is something that hinders many people. There is no prerequisite number of dives, only that you be certified open water.

I was in Justin's class. He came in with a great attitude and improved his skills quite dramatically during class and proudly gained his certification. The Army officer's corps is gaining an extremely fine young soldier in a few months. Many thanks Justin for your planned service to our country and the liberty it provides the rest of us.

 

[TSandM]

Valhalla, I'm pretty sure AJ was responding to Dave (wedivebc).

Your advice about studying before the class is, as I stated already above, the advice to give someone who is a) taking the class simply as a gateway to GUE technical training and b) has to fly an instructor in or travel a long way to take the class. Otherwise, it is QUITE reasonable to take the class in the knowledge that passing it is unlikely, to get the proper instruction to practice skills CORRECTLY. Then go practice, and come back and get the pass. I'm sorry you feel that you made a $1200 mistake, especially since, living where you do, getting reevaluated shouldn't be an enormous problem. It's an attitude thing -- if you're dead set on passing, you feel like you made a mistake. If you are instead dead set on learning . . . well, then the class is a different thing altogether.

 

[liuk3]

That's nonsence. The vast majority of folks enrolling in GUE-F classes are divers with a good amount of experience including many tech divers crossing over from other agencies. If you are not interested in the discussion simply opt out of the thread...

Your post is nonsense. To paraphrase your inane comment, if you don't like what I post simply opt out of the thread...

Point is that the skills in Fundamentals are basic to scuba diving in general. It is not a technical dive class. It is a class to develop and refine basic dive skills (hence the name Fundamentals).

By the way, looking at your posts you might want to look into an online dictionary to fix your spelling...

 

[StreetDoctor]

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.

I'm not denying that, but it isn't out of reach. Two of the three of us had previous training with a GUE trained TDI instructor. Our 3rd had no DIR training, going into class his trim was horrible (45 degrees + with knees dropped pretty much always), he went completely vertical/turtle rolled during ascents in a drysuit, pretty much non-existant back kick, and had some pretty big problems with situational awareness. Yet he still learned and improved so much during class that he was able to get the tech pass. Since taking fundies I'm a pretty firm believer in obtaining instruction from different instructors. It doesn't matter how great of an instructor you have there's always little things that you can pick up from other people. The two of us that did have previous experience picked up a lot of little things that just made diving easier and more enjoyable. I doubt I'd ever take two big classes again from the same instructor.

What I'm trying to say is it's completely feasible to pass on the first try if you are a somewhat competent diver before hand and are willing to put the work in. If you also read our class review you'll see we did fundamentals over two weekends and inbetween we put in 4 hours of bottom time practicing what we learned in the first weekend. Depending on how fast of a learner you are I definitely recommend breaking the class up if possible. If we did it 4 days in a row I think we would have had a different outcome.

 

[liuk3]

what is the difference between gue primer and gue fundies?

FWIW, I think that you'd make a great student, and it certainly seems like you have a great attitude about diving. I don't know your location, but you might want to see if you can find a local GUE trained diver to just dive with you for fun. If you can't find one, just go out and dive to increase your comfort level underwater while task loaded. Seems like you have been exposed to more propulsion techniques than I had before I took the class. I had no back kick and didn't know what a helicopter turn was when I took Fundamentals. The class taught me those kicks and skills.

You probably should talk to a GUE instructor to see which would be more appropriate for you. But, my understanding is that GUE Primer is a non-certification class to prepare you for a class like Fundamentals. I believe that the Primer class teaches you basic skills in a setting where there is no pass-fail pressure or stress so that you can focus on just learning. However, as it is a non-certification class, you don't receive a card nor does it qualify you to take future Technical or Cave training classes with GUE. If you desired to take these more advanced classes with GUE, you would still need to take Fundamentals and pass the class with a technical endorsement. Hope this helps. Have fun with it all!

 

[Scott L]

Your post is nonsense. To paraphrase your inane comment, if you don't like what I post simply opt out of the thread...Point is that the skills in Fundamentals are basic to scuba diving in general. It is not a technical dive class. It is a class to develop and refine basic dive skills (hence the name Fundamentals).

By the way, looking at your posts you might want to look into an online dictionary to fix your spelling...

I was adding to the discussion that's why. Your post was a needlessly negative and a unconstructive comment. Looking at the forum description it includes caverns. I dare say GUE-F was far more intensive and challenging than any cavern class. As far as a mispelled word, you got me there. New notebook and has not been properly set-up yet including enabling spell check...

 

[Scott L]

Valhalla, I'm pretty sure AJ was responding to Dave (wedivebc).

Your advice about studying before the class is, as I stated already above, the advice to give someone who is a) taking the class simply as a gateway to GUE technical training and b) has to fly an instructor in or travel a long way to take the class. Otherwise, it is QUITE reasonable to take the class in the knowledge that passing it is unlikely, to get the proper instruction to practice skills CORRECTLY. Then go practice, and come back and get the pass. I'm sorry you feel that you made a $1200 mistake, especially since, living where you do, getting reevaluated shouldn't be an enormous problem. It's an attitude thing -- if you're dead set on passing, you feel like you made a mistake. If you are instead dead set on learning . . . well, then the class is a different thing altogether.

I totally agree. My second paragraph addressed that distinction although I was not too verbose on the matter...

 

[Scott L]

I'm not denying that, but it isn't out of reach. Two of the three of us had previous training with a GUE trained TDI instructor. Our 3rd had no DIR training, going into class his trim was horrible (45 degrees + with knees dropped pretty much always), he went completely vertical/turtle rolled during ascents in a drysuit, pretty much non-existant back kick, and had some pretty big problems with situational awareness. Yet he still learned and improved so much during class that he was able to get the tech pass. Since taking fundies I'm a pretty firm believer in obtaining instruction from different instructors. It doesn't matter how great of an instructor you have there's always little things that you can pick up from other people. The two of us that did have previous experience picked up a lot of little things that just made diving easier and more enjoyable. I doubt I'd ever take two big classes again from the same instructor.

What I'm trying to say is it's completely feasible to pass on the first try if you are a somewhat competent diver before hand and are willing to put the work in. If you also read our class review you'll see we did fundamentals over two weekends and inbetween we put in 4 hours of bottom time practicing what we learned in the first weekend. Depending on how fast of a learner you are I definitely recommend breaking the class up if possible. If we did it 4 days in a row I think we would have had a different outcome.

I totally agree with that format. 4 days in a row 12 hours a day was maddening....

 

[liuk3]

I was adding to the discussion that's why. Your post was a needlessly negative and a unconstructive comment. Looking at the forum description it includes caverns. I dare say GUE-F was far more intensive and challenging than any cavern class. As far as a mispelled word, you got me there. New notebook and has not been properly set-up yet including enabling spell check...

I would say that your posts have been needlessly negative and unconstructive. There also may be a reading comprehension issue with you. In fact, I would probably just think better of you if that was the case.

You've once again missed my point, but I'll try one more time for you since you obviously don't get it. My post to possibly move the thread to another more basic section reflected my strong belief that this class is not only meant to benefit those desiring to pursue technical diving in the future. Rather, recreational divers with no intention of ever pursuing technical diving would significantly benefit from taking the Fundamentals class as well. To repeat, GUE-F is not a technical dive class and is meant to teach basic skills. I thought that moving the post to a more basic scuba section would reach a broader audience such as the OP who are early in their dive progression but seeking additional training.

But, you're probably going to miss my point again, so believe what you want to believe. It's a free country, and I have to respect that even if I think you're a moronic or misguided troll.

FWIW, I dare say that GUE-F was much LESS intense for me than my Open Water and Advanced Diver Program classes which spanned over three months each.

Good luck with that spell check...