Rec to DIR

[H2Andy]

pick up JJ's book "The Fundamentals of Better Diving" and read it a few times

Amazon.com: Doing it Right: The Fundamentals of Better Diving: Jarrod Jablonski: Books


and find some local DIR divers to dive with

after that, you can probably think about taking the GUE-Fundamentals class

GUE Fundamentals | Global Underwater Explorers

 

[mts0628]

Hey BClendening:

First, I wore a size medium Twin Jet but I wear a size XL Jet fin with XL spring straps (I wear a size 9.5-10).

Now excellent tips from above, and I want to comment about Sloth's comment, "No reason you cant watch a ton of videos online and get a feel for donating the long hose, figure out trim position, and figure out fin techniques. From now and until you do fundies focus on buoyancy, trim, manipulating the long hose, frog kicking and most importantly buddy awareness. Buddy/situational awareness is probably the most critical skill to have so start focusing on it early".

This is how I started last year. I read all I could, watched videos galore, searched all that was GUE [and DIR], and then dived dived dived. I thought I had it pretty much down until I got an invite from SparticleBrane to meet him at a local quarry. Wow. Despite me having more dives than him, he was obviously a better diver than I was. I was so amazed how he could hover in the water column like he was a statue on land. His movements were crisp and with purpose, and his buddy awareness was like no other. That is what I wanted to be like. I actually stopped diving after we met because I knew that no matter how hard I tried, I could not fix my deficiencies without more watchful eying (and SparticleBrane had his own (AND BIGGER) sticks in the fire). Seeing how it was supposed to be done in person was a big help and just another reason for me to go to class (and the time from diving with SB to class was relatively short). I obviously couldn't pick it all up from video and reading but it was a start.

Finally, despite the route that you take, keep in mind that GUE-F has nitrox incorporated into the class. I dunno if it's worth it to you to spend for a strictly nitrox class if you are going to get it again (assuming you go the GUE route- I can't comment about UTD). On the other hand, it could be viewed as reinforcement to your initial class.

I hope this helps and good luck with your classes.

With kind regards,
Thomas

 

[lamont]

Finally, despite the route that you take, keep in mind that GUE-F has nitrox incorporated into the class. I dunno if it's worth it to you to spend for a strictly nitrox class if you are going to get it again (assuming you go the GUE route- I can't comment about UTD). On the other hand, it could be viewed as reinforcement to your initial class.

It can take 100 dives or so to get a fundies card. In the meantime it makes some sense to get some vanilla RSTC cards like nitrox, advanced and rescue. It does form a baseline in which GUE courses can work from, they introduce some skills that aren't covered under any GUE course, and there's no reason to wait to pass fundies to start diving nitrox. You can also use them socially to meet other divers, and some of those you may be able to corrupt to the dark side...

 

[SparticleBrane]

This is how I started last year. I read all I could, watched videos galore, searched all that was GUE [and DIR], and then dived dived dived. I thought I had it pretty much down until I got an invite from SparticleBrane to meet him at a local quarry. Wow. Despite me having more dives than him, he was obviously a better diver than I was. I was so amazed how he could hover in the water column like he was a statue on land. His movements were crisp and with purpose, and his buddy awareness was like no other. That is what I wanted to be like. I actually stopped diving after we met because I knew that no matter how hard I tried, I could not fix my deficiencies without more watchful eying (and SparticleBrane had his own (AND BIGGER) sticks in the fire). Seeing how it was supposed to be done in person was a big help and just another reason for me to go to class (and the time from diving with SB to class was relatively short). I obviously couldn't pick it all up from video and reading but it was a start.

I have to say, mts0628 is really not giving himself enough credit. Quite experienced, and he taught himself how to frog kick from watching a video -- and did a darn good job. Honestly that is one of the things that I can be frustrating to teach (IMHO), so I'm glad he taught himself. Sometimes even with video at school we have issues teaching people how to frog kick...their legs will go every which way except for the way they need to go.

Unfortunately, mts0628 was 'blessed' with me as a mentor for a few hours...and I am bad at teaching so I just demonstrated a few skills. On the other hand, watching someone in person demonstrate skills is really the best thing you can do (especially if they can explain HOW they are doing it and WHY it is important).

...and yes, I couldn't go diving after that for a bit...got married and all that.



I took GUE-F almost two years ago with two guys I had been diving with for awhile. They were both Full Cave by the time we took GUE-F and I was on the route to take a cave class within a year of GUE-F, so our instructor (Ed Gabe) knew what we needed to concentrate on.

We did a few things before the class:

• For starters we were all familiar with the concepts of good trim and buoyancy -- they were all taught to us in various classes before GUE-F. After looking around at the standards for the class we knew we wanted to stay within a certain depth range, so we practiced it.
  
  
• We bought the UTD Intro to Tech DVD. This has great video demonstrations (with 'football-style' finger painting on the screen and voiceovers) of how to perform many of the skills introduced in GUE-F. It goes over everything from mask remove/replace to shooting bags and a little beyond.
  
  
• One of the guys on our team has a video camera + housing, so we went out to the quarry and filmed ourselves practicing the skills. These were later cut and uploaded so we could critique ourselves.
  
  
• For the first practice session of shooting bags, my buoyancy bounced +/- 10ft at a time while I was concentrating on the bag (note how I said I was concentrating on the BAG, and not paying one bit of attention to my TEAM!!) After a few tries I got the buoyancy dialed in + started upping my awareness levels. A few dives later we were doing ascents where someone lost a mask, another guy was out of gas, and we were attempting to stay on the ascent schedule. Fun stuff!
  
  
• Over time, it will come. Don't fret too much or burn yourself out on practicing! Diving is supposed to be fun, and honestly sometimes practice sessions can be fun...but NOT if they are all you do between now and the class. Make sure you do some fun diving, too. You can always incorporate air-shares, valve drills, bag shoots, etc into your fun dives without them turning into a dedicated practice session.

 

[BClendening]

I went up to the LDS and talked to them about some classes, I think I'm going to put off the Rescue class merely because I have the BP/W coming and want to take it in that since that is what I will be using from now on and I don't want to show up to the class in a rig I just got. With that said I'm probably going to move around my regulators and get those setup correctly and either wait on both classes or jump into a Nitrox class. Thanks for the help everyone.

 

[b1gcountry]

I'm also planning on heading down to Bull Shoals for a houseboat weekend in October. If you're interested, I could find the date.

Tom

 

[HenrikBP]

[*]We bought the UTD Intro to Tech DVD. This has great video demonstrations (with 'football-style' finger painting on the screen and voiceovers) of how to perform many of the skills introduced in GUE-F. It goes over everything from mask remove/replace to shooting bags and a little beyond.

Any thoughts on the Intro to Tech DVD vs. Essentials of Rec DVD?

I'm considering Fundies and would like to prep for that.

Thanks

Henrik

 

[Rainer]

Get the Intro to Tech DVD. I didn't think it had as much to do with "tech" as it did with general fundamental skills.

 

[Blackwood]

Get the Intro to Tech DVD. I didn't think it had as much to do with "tech" as it did with general fundamental skills.

I agree. 'Intro' is the preferred DVD.

 

[HenrikBP]

Thanks guys. Appreciate the help.

Henrik