I wanna do it all

[DaleC]

This thread is getting odder and odder.

It's getting there...

 

[mk706]

Victor, I'm an Edd trained diver as well. My 75 is set up a little different than your 100, but I'm sure the routing is the same.


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[victorzamora]

Yeah, sorry, I was responding to James. Your post just beat mine to it. I also wanted to include a picture of John Weston's SMS100 light cord routing and canister mounting.

 

[boulderjohn]

I found the debate over which cave agency is better fascinating.

Here is the diver education web site for dive operation in the heart of cave country. From what I read here, the owner of this dive operation must think that it is possible to get a solid education from a number of agencies. It offers open water technical and cave instruction through GUE, PADI, TDI, NACD, and NSS-CDS.

 

[PfcAJ]

But the owner only teaches for one of those.

 

[boulderjohn]

But the owner only teaches for one of those.

But his current GUE résumé lists his dive qualifications as:

Diving Qualifications

Cave Instructor GUE, NSS-CDC, NACD, IANTD, NAUI, YMCA
Recovery Diver NSS-CDS
Trimix Instructor Trainer GUE, TDI, IANTD
SLAM Instructor YMCA
Instructor GUE, NAUI, YMCA, CMAS, PADI, PDIC
Rebreather Instructor GUE, IANTD
Repair Technician Most major brands of regulators​

The man who owns the shop where I work has probably completed several thousand certifications in the past, but he is not on the regular instructor schedule at all now. That does not mean he does not approve of the courses being taught in the shop he owns by the instructors he pays.

 

[nimoh]

But his current GUE résumé lists his dive qualifications as:

Diving Qualifications

Cave Instructor GUE, NSS-CDC, NACD, IANTD, NAUI, YMCA
Recovery Diver NSS-CDS
Trimix Instructor Trainer GUE, TDI, IANTD
SLAM Instructor YMCA
Instructor GUE, NAUI, YMCA, CMAS, PADI, PDIC
Rebreather Instructor GUE, IANTD
Repair Technician Most major brands of regulators

That probably puts JJ in a great position to assess which is the best training agency. I wonder which one he would choose?

Choosing the best agency is like choosing the best vegetable, all of them have good things to offer and it largely just comes down to personal taste. All of my cave training has been through GUE, but most of my (non-class) dives have been with a diver trained under NACD (as well as other GUE divers) and he is a much better diver than I am.

 

[TSandM]

There are good divers, and there is good instruction, under the aegis of all agencies. The specific discussion here was whether someone interested in exploration-level diving should specifically seek out instruction from people doing major exploration dives, and if so, where those divers could be found. And again, I think the answer is that they can be found in multiple places. GUE is definitely known for some huge projects -- very long dives at major depths. They have set records, I believe. Others do explore in similarly deep caves (I believe Curt Bowen was involved in a Texas cave exploration where the dive had to be abandoned when the depths ran significantly below 400 feet), and people do exploration in tiny spaces (I know a friend who has been pushing Hole in the Wall for a while now).

Do you need to get all of your training from explorers, if you eventually intend to be one? I doubt it. I think you are better off getting your beginning training from someone who is a good teacher -- that person needs to adhere to a good, comprehensive curriculum, keep high standards, and not cut corners, but many people can give you beginning technical or cave skills. Eventually, if you want to do project diving, you're going to have to learn how that is done, and that is best accomplished from people who actually DO it.

I'm a great GUE cheerleader. I like the standardization and the community; I like (although I struggle with) the high standards, and the emphasis on conservation. It is a great way to go, if you want good training, and it makes it easy to DO project diving, because GUE is involved in technical and cave projects around the world. But none of us do the agency any service by trying to imply that it is the only option for either good training or for involvement in big dives. And AJ and Litehedded know that, because the WKPP recently merged with a decidedly non-GUE exploration organization.

 

[LiteHedded]

There are great divers from all the other agencies for sure.

But as far as technical dive training is concerned I do not think gue has an equal anywhere in the world. My opinion and it's worth what you paid for it

 

[PfcAJ]

And AJ and Litehedded know that, because the WKPP recently merged with a decidedly non-GUE exploration organization.

The WKPP merged with another organization? I wish someone would have told me that. I missed the memo.