Gue Vs Tdi

[Derek S]

So the agency is bad cause it wont train smokers, come on even 5 year old children know that smoking is bad.

Solution ............quit problem solved take the GUE course and your diving will improve

I'd tend to agree there, and I was a pack-a-day smoker when I took my PADI OW class.

I quit smoking in order to take DIR-F (I had other reasons as well like my wife and young sons), but to be quite honest, scuba and smoking are just so counterproductive. Do I miss it sometimes? Absolutely! Will I ever smoke again, even if I totally give up on every GUE principle out there? Heck no!

 

[cornfed]

Those who smoke are prohibited from becoming students, for one...

*groan*

This place really needs a smile,

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?p=669283&#post669283

 

[wb416]

GUE/DIR divers open to other view points??????? Let's be honest....that is a zinger. Most think there way is the ONLY way and have no consideration or respect for any other approach.

This is no doubt a generalization but an awfully pervasive impression among the non-DIR divers I know or have ever met. I must have had more experience with the close minded 20% you refer to.

I have had PM exhanges on this board with DIR divers who are not part of that 20%.

--Matt

Sorry to hear about your experiences.

I have allot of DIR and non-DIR dive buddies, but the large DIR group I associate with doesn't talk **** or talk down about other divers, but are all about enjoying their diving and having a good time.

Almost makes me think that you're experiences are with the "fringes", but maybe not.

bob

 

[wb416]

Anyone can audit a GUE class, at least at the fundamentals level. This would include smokers, those who cannot complete the swim test or u/w swim, or those without b/p wing etc setups. You are not considered a candidate for passing the class or receiving a provisional, but you can benefit from the information.

I'm sure I'd pick up a few things taking a TDI class of a level I've already completed with GUE.

I can think of at least one TDI instructor that has that policy on "no-smoking" students as well (and maybe two others in the Detroit/Toledo area, but I'm not 100% on them)

bob

 

[SDAnderson]

The guy asked a fair question and I gave him an answer. Though I think my answer remains technically correct, I wasn't aware that GUE is now allowing audits by smokers - back in the days I was considering the program, that option did not exist. There wasn't anything perjorative in either his question or my answer, so maybe you could dial it back a notch?

• I didn't say that GUE is a bad agency.
• I don't think that GUE is a bad agency.
• I quit smoking years ago, when I decided to start technical diving.

I seriously considered following the GUE course path, once upon a time, but ran into problems matching their limited schedule with mine. I found a TDI Instructor that I trusted and from whom I could take the courses I was interested in, so I ended up following that path. I have no doubt that I could still learn a lot from a GUE course but, at this point in my education, backing up to DIRF would be more expensive than it would be worth, for me. YRMV.

So the agency is bad cause it wont train smokers, come on even 5 year old children know that smoking is bad.

Solution ............quit problem solved take the GUE course and your diving will improve

 

[Tom R]

backing up to DIRF would be more expensive than it would be worth, for me.

Your thinking the wrong way, think of the DIRF as forward moving

 

[SDAnderson]

Fair enough, but the cost/benefit ratio is, for me, out of whack. DIRF is an introduction to the fundamentals of DIR diving, in my case, we're already old friends. Tech 2 would be significantly repetitious for me but would still offer a lot of value and I'd sign up in a heartbeat if they would allow the jump...but they don't. My loss, perhaps, but it is possible to become a good diver without ever taking a GUE class.

I'll have to ask you to take it on faith, but the TDI training I received (both TMX classes and both blender classes) was, thanks to the instructor, very DIR and very intense. Like Ben noted earlier in this thread, given the right instructor, it's possible for a TDI course to be better than a GUE course. Granted, that may not happen very often but the flexibility of the TDI program can be a strength, not just a weakness.

In general, I would be more confident in an unknown GUE instructor, thanks to their adherence to a pretty strict regimen. Then, again, I wouldn't take a technical diving class from an unknown instructor from any agency.

Your thinking the wrong way, think of the DIRF as forward moving

 

[lord1234]

 

[Lead_carrier]

So the agency is bad cause it wont train smokers, come on even 5 year old children know that smoking is bad.

Solution ............quit problem solved take the GUE course and your diving will improve

I'm sorry, I must have missed the part where we said the agency is bad bacause they have a no smoking problem. I've read and re-read but still can't find it. As far as I'm concerned they have every RIGHT to choose who to train and who not to, just as any other agency or instructor does.

As far as I'm concerned, there is not problem so everything is solved even quicker.

 

[nova]

The reason that GUE doesn't alow smoking is that it's just to hard to get a match lit underwater, even with a well trained buddy :11: