ginti
Contributor
Kinda very, very, very very falseLike a little sand gets kicked up on one less than perfect back-kick and OMG YOU SILTED THE BEACH WE ARE DEAD NOW(sorry guys, kinda true though)
GUE or IANTD
- Thread starter Tobias24
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justinthedeeps
Contributor
I know the thread says "GUE or IANTD"
But reading between the lines, a lot of the best modern, agnostic instructors I know actually prefer TDI, SSI, RAID, etc.
Those agencies seem to come with less "agency culture," and make it more about just helping independent instructors and trainees to focus on good modern diving practices.
But reading between the lines, a lot of the best modern, agnostic instructors I know actually prefer TDI, SSI, RAID, etc.
Those agencies seem to come with less "agency culture," and make it more about just helping independent instructors and trainees to focus on good modern diving practices.
Less about being an "idol" to be worshipped and being Soo dogmatic about the agency and more about training and guiding the trainees to achieve and meet the intended goals of their training.
How would that work?
Diving, especially deeper, on wrecks with decompression and CCR is very much an exercise in self sufficiency. The only person responsible for me is me.
I’ve just had a wonderful seven days of wreck diving to 70m/230ft (actually 73.0m/240ft) in Scotland. The boat was diving with different people as divers joined and departed, minimum 5, max 10 divers. Standard boat rules: it’s a taxi that ferries divers to the wreck, throws in the shot line, hangs around for three hours waiting for divers to return, makes cups of tea and ferries everyone back to port.
It is the diver’s responsibility to bring their skills. It is the diver’s responsibility to ensure they have all the correct kit and gases including redundant kit. It is the diver’s responsibility to ensure their kit is correctly prepared, especially if diving a rebreather. It's the diver's responsibility to work out their dive plan and turn points.
Independent boats require their passengers to be competent in the water. Divers go their own way around the wreck. With visibility frequently less than 5m/15ft it’s rare to see other divers unless you’re passing them. It goes without saying that poor visibility means a high probability of separation from other divers, so solo skills are vital.
Alas you may not have someone to help you when you've lost your team/buddy. Similarly you should know your exit route back to the shot line (if required) and be prepared to do a "lost wreck drill" if you fall off the wreck.
KevinNM
Contributor
The biggest risk with GUE is getting an instructor who you don’t get along with. The biggest risk with most others is getting an incompetent buffoon who advertises well, and you won’t be experienced enough to realize he’s a buffoon who bought their instructor card. If you are sufficiently wired into the regional tech community that people are willing to give you honest ‘don’t use this instructor’ then it’s not such a big deal.There are more than 2 T1 divers in your area, I am one of them - although true, there are not many. Maybe we have already met
Feel free to send me a DM if you want.
About IANTD vs GUE for training:
That easy
- If you want to go for the GUE path, go GUE.
- If you are unsure whether you want to stick with GUE in the future, go GUE - you can always switch to IANTD later on (by the way, you in theory can switch from IANTD to GUE, it's just usually hard to do due to the discrepancy in training).
- If you don't care about the path, but you are unsure of the quality of the instructor(s) you know, go GUE.
- If you don't care about the path, and you are 100% SURE the IANTD instructor(s) you know is(are) top-notch, choose whatever is more convenient.
- If you are sure your future path is going to be incompatible with GUE, spend as much time as you can finding a top-notch instructor from whatever other agency, and go for this non-GUE top instructor.
By the way, you don't know what you don't know; in other words, you may think the instructors you know are good, but in reality, you have no experience enough to judge them. If you have even a little doubt, and you don't dive with very accomplished divers who can guide you, you are actually on point 3 in the previous list: stick with GUE
Why are so many options in favor of GUE? Because this agency ensures pretty high standards for the instructors, so everything you need to do is to have a chat, and if you like the personality you cannot be too much wrong. With most other agencies (not all of them), the technical quality is not ensured, so even if your personalities align, you may fall pretty bad (except if you are sure the instructor is great -there are of course many great instructors with ANY agency).
EDIT: Another big question is: are you sure you don't care about the path?
Tech/cave diving is a very expensive hobby, don’t choose your instructor based on cost. That isn’t the place to economize.
justinthedeeps
Contributor
Who doesn't want their instructors/students/buddies to have bot-like control at all times? Have you seen the infallible glute clench? You can definitely picture someone deep in some amazingly serious cave somewhere, not being a sh!tshow at all. Can't hate on that, just because they train better.
DiveLikeAMuppet
Contributor
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