How to earn a GUE Fundamentals Rec Pass

[larsdennert]

If you are planning on going beyond fundies you might consider switching to metric as the calculations are quicker when doing them in your head and underwater.

 

[SpeedyJ]

If you are planning on going beyond fundies you might consider switching to metric as the calculations are quicker when doing them in your head and underwater.

There’s a reason GUE hasn’t gone totally metric, and ultimately a diver needs to look at it from the perspective of being a good teammate. If everyone else is diving imperial, but you want to do metric, that can cause a problem.

At the end of the day there really isn’t much actual math to do to conduct dives, and usually the answer (or at a minimum the output of any difficult math) is already written down in your wet notes.

 

[larsdennert]

I dive both and my spg reads bar and psi. I live in the USA but would instantly switch to metric to simplify. It's actually a concession that gue has made in standardization IMO. There are of course many threads on this so off topic but worth considering for any advanced diver. Even in ow you may get paired at a resort with a metric person.

 

[Germie]

I read here a lot about incompetent divers and instructors. But that is an evaluation from the present.
The divers or instructors could be competent when doing the courses. A lot of people are quite lazy. As soon as they pass for a course, they stop practising, as they think the are now good enough. So if you do this, your level go down again. And this can happen quite fast.

You also see that instructors do the teaching as written in standards during the instructor course and as they are instructor after the exam, they get easier and lazier. And the student's don't know what is the 'right' level, so they don't know if things are bad teached or not teached. Also bad instructors not always have bad students and visa versa.
I also have done a normoxic trimix course with an instructor who was not the best diver and instructor. But we respected each other and after a bad experience in an advanced nitrox course with an instructor who only took money I just wanted to get my certs easy. But I learned myself the things for that course the autodidactical way. I had a great time, the instructor was completely non-DIR and I did everything DIR. But it was a good match.

I have had even people in my course with gue tech rating or already cave ratings that did not pass the next course. Just because they did not practise after passing the course.

So it is for the biggest part the diver. If a diver wants, he will become a good diver, even if the instructors are not that good. Internet is a good secundary teacher for these divers.
If you want, but not want too much, courses will help a lot, but you must stay motivated after the course. And that is the biggest problem. The motivated divers will come to a higher level, even in they don't have good instructors than the divers that think they do good courses, but are not really motivated to practise and train after courses.
And if divers are naturals and want to train, they will end at a higher level than the divers without being a natural. And lazy naturals will also not get the highest level.

 

[Nosmosis]

Just curios..... If an experienced diver already has all of these capabilities and has the prescribed equipment... and can do the swims...etc...... and can demonstrate all of the skills and knowledge to a level that is either equal to or better than the evaluator....... can this "course" be completed and passed in a single day?

I believe it is possible IF you already took Fundies, received a “provisional pass” and return later for an “upgrade” a few months later after working hard.

I will say, when I first took Fundies my team of 3 was all of varied experiences. One guy had about 60 dives and had been diving less than a year. I had been diving about 1.5 years and had about 100 dives. The other guy was an instructor for PADI with certs up to hypoxic trimix. He went for the tech pass (doubles, drysuit, can light). All three of us got “provisional passes for recreational.” The other two guys I think were pretty bummed - particularly the instructor dude. I was disappointed, but realized pretty much on day one that was the likely outcome for me. I simply was not holding position in the water as I needed to to execute all the skills perfectly.

It may be worth understanding your motivations for “one day.” If you are looking for a quick certification for bragging rights, GUE ain’t for you. If you accept diving as a lifelong endeavour, one that you will never perfect but always seek perfection of, GUE probably will appeal to you.

I’ve done certs in lots of other agencies at Tech and in Cave level, but I continue to do stuff with GUE as a pursuit of the endeavour, not the cert.

 

[ginti]

Just curios..... If an experienced diver already has all of these capabilities and has the prescribed equipment... and can do the swims...etc...... and can demonstrate all of the skills and knowledge to a level that is either equal to or better than the evaluator....... can this "course" be completed and passed in a single day?

No, it can't, as far as I know. The standards are pretty straightforward - page 33, 30 hours of lessons is the minimum: https://www.gue.com/files/Standards_and_Procedures/GUE-Standards-v9.pdf

However, you do not need to take the course if this is the case. Indeed, this course does not certify anything except nitrox, but I doubt people do the fundamentals just for nitrox.

I can see two reasons why people may want to take it:
(1) To enhance their skills (which is not the case you mention).
(2) To access further GUE education. In this case, if you can prove you already have the skills, just book an appointment with an IE; if you show him that you can do it, you will be given a waiver - that is, the possibility to access the more advanced courses even without the card. Again, you do not need to take the course.

There might be other reasons, but I cannot think of any right now.

 

[SpeedyJ]

(2) To access further GUE education. In this case, if you can prove you already have the skills, just book an appointment with an IE; if you show him that you can do it, you will be given a waiver - that is, the possibility to access the more advanced courses even without the card. Again, you do not need to take the course.

Having heard Jarrod Jablonski directly address a question about waivers, his view was that while the option is there in standards, the outcomes in further training for individuals granted waivers has generally not been positive. As a result, there is a strong encouragement to begin with a fundamentals class.

The instructor who asked the question subsequently took Fundamentals and received a rec pass, which tracks with Jarrod's answer. GUE Fundamentals isn't just an evaluation of your ability to back kick or deploy an SMB, it's also an introduction to the GUE way of doing things, and expectations as a GUE diver. Even if your personal skills are 100%, you'll probably still learn a few things along the way.

There are plenty of GUE divers who hold duplicative or even higher-level certification from various agencies, finding GUE later in their diving journey. I'm certainly in that category, but found the value provided to me was worth the price of admission.

 

[ginti]

Having heard Jarrod Jablonski directly address a question about waivers, his view was that while the option is there in standards, the outcomes in further training for individuals granted waivers has generally not been positive. As a result, there is a strong encouragement to begin with a fundamentals class.

I have just said what is doable according to standards, but I have never met someone who did it. I remember that one or two users of SB did it successfully; anyway, you can get a waiver only with IE, who are typically pretty strict instructors. The situations I have heard of follow the same pattern:
(1) The diver does a (paid) examination dive with the IE.
(2) If the IE is happy, they can enroll in a course with the same IE, but usually as a third-class member.
(3) They do the course as any other person would do.
But I don't question your point - I am sure you know what you are saying. And I agree that the encouragement to start from fundamental is very high

 

[rjack321]

I don't get this fascination with skipping or "testing out of" GUE-F. The whole point of the tech pass is as a gateway to T1 and C1. Those are difficult, time consuming and expensive courses, frequently some distance from home too. Before spending a fortune in time and energy and potentially being a real drag on your T1 or C1 buddies, get the GUE-F tech pass to ensure you are as ready as you think you are. There is basically zero chance you will come out of GUE-F without valuable extra technical or soft skills which will then serve you well in T1 or C1.

 

[captain209]

I dive both and my spg reads bar and psi. I live in the USA but would instantly switch to metric to simplify. It's actually a concession that gue has made in standardization IMO. There are of course many threads on this so off topic but worth considering for any advanced diver. Even in ow you may get paired at a resort with a metric person.

I think every SPG should come standard with bar and psi readings as it would be uniform across the world/anywhere you dive even if paired with another diver at a resort can understand and calculate when needed.