I drank the GUE Fundies Kool-Aid and survived!!

[ScubaSteve]

I must say that I have been reading this thread and think it is GREAT that Sam now has FUNDIES under her belt (figuratively speaking (I think )). CONGRATS SAM!

But, I want to comment on Lynne's post here. I read it and appreciated it immeditaely becuase it shows that even the more advanced divers have to work at things sometimes. Sometimes new divers put the more advanced divers up on a pedestal and believe they are infallible. Not every new diver does this, but I for one did when I first certified 6 or so years ago. The skills that Lynne did not pass immediately (sorry Lynne...not picking on you) are far more complicated than what a new diver has to pass (not when put into perspective IMO), but to see that some of those very experienced divers can have to work at things means a lot. It can give hope to all divers that get frustrated with their inadequacies as divers (inability to achieve neutral buoyancy quickly, inability to shoot an SMB properly every time blush, less than perfect comfort with maskless breathing, inability to remove a mask, and replace it with a spare without movement in the water column, inability to achieve perfect trim (if it truly exists)......the list can go on) that as long as they work on their skills and steadily try to improve, things will change and improve and perhaps even get easier (until the next class pushes your limits on something else).

No matter how much skill you have, or how much experience, good classes will bring you nose to nose with your inadequacies, and unless you are made of depleted uranium, it hurts. (See my report of the Cave 2 class I just finished and didn't pass.) And in every class, there is a spectrum of capability. Sometimes it's obvious who the strongest diver is, and sometimes the strengths and weaknesses are so asymmetrically distributed that it's hard to tell. But everybody is there to try to learn to be better at something, and if the class shows you where you need to improve, then you just have to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and get about improving!

My Fundies class had six divers in it, and I got put with the "these guys are hopeless but I have to teach them anyway" group. We were the three stooges underwater, constantly getting separated, having buoyancy problems, and misunderstanding signals. None of us passed. But I passed six months later, and one of my buddies later took the class over and passed it. And the skills we learned and the work we did was totally worth it.

As somebody just told me about the Cave 2 class, wallow in it a bit, then pick yourself up and rub dirt in it and get going!

 

[wershwie]

Eya, Scubasam!

Congratulations on your GUE Fundies class! Good thing you gave in to Kathydee's "elbowing" techniques and posted your review I'm happy to read reviews like yours because they show an honest take on what GUE training is Lemme just share my experience as well for the benefit of those who would like to take the training courses (somewhat copy-pasted from my post from another thread).

I was fortunate to be certified and trained (PADI OW, AOW, and EAN) by a GUE practitioner whose influence had me diving with the DIR trim and kicks and using jet fins and a long hose even before my Fundies class last February, here in the Philippines. I thought I'd have it easy with all the skills and information intact, but I was pleasantly surprised that the course still taught me so much more than what I already knew. The Fundies was, to echo everyone's sentiments, worth every cent

The class teaches you the skills that allow you to maneuver better in ANY circumstance underwater (overhead environments, ripping current, silty bottom, etc.), and how the streamlined system makes everything easier. If there's anything that I would suggest interested parties should also work on is the swim. My GUE instructor mentioned that some people don't pass because of the swim test alone.

I found that while it's good to practice the skills prior to Fundies, everyone should remember that the course primarily aims to teach, not just test. I think this is also why GUE divers are also very open to sharing the info with fellow divers. In the end, it's all about optimal diving, not condescending your peers.

Cheers to more interested divers, then!

 

[HenrikBP]

... becuase it shows that even the more advanced divers have to work at things sometimes ...

That reminded me of a few things Bob said during the course (I'm paraphrasing);

- the goal is not to achieve perfection (not likely to happen), but to continue to work on and improve your skills. Improvement will come with time and practice.

- even very experienced divers have things they have to continue to work on. Bob used himself as an example, pointing out a few "traits" in his trim and kicks that he is not happy with and still works on.

Edit: additional thought; for me, one key element of Fundies was the tools we were given to further practice on our own. Within the Team and Team Communication Bob was very adamant that we included buoyancy, trim, posture etc. in our communication. It was a bit odd to seemingly "correct" a fellow student at first, but it made sense after we had a few discussions about it. Who other than your team mate is in a perfect position to observe and give you instant feedback?

Henrik

 

[ringmod65]

Thanks all. I'm feeling much better today!

I chose to train with GUE because of the organization's high standards; and, I shall fully meet those standards, dagnabbit! Diving is too important to me to settle for anything but the best training.

In the final analysis, I came away from the class with a wealth of knowledge and new skills to practice. As Bob said to me after the last dive of the week, "You think you might have used a thing or two that you learned this week on that dive?"

We all know that Bob's as good as they come, but I also can't speak highly enough of up and coming GUE instructor, Steve. His west coast perspective went a long way towards diffusing some of the more stressful aspects of the week's training. Don't miss any opportunity to dive with Bob or Steve. I know I won't.

Quentin, I can't make it out on Friday the 28th, but plan on being at Dutch the 28th and 29th. I enjoyed diving with you and look forward to doing it again.

 

[b1gcountry]

My brain started wandering as I read this thread to some of the experiences I have had with my wife, and an incident that happened this weekend...

A lot of focus is centered around how well a diver can perform a certain skill in the water. The standard progression of a diver new to DIR (myself included) invovles being preoccupied with the equipment, then being preoccupied with the skills, and finally the "Big Picture" for a lack of a better term (procedures, thoroughness, etc.)

I took Fundies with my wife, Kathy. I definitely demonstrated the skills better than anyone else in the class. Does that mean I was the best diver in the class? I'm willing to bet everyone starts getting 'trim envy' whenever they see that flawless execution of a basic 5/Back Kick/SMB deploy/Stage switch/whatever, but that is only part of the whole picture. My wife is a very methodical, thorough, conservative, and uncoordinated diver. She can get the skills, but they take longer than they take a lot of people.

I on the other hand, tend to pick up on physical skills very quickly. I am methodical in my own way, but I take more risks, and to be blunt, I often rely on my skills to get me out of situations that haven't been as thoroughly planned.

The long and the short of it is this:
If given an issue underwater, I would more likely have the skills to manage them successfully than my wife, but my wife would be more likely to avoid the situation entirely. Who's the better diver?

This weekend, I had a dive where things went slightly sideways. I was doing a pretty complex dive with some folks I hadn't dove with before. The buddy I was planning on diving with had family issues. It was originally planned as a shallow dive, but conditions precluded the diving we had planned, and we decided to get on the lake before it got choppy. This meant one dive on a closer, but deeper (200') wreck. When we got there, the mooring was not on the wreck, so I was elected to attach and send the mooring to the surface. My buddy and I descended. I was on the line and he was behind and above me off the line. I couldn't see him if I was on the line, so I basically chose to stay with him rather than the line. We got blown off, made the ascent, and I had a nice surface swim in doubles, two stages, and a large subfloat.

It was a learning experience in a lot of ways, but there were no skills that I could have used any better to make the dive successful. I descended along the line in perfect trim, came off the line in perfect trim, made a good enough ascent, etc. What made the dive not work was team communication, planning and thoroughness. In other words, the things Kathy is better at than I am.

My point here not to evaluate a diver (yourself included) purely on the skills they have in the water. A lot of times, the right mindset, and communication are more important than how well you can perform a particular skill.

Tom

 

[TSandM]

I have to laugh at this:

I chose to train with GUE because of the organization's high standards; and, I shall fully meet those standards, dagnabbit! Diving is too important to me to settle for anything but the best training.

. . . because it's what I've told myself after every one of my GUE classes

 

[MtnPlayVA]

No one should ever dive with a dangerous diver so I will not dive with a dangerous diver. If you say yes to all of the questions below, I will dive with you.

• Will you donate your regulator if I needed it underwater?
• Will you stay by my side and be my buddy, NOT swim off or bolt to the surface when I have enough gas for us both to surface doing all our required ascent stops?
• Will you dive safe and within the limit of our training?
• Will we have, discuss and agree on a dive plan that includes enough gas to get us both back to the surface, boat or shore safely before heading into the water?

Even if you missed a few, that's a fantastic post and should be stickied somewhere in the archives of SCUBA lore.

I agree Blackwood! The wording made me think of the movie The Guardian. I think it is a fantastic list Sam and will share it with my husband and friends. I especially like #2 since that just happened to me the last time I was at Dutch!

Thanks for posting your experiences Sam. I've read a few things about GUE and will probably head that direction in the future for training. Right now I think I'll work on hovering above the platform and attempting to do basic skills while hovering at Dutch Any other recommendations for things to work on before the course? Somewhere at the beginning of this post you mentioned that Bob made gear configuration changes to better streamline your gear. Would you share what changes were made?

Thanks again for sharing your experiences!
Julie

 

[ScubaSam]

Been distracted all day with some interesting offline conversations about this Fundies thread by SBers who PM or called me so I thought I would share. GUE Fundies and DIR diving is clearly not for everyone because while some are happy about my Fundies news they have no desire to go down this route. There are divers out there who are perfectly content to do the type of diving they have been doing for many years and have no desire to improve or to step out of their comfort zone…their words not mine. I believe the DIR community needs to be mindful of this.

The fact is there will be many out there who are resistant or not interested in GUE or DIR. While we believe DIR is a great system others may not because they either have no interest in diving the DIR system or feel it’s not something they want to invest money and energy to pursuit. Before joining SB, I was perfectly happy in my BC because I never heard of a BP/W, GUE or DIR. I did not know then what I know now and it is good for me to remember this fact. They may be where I was pre-SB so I will not flame nor judge them for their choice and I hope those who are reading will be do the same.

Let others come to GUE and Fundies on their own terms, which may be never, and if that is the case we must still respect their decision.

 

[ScubaSam]

I agree Blackwood! The wording made me think of the movie The Guardian. I think it is a fantastic list Sam and will share it with my husband and friends. I especially like #2 since that just happened to me the last time I was at Dutch!

Thanks for posting your experiences Sam. I've read a few things about GUE and will probably head that direction in the future for training. Right now I think I'll work on hovering above the platform and attempting to do basic skills while hovering at Dutch Any other recommendations for things to work on before the course? Somewhere at the beginning of this post you mentioned that Bob made gear configuration changes to better streamline your gear. Would you share what changes were made?

Thanks again for sharing your experiences!
Julie

I'll probably run into you hovering at the Dutch platforms cause I'll be there to fine tune my skills and keep practicing.

As for #2 (Will you stay by my side and be my buddy, NOT swim off or bolt to the surface when I have enough gas for us both to surface doing all our required ascent stops?) it happened to me last month on a FL wreck at 86 ft and I was left alone at 86 ft as I did my ascent making all the required stops. It was the ONLY time in my short diving life when I did not want to dive any more. You have to understand how much I love diving, how obssessed I am about anything dive related so for me to want to give up diving was pivotal. I decided I NEVER want to feel this way again (thought my buddy perished or got blown off but I found out once I got to the boat that he shot up cause he was low on air) or place myself in a situation that would make me feel that awful so was grateful that I'd already signed up for Fundies.

Things to do before the course: hovering in horizontal position, keeping your trim and buoyancy while removing your mask or flooding your mask, donating your reg, know all the locations of your D-rings without having to look down to find them, do it all from muscle memory. Anyone who has ever taken a Fundies class can chime in as the more prospective the readers get the better prepared they can be for class.

As for the gear changes Bob did for me: my SPG, depth gauge and compass all sat in a huge rubble console (yeah, yeah, recreation diver), but Bob popped out my SPG and put it on a shorter hose, I believe it's a 20" hose, added a bolt snap to the SPG so I can clip it to my left hip D-ring. He shortened my octo hose because it was too long and protruded out. Having the shorter hoses on the octo and SPG lessens the chance of snagging and entanglements. He got rid of my surgical tubing necklace (a friend made for me) and put my octo on a bungie necklace which hangs closer to my chin. He put a bolt snap on my reg so I can clip it off to my right D-ring when it's not in my mouth. He put trim weights on my cambands cause I hate diving with a weight belt.

 

[HenrikBP]

Somewhere at the beginning of this post you mentioned that Bob made gear configuration changes to better streamline your gear. Would you share what changes were made?

Here is the GUE configuration described in detail:

Equipment Configuration | Global Underwater Explorers

baue.org has a nice collection of photos of how backplate/wing and long hose/back-up is set up:

Equipment Images

That's a good starting point. But get together with someone GUE trained and tweak it further.

Henrik