GUE gear requirements

[rjack321]

I've had a personal beef with the need to trash rechargeable batteries in favor of alkaline ones for a long time now.
I've accepted the fact that for courses I'll probably need to have backup lights powered by C cell alkaline batteries (hence the SL3s), but I honestly can not accept the reasoning for it at all.
I'll keep running my alkaline powered backups because they work great, but I'll keep being salty about the fear of rechargeable batteries.

For the purposes of the cave courses rechargeables will have enough burntime even if they aren't fully charged - since NiMH hold charges poorly and your exits on backup lights are short (20-30mins max) anyway. And lithium ion backups have their own issues, the batteries aren't very shock tolerate and the light output is frequently too high at the expense of runtime.

I can tell you after class when you have a really big cave project, the last thing you want to do is be hustling around with a million other gear issues and then later - way back in a cave, have a nagging monkey on your shoulder wondering when you last topped up your backups or if you have enough burntime to exit. That 3C twist head alkaline is not going to turn on in your gear box, the batteries have crazy low self discharge rates, even if the batteries are 3 or 4 years old its good for 10+ hours. Its a lot more confidence inspiring when you have a 3, 4 or 5 hour exit to ahead of you that your dirt simple lights will be there for you no matter how abused they've been.

 

[Lorenzoid]

. . .
I can tell you after class when you have a really big cave project . . . .

And maybe therein lies the answer: everything in GUE is standardized toward the "really big cave project."

Being a paranoid newbie, I pop the 18650s from my backup lights into the charger/tester at the same time I charge my primary. If they're full, they go right back into the backup lights. But I suppose if you're on a "really big cave project" (RBCP) in which you have a million other things to do before the next day's dive you'd like to avoid giving yourself yet another task.

Being a paranoid newbie, I'd probably still compulsively test the C cells. <sigh>

 

[rjack321]

And maybe therein lies the answer: everything in GUE is standardized toward the "really big cave project."

Being a paranoid newbie, I pop the 18650s from my backup lights into the charger/tester at the same time I charge my primary. If they're full, they go right back into the backup lights. But I suppose if you're on a "really big cave project" (RBCP) in which you have a million other things to do before the next day's dive you'd like to avoid giving yourself yet another task.

Being a paranoid newbie, I'd probably still compulsively test the C cells. <sigh>

All the dry cavers I know have alkalines in their backup headlamps (3x AAA is common) for the same reason. They end up sitting around for long periods of time.

@nadwidny loaned me a backup on a dive a couple weeks ago since it was starting to get edgy with total hours and burntimes. I was grateful it was an uber reliable 3C alkaline - and that I didn't need it. We were underground for 12 hours.

 

[loosenit2]

appreciate everyone's feedback on equipment. I consider GUE from time to time but have reservations. While I teeter totter it never hurts to trend toward major equipment purchases that are DIR compliant so as not to preclude doing a GUE class in the future. I will admit that the logic of some of the equipment configuration requirements confuses me but I don't have decades of cave experience so I will defer to those that do on what works best in caves.

 

[Jack Hammer]

appreciate everyone's feedback on equipment. I consider GUE from time to time but have reservations. While I teeter totter it never hurts to trend toward major equipment purchases that are DIR compliant so as not to preclude doing a GUE class in the future. I will admit that the logic of some of the equipment configuration requirements confuses me but I don't have decades of cave experience so I will defer to those that do on what works best in caves.

Simply put, the gear configuration is a compromise that works well in most diving situations. As opposed to constantly changing stuff around to make it "the best" for differnent environments like reef dives, wreck dives, tech, cave, etc. The idea is that you have the same setup and procedures for all your dives and dont have to relearn muscle memory, procedures, and replace your gear as you advance.

 

[Ayisha]

Another question on backup lights. Understand that the historical requirement has been twist on lights only, no push button allowed. Saw a UTD video on YouTube questioning this recently, argument t was that with LED lights the push button to a switchboard was very reliable and the one handed operation benefits outweighed the potential failure point risk. Have seen similar sentiments expressed on some SB posts.

Not trying to start a debate, honestly asking a question, is the requirement still twist on only or has thinking changed to allow push button leds as of late?

I did my Fundies course in 2014 with a back-up light that was not a twist on/off, so it's definitely allowed. It was my very old PC Lite with a sliding switch (?) that the Instructor attached a bolt snap to for me. No issues whatsoever.

My PC Lite back-up finally died after 17 years and I replaced it with a Dive Rite CX1, which has a push button. I dive with a couple of GUE instructors and they love my CX1. Not one said a word about the push button.