DIR- GUE Input and Advice on my GUE Training Path and GUE Courses

[tbone1004]

I think I mentioned this in one of my earlier posts @OctoHelm , but I'll reiterate just in case.

Classes are not the end all, be all. You are being mentored, and mentored by someone who I assume is still actively doing T1 level dives. That has the potential for much more value than the class alone and I think you're putting a lot more into what you'll gain out of those classes than you may actually get. Not to downplay their importance, but those classes are designed for people to LEARN the fundamentals prior to taking courses like T1. I wouldn't wait to take fundies, nor would I wait to take fundies in doubles. I'm not going to second guess Beto as I assume he's seen you in the water and he's a world class instructor. I don't know exactly what @mer said to you, though I will be asking her on our Zoom call tonight, but I have to agree with @johnkendall and say just take the class now, and take it in doubles. Abandon Rec2 because I don't think it's useful if you want to take T1. Dive your a$$ off, then when you decide that you need/want to go below 4atas, take T1. The most important thing is to continue to develop those mentorship relationships. There are some truly incredible GUE divers in your neck of the woods, go dive with them.

 

[jadairiii]

I will repeat what a lot have said but add this. Do fundies, then dive, dive a lot, add in doubles for these dives (Alum 80's) and get used to them. Then get your Tech pass.

After that, I would look at Cave 1 before Tech 1, being on the west coast, head down to Zero Gravity and take it there. Upon completion of that, your skills will be so rock solid that T-1 would be easy.

 

[helodriver87]

I will repeat what a lot have said but add this. Do fundies, then dive, dive a lot, add in doubles for these dives (Alum 80's) and get used to them. Then get your Tech pass.

After that, I would look at Cave 1 before Tech 1, being on the west coast, head down to Zero Gravity and take it there. Upon completion of that, your skills will be so rock solid that T-1 would be easy.

I found 95% of T1 incredibly easy after C1/C2 and Cave DPV. But open water no visual reference ascents are tough coming from just doing loads of cave diving.

 

[tbone1004]

I found 95% of T1 incredibly easy after C1/C2 and Cave DPV. But open water no visual reference ascents are tough coming from just doing loads of cave diving.

FACT! There is some rumblings about "cave deco" as a separate course because it's so much easier with fixed visual references and laying on the bottom/pinning yourself to the ceiling for nap time, vs. open water deco. I don't do enough at it to be dead nuts with it so I prefer to shoot a DSMB if I truly have 0 visual reference since it is really mentally taxing.

 

[kensuf]

FACT! There is some rumblings about "cave deco" as a separate course because it's so much easier with fixed visual references and laying on the bottom/pinning yourself to the ceiling for nap time, vs. open water deco. I don't do enough at it to be dead nuts with it so I prefer to shoot a DSMB if I truly have 0 visual reference since it is really mentally taxing.

Yeah, @kierentec wrote a set of standards for Cave Deco through TDI, I helped edit/provided input on them. GUE already had a cave deco program, they call it C2. NAUI just revised their cave standards, I may know a guy (or two) that provided input and NAUI Cave 2 is now a cave deco course too.

 

[kensuf]

I found 95% of T1 incredibly easy after C1/C2 and Cave DPV. But open water no visual reference ascents are tough coming from just doing loads of cave diving.

And this is why a deco program should include some practical "blue water no visual reference" ascents in the training.

 

[rjack321]

I think I mentioned this in one of my earlier posts @OctoHelm , but I'll reiterate just in case.

Classes are not the end all, be all. You are being mentored, and mentored by someone who I assume is still actively doing T1 level dives. That has the potential for much more value than the class alone and I think you're putting a lot more into what you'll gain out of those classes than you may actually get. Not to downplay their importance, but those classes are designed for people to LEARN the fundamentals prior to taking courses like T1. I wouldn't wait to take fundies, nor would I wait to take fundies in doubles. I'm not going to second guess Beto as I assume he's seen you in the water and he's a world class instructor. I don't know exactly what @mer said to you, though I will be asking her on our Zoom call tonight, but I have to agree with @johnkendall and say just take the class now, and take it in doubles. Abandon Rec2 because I don't think it's useful if you want to take T1. Dive your a$$ off, then when you decide that you need/want to go below 4atas, take T1. The most important thing is to continue to develop those mentorship relationships. There are some truly incredible GUE divers in your neck of the woods, go dive with them.

He's 16 for goodness sake. He doesn't need to be doing anything in doubles. They don't allow access to anything magical in Cali and there are some good sites that you can't actually access in doubles at all like Monastery. Plus they cost money that could be spent on gas and air and charters. Unless the OP is fabulously flush with cash at 16yo, just go diving with your fundies skills.

 

[CheckedBubbles]

Hey @OctoHelm awesome that you're getting into GUE so young.

I'm an active GUE/BAUE T1 diver. I took fundies and T1 with Beto and C1 with Mer. Both are fantastic instructors that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to anyone.

You've gotten a lot of good advice in this thread and I would just like to add/clarify a few things since you're talking about my local area/club.

You definitely don't need doubles to enjoy diving in Monterey. Many people on the BAUE recreational level charters dive them, but that's mostly because it's nice to not have to switch tanks in-between dives. There are plenty of single tank divers as well. Doubles really aren't important until you start scooter/tech diving and it's a pretty easy skill to pick up if your bouyancy/propulsion skills are solid. I'd also like to clarify that literally no one I dive with dives AL80 doubles locally. When people say "80s" here they mean steel LP85s which are a very common choice. I would suggest using your drysuit in fundies. My drysuit was a critical part of me being happy diving here and you'll get a lot of good feedback.

With regards to doing T1 dives in Monterey: I love being tech certified because it gives me access to the deeper sites in the bay and South. The vis is typically better deep here, and you're insulated from the surface swell which is nice. However that said, helium is expensive and I can't imagine doing this kind of stuff regularly on a highschool/college student budget. A single day of T1-level boat diving costs roughly $300 (~$150 boat + $120 in trimix/deco gas + $40 in gasoline to drive from the Bay Area). That doesn't even include when you get scooter-envy and drop $8k on a brand new Genesis.

Take your time and just enjoy local diving before you go and make it complicated. Point Lobos and North Monastery are still two of my absolute favorite places to dive and have tons to explore at a Fundies level. (BTW @rjack321 you can absolutely dive Monastery in doubles, I've done it a few times and my 55 year old dive buddy managed it just fine) The BAUE recreational charter boat trips are also a ticket to some awesome dive sites and are a great way to meet and dive with other GUE-trained buddies. I totally understand being end-goal focused, but don't forget to enjoy the time spent building experience.

 

[rjack321]

Hey @OctoHelm awesome that you're getting into GUE so young.
(BTW @rjack321 you can absolutely dive Monastery in doubles, I've done it a few times and my 55 year old dive buddy managed it just fine)

Well you can but: 1) its not that deep if you are swimming and staying out of the trench bit and 2) if the conditions are at all iffy its going to really really suck trying to get out. It's often bad in a single, why would you bother with doubles here?

 

[tbone1004]

@CheckedBubbles your 55yr old dive buddy is a machine though!