New OW diver in California, moving to Seattle soon

[OrcasC205]

Now that makes me wonder - why would I be averse to GUE?

Absolutely no reason to be averse to GUE. In my first hand experience with GUE groups on the West Coast (Vancouver, Seattle, Orange County and San Diego specifically), they have been nothing but open and accepting of new divers and non-gue-trained divers. There seems to still be an impression by some that GUE is an elitist group that looks down on other divers, but I have never encountered that myself.

Full disclosure: I'm an active member of the GUE community in Seattle.

 

[Thosted]

I think I understand. I have no problem with that. I’ll check it out, thanks!

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Now that makes me wonder - why would I be averse to GUE?

There was an early culture with DIR from a fellow named George Irvine that was ... well ... not particularly friendly. Google him and you'll see what I mean.

GUE (and the other two DIR agencies) have quality training and high performance requirements that must be met for earning certification. There is some resentment from people who expect a card after a class. That's not how GUE works. If you understand their philosophy which includes, but is not limited to, establishing a set of processes that is consistent from recreational diving to extreme cave penetrations/deep technical dives. An example of this is that in the GUE system, they do not dive air. For shallow (100 feet or less), they dive EAN32. Deeper than that, trimix. And admittedly, I used to think that was ridiculous, but then I learned about gas density issues at depth, and GUE preceded the science with that practice. Now we all know that we always measure our O2 content with nitrox. Same with technical diving. You always measure all of your cylinder percentages. There are no split fins or jacket style BCDs in GUE. Some people resent this. Again, this is for the philosophy of team based diving where everyone is intimately familiar with configuration of everyone else. There are standard gasses for different dives that simplifies logistics. You always match, so your deco schedules match (trust me on this one, not using standard gasses was a real cluster in my first real technical dive to 180 feet).

Their mindset is equipment and processes for "extreme" diving. When one realizes that, everything they do makes absolute sense.

Just not everyone realizes it, hence some people are averse to GUE. This is not GUE's fault, but their own.

You will find the GUE Seattle community to be a really great group of folks, even if you don't want to dive their system. Except for this guy named Doug. Watch out for him. Right @OrcasC205?

 

[OrcasC205]

You will find the GUE Seattle community to be a really great group of folks, even if you don't want to dive their system. Except for this guy named Doug. Watch out for him. Right @OrcasC205?

Yeah, you need to watch out for him. He's a troublemaker.

-Doug

 

[Thosted]

There was an early culture with DIR from a fellow named George Irvine that was ... well ... not particularly friendly. Google him and you'll see what I mean.

GUE (and the other two DIR agencies) have quality training and high performance requirements that must be met for earning certification. There is some resentment from people who expect a card after a class. That's not how GUE works. If you understand their philosophy which includes, but is not limited to, establishing a set of processes that is consistent from recreational diving to extreme cave penetrations/deep technical dives. An example of this is that in the GUE system, they do not dive air. For shallow (100 feet or less), they dive EAN32. Deeper than that, trimix. And admittedly, I used to think that was ridiculous, but then I learned about gas density issues at depth, and GUE preceded the science with that practice. Now we all know that we always measure our O2 content with nitrox. Same with technical diving. You always measure all of your cylinder percentages. There are no split fins or jacket style BCDs in GUE. Some people resent this. Again, this is for the philosophy of team based diving where everyone is intimately familiar with configuration of everyone else. There are standard gasses for different dives that simplifies logistics. You always match, so your deco schedules match (trust me on this one, not using standard gasses was a real cluster in my first real technical dive to 180 feet).

Their mindset is equipment and processes for "extreme" diving. When one realizes that, everything they do makes absolute sense.

Just not everyone realizes it, hence some people are averse to GUE. This is not GUE's fault, but their own.

You will find the GUE Seattle community to be a really great group of folks, even if you don't want to dive their system. Except for this guy named Doug. Watch out for him. Right @OrcasC205?

That all sounds actually exciting to me. When I first heard about nitrox I thought, why not use that anyway - seems safer than air, only shallower…but for that, there’s trimix.

My main challenge here is - I own a mask, a dive computer, and…that’s it. When they say no jacket-bcd, I like that…but I also am limited to renting at least some of my gear for a bit. Not sure if I would be able to dive with them, given my lack of knowledge (3 dives after OW cert) and gear.

I definitely like the attitude of “no performance, no cert”. I have no interest in the diving equivalent of McDojos.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

That all sounds actually exciting to me. When I first heard about nitrox I thought, why not use that anyway - seems safer than air, only shallower…but for that, there’s trimix.

My main challenge here is - I own a mask, a dive computer, and…that’s it. When they say no jacket-bcd, I like that…but I also am limited to renting at least some of my gear for a bit.

When you come up here and want to borrow some gear, let me know. I'd be happy to loan you a single tank BP/W and fins. But you have to promise to not cut everything up with an angle grinder before returning them to me (I have a lot of gear, probably too much according to my wife, just ask her, no wait, don't need to remind her ). Getting a dry suit is probably the first order of business now that winter is here. Mind you, I'm a total wimp when it comes to temperature, so you may be a lot tougher than me in that respect and will be fine in a 7 mil, but the people who dive wetsuits are the minority.

Not sure if I would be able to dive with them, given my lack of knowledge (3 dives after OW cert) and gear.

WRONG!!!!! You could not be more wrong about them. There are some great folks who are happy to take you out even if you certified just yesterday. I'm doing my own thing with CCR, so I don't interact with them much, but I do send people their way constantly because I know they will be treated well and trained properly.

I have no greater affiliation with Eight Diving than with any other shop in the area (arguably less as I am an infrequent customer due to distance). But they are the best overall shop in the area in terms of training and equipment.

I definitely like the attitude of “no performance, no cert”. I have no interest in the diving equivalent of McDojos.

Then I think you'll like them, as well as the southern California GUE community.

 

[Thosted]

When you come up here and want to borrow some gear, let me know. I'd be happy to loan you a single tank BP/W and fins. But you have to promise to not cut everything up with an angle grinder before returning them to me (I have a lot of gear, probably too much according to my wife, just ask her, no wait, don't need to remind her ). Getting a dry suit is probably the first order of business now that winter is here. Mind you, I'm a total wimp when it comes to temperature, so you may be a lot tougher than me in that respect and will be fine in a 7 mil, but the people who dive wetsuits are the minority.

WRONG!!!!! You could not be more wrong about them. There are some great folks who are happy to take you out even if you certified just yesterday. I'm doing my own thing with CCR, so I don't interact with them much, but I do send people their way constantly because I know they will be treated well and trained properly.

I have no greater affiliation with Eight Diving than with any other shop in the area (arguably less as I am an infrequent customer due to distance). But they are the best overall shop in the area in terms of training and equipment.

Then I think you'll like them, as well as the southern California GUE community.

- I’m definitely a wimp when it comes to cold. I’ve dove in 60 degree water here in LA in 7mm, and it wasn’t too cold to dive…but i sure did get cold enough after 30 minutes to really want to get back out. Dry suit it is. I already convinced my wife that $3k is not too much for one of those lol.
- I’ve got 3 kids who love to borrow stuff from me. I‘ve been hurt before. I treat all my stuff with utmost care; borrowed gear, I would prepare some bank vault type area to keep it safe. Very much appreciate the offer!
- sounds like I need to get in touch with GUE - the more I hear, the more I like! I’ll start the process over the weekend!

 

[Seaweed Doc]

I'd second Marker Buoy as "good people." That said, I never dive specifically with them. They do a lot of cool social stuff outside of doing the dives, and I'm overwhelmed with social stuff. And an introvert that hates small talk. For you, though, this could be perfect: Meeting people in the area, divers or not, is great for newcomers.

Moss Bay divers Facebook group is also helpful. Again, never done anything formal with the club, but I've found buddies there for midweek dives.

Many dive shops have free "shop dives" you can join in. State your experience level, they'll find you a decent buddy. (Instructors and DM's often volunteer with these groups. It's not really a guided dive per se, just that most of the DMs and Instructors don't mind diving with a newby now and again in a purely recreational sense. Don't expect this to be equivalent to a paid guided dive.)

Boat dives are trickier, but options exist short of buying your own boat.

(Ever here of the Seattle freeze? Apparently we're not very welcoming. I blame the Scandinavian immigrant community, of which as a half-Swede I'm one. There's a joke about 2 Danes, 2 Norwegians, and 2 Swedes being marooned on a desert island. A year later, they're rescued. In that year the 2 Danes founded a cooperative for the betterment of the community and the 2 Norwegians founded a patriotic "Sons of Norway" club. Meanwhile, the two Swedes were still waiting to be formally introduced. )

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

(Ever here of the Seattle freeze? Apparently we're not very welcoming. I blame the Scandinavian immigrant community

I blame them for the horrific driving!


Almost Live was classic. Too bad The 206 never got picked up.

 

[Seaweed Doc]

I blame them for the horrific driving!


Almost Live was classic. Too bad The 206 never got picked up.

And there's the classic Super Bowl win "riot" in Ballard.


(If you don't have time to watch the video, basically after the Seahawks won the Super Bowl, boisterous fans spilled out into the streets of the Scandinavian quarter. And patiently waited in the dark and cold until the traffic light turned so they could cross a street that had almost zero traffic on it....)