UTD vs. GUE

[TGreene]

Sometimes you just have to arrange the class and get deposits to "make it happen" like Rick did. There are a ton of good "DIR" cave and wreck DVDs on the market. If you get a few of those and have a party to watch them along with the Essentials DVD you might get some umph going.

So I talked with 1 person that was interested yesterday and the other today, and it seems that neither is actually interested at all once the course parameters and ciriculum were laid out on the table... One guy didn't want to commit to the use of doubles for a Cave1 class, and the other wasn't interested once he found it this wasn't a PADI class that will enable him to add 1 more badge towards PADI 'Master Diver'.

Now I'm left without a "team" or anyone that I know of in a local or regional area to get any advanced training with. I'm well aware that I can obviously take the classes alone and be matched up with another solo on-site (assuming there is one), but that just seems pointless since I won't have a partner when I get back home.

-Tim

 

[TGreene]

Anyone have a thoughts on what I can or should do..?

The thing is, I want caves so bad that I can taste em!!!

-Tim

 

[Rainer]

Keep trying to meet divers in your local area (where "local area" might have to encompass many, many miles!). Talk to them about this type of diving. Show them videos of DIR divers doing cool dives (at all levels). See if you can excite anyone about this sort of team diving.

You could also see about having a GUE instructor come in to teach a Primer class. Much less commitment required, so you might get a better turn out (ditto for a UTD Essentials class). Perhaps a local shop might want to sponsor such an event (we did this back in MA).

Check on the various boards (SB, GUE, UTD, etc) to see if there are any DIR divers local to you already that you might not know about.

As Richard noted, ultimately, this type of diving requires local like-minded teammates, unless you're willing to travel for all of your diving.

 

[iztok]

As Richard noted, ultimately, this type of diving requires local like-minded teammates, unless you're willing to travel for all of your diving.

But one would think that skills learned would be valuable regardless. At least most of it.

 

[Rainer]

The personal skills are a small subset of what these classes teach. Sure, if that's all you're looking to get out of the training, you'll be fine. If you intend to dive DIR, however, it's going to require like-trained and like-minded divers.

But one would think that skills learned would be valuable regardless. At least most of it.

 

[TGreene]

Since I first posted on the thread on pg-2, I was contacted by a DIR diver in North Texas that very generously invited me to meet up with he and his buddies for a number of dives this summer, and I most certainly intend to do just that.

The issue I'm faced with "locally" however, is that there is only 1 other diver that I'm aware of that has ever been exposed to any element of DIR. He is currently getting instruction elsewhere and hasn't been happy with the outcome, thus he's advised me to go a different route, which is exactly what I'm attempting to do. Hell, I even offered my Halcyon rig to 2 different guys today so they wouldn't have to buy a BP/W, and they both turned it down!

-Tim

 

[StreetDoctor]

Tim,

How far are you from lexington, KY? That is where Ed Gabe lives (GUE instructor) and he dives with a group there that I believe call themselves blue grass underwater explorers. He is very into cave diving. I took fundamentals with Ed, he's a great diver and a very nice guy I'm sure you won't be disappointed. He could probably set you up with someone else to take a fundamentals class.

 

[TGreene]

Tim,

How far are you from lexington, KY? That is where Ed Gabe lives (GUE instructor) and he dives with a group there that I believe call themselves blue grass underwater explorers. He is very into cave diving. I took fundamentals with Ed, he's a great diver and a very nice guy I'm sure you won't be disappointed. He could probably set you up with someone else to take a fundamentals class.

Thanks for the heads up. Unfortunately however I'm 8.5 hours away, which also puts me at the edge of Florida Cave Country... If I'm driving that far for GUE Fundies, then I'll go another 1.5 hours and take the class from Doug @ EE.

I hope nobody takes this the wrong way, but I'm pretty set on the instructors that I would really love to study under. In regards to GUE, Doug taught SeaJay who is my mentor...

I've also been talking quite a bit with another instructor in regards to NAUI Tech1 and Cave1, and can do the Tech1 class much closer to home. I would honestly rather do a more intense full featured "all-in-one" class that will cover Tech1/Cavern/Cave1 and the instructor I've been talking with the most seriously has offered this at a great rate, but I need 1 or 2 other divers to do it with me, that will be dedicated to becoming a "team". I have no provblem traveling 6-8 hours to dive with "my team" if need be, but I do need to find divers with the desire and level of committment to themselves as well as the rest of their team, and then we will be 3.

Yes, I'm a relative new diver with just under 1 year of experience and 92 logged dives, with a 1/2 dozen c-cards that stuffed into the front of my logbook. In November I was fortunate to have been able to sample what DIR is all about, and it tasted really good to me. I've since switched out my "fluffy" rec gear and now have both a Halcyon Eclipse-30 singles and a HOG #38 doubles rig, and a full hogarthian reg setup. I'm trying to get there and now have the equipment to be able to get the training that I desire.

When I first looked at the gear requirements for any of these classes, I was in shock because honestly I didn't know what any of it was, then I started looking around and doing the math and it went from bad to worse... As luck would have it, I just so happened to find a buyer who was looking for pretty much the exact gear that I had (all cressi stuff) and I was actually able to sell it for a slight profit, which allowed me to buy and break even on a new HOG reg set and the Halcyon rig. The HOG doubles were added 2 months later.

-Tim

 

[Sloth]

I've also been talking quite a bit with another instructor in regards to NAUI Tech1 and Cave1, and can do the Tech1 class much closer to home. I would honestly rather do a more intense full featured "all-in-one" class that will cover Tech1/Cavern/Cave1 and the instructor I've been talking with the most seriously has offered this at a great rate, but I need 1 or 2 other divers to do it with me, that will be dedicated to becoming a "team". I have no provblem traveling 6-8 hours to dive with "my team" if need be, but I do need to find divers with the desire and level of committment to themselves as well as the rest of their team, and then we will be 3.
-Tim

Every diver is different in the rate they can learn but I would strongly recommend against doing an all in one course unless it is a mentor based course. It could be incredible overwhelming trying to shoehorn so much in such a little bit of time and I think most tech agencies really try to structure their course to give you time in between classes to work on the skills you learned to carry into the next class.

I was in the same position you are now a few years ago while I was living in SC. I wanted to get into the team orientated diving but I had no buddies that were on the same page. At the time I just focused on getting the gear and working on trim, buoyancy and kicks. I didnt took formal classes until I moved to Hawaii, looking back I should have done fundies back then instead of waiting as you will learn a lot that will make you a better buddy even if they arent interested in team diving.

Mark

 

[BigBubbaJ]

When I first looked at the gear requirements for any of these classes, I was in shock because honestly I didn't know what any of it was, then I started looking around and doing the math and it went from bad to worse... As luck would have it, I just so happened to find a buyer who was looking for pretty much the exact gear that I had (all cressi stuff) and I was actually able to sell it for a slight profit, which allowed me to buy and break even on a new HOG reg set and the Halcyon rig. The HOG doubles were added 2 months later.

-Tim

I am diving my HOG doubles this weekend for my UTD Intro to Tech class... they are fantastic regs so far! I have only dove them as a single so far. They rock! When I do air shares, they breathe better than the scubapro ones the other folks have.