What are the accessories that you will always dive with, and why ?

[EireDiver606]

This advice sounds to my ears like some kind of Zen Koan.
I don't perceive that I am completely wasting my time by watching their videos on SMB deployment, the 5 Basic Skills, The S-Drill, etc.
And they DO require a very specific list of equipment and tools: I doubt very much I could just waltz in there with an Octopus and a Jacket BCD.
Practicing trim and buoyancy with a backplate/wing seems also like a good plan, at least from my novice/beginner point of view ...
I would be very grateful if you would care to elaborate a bit more on the type of preparation that hopefully could be done, and the type of preparation that should not be done, or cannot be done.

As I said, you can’t prepere for it. Your instructor will teach you WHEN you get in the course and will best try to accommodate your weakness and help you pass.

Don’t overthink it. It’s just a scuba course. Go in with a good and teachable attitude and leave your ego at the door. Also get a backplate and wing if you can. Other than that, that’s how you prepare best.

 

[SalemHaddad]

Flash Light, Knife, SMB, Reel, backup Mask, GoPro

 

[Ayisha]

...
Practicing trim and buoyancy with a backplate/wing seems also like a good plan, at least from my novice/beginner point of view ...
I would be very grateful if you would care to elaborate a bit more on the type of preparation that hopefully could be done, and the type of preparation that should not be done, or cannot be done.

Hi Roger, this can be a whole topic by itself with lots of opinions, and there were a few threads in the past that debated how much to practice or not for Fundies, so you can also search if you'd like. The concern is that if you practice in an incorrect way, it will be harder to unlearn bad habits rather than starting fresh. Sometimes brand new divers do better in Fundies than ones who have picked up bad habits. Practice is great, but "imperfect practice makes imperfect".

Something that my GUE instructor told us to do prior to the course was to practice holding static trim at different depths for long periods of time, whether in a pool or in open water. So for example, staying perfectly still and horizontal at 10 (or 15) feet for as long as you can. If you can do it with a friend or someone can take pictures or video so you can see what you look like, that would allow great feedback. Then hover flat at 5 feet for as long as you can, then 3 feet, etc.
Once you have that down over multiple sessions, you can put them together. 15 feet perfectly flat and still for 30 - 60 seconds, 10 feet, 5 feet, etc., achieving neutral buoyancy at each depth before you move on to the next, slow and controlled, exhaling slightly of course. We begin our ascent by inhaling, not by kicking, so you can practice that too. Your feet should be perfectly still, not sculling. If you have all of that down, when you eventually add task loading in your course, you'll already be really solid.

You could practice clearing your mask while maintaining trim and a particular depth, and then the same while doing a mask remove and replace.

Sometimes my buddy wasn't able to come to our practice sessions and I would get frustrated and didn't want to practice myself, and told my instructor, and he said no worries, face a tile on the wall in the corner of the pool and do it yourself - and I did.

Something else you can do is to check that you're balanced. Get neutrally buoyant at say, 1 foot off the bottom and stretch out horizontally. Don't try to make any corrections. Just lay out and see if you stay like that or tip head down or feet down. If you stay perfectly horizontal, awesome. If you're head heavy or foot heavy, this tells you whether to try moving your ballast down or up your body. That ballast could be where your lead is, the position of your tank, the position of your backplate, composition of your fins, etc. to bring you into a naturally flat position. You will learn that your body pivots depending on how far your arms are in front of you, the position of your head, and the position of your legs and fins, etc. and how to use your body to maintain trim. It's a lot easier though, if you aren't fighting what you can adjust with your ballast positions.

You can also check that you can reach and manipulate your tank valve when you're standing up, and also when you're horizontal in the water. If you have mobility issues, there are exercises you can do to help reach your valve(s), that will assist prior to doing the course when you have to show that you can.

What may not be a good idea to practice are actual procedures. Doing actual S-drills, valve drills, deploying an SMB, precise propulsion techniques, etc., are usually not recommended until an instructor has demonstrated the current procedures to you. This is where the imperfect practice can interfere with your learning. Even the GUE videos may not be the newest procedures that you will be taught in your course. Unfortunately, the procedures do change, even if slightly.

When you register for your course, you will have the opportunity to download all the course reading materials, which will include all the Standards and the Standard Operating Procedures. Read the SOP well, if you like to read that kind of stuff, because it will give you all the current steps in each of the skills that you will be learning.

Those are many of the things that you can practice, and perhaps not practice, IMHO. Good luck!

There are lots of mentors that could help you. If you're on Facebook, this is the GUE Quebec page which you could join: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1587824734765359/

Or the GUE Ontario page which you could also join: GUE Ontario

 

[Roger Hobden]

Hi Roger, this can be a whole topic by itself with lots of opinions, and there were a few threads in the past that debated how much to practice or not for Fundies, so you can also search if you'd like. The concern is that if you practice in an incorrect way, it will be harder to unlearn bad habits rather than starting fresh. Sometimes brand new divers do better in Fundies than ones who have picked up bad habits. Practice is great, but "imperfect practice makes imperfect".

Something that my GUE instructor told us to do prior to the course was to practice holding static trim at different depths for long periods of time, whether in a pool or in open water. So for example, staying perfectly still and horizontal at 10 (or 15) feet for as long as you can. If you can do it with a friend or someone can take pictures or video so you can see what you look like, that would allow great feedback. Then hover flat at 5 feet for as long as you can, then 3 feet, etc.
Once you have that down over multiple sessions, you can put them together. 15 feet perfectly flat and still for 30 - 60 seconds, 10 feet, 5 feet, etc., achieving neutral buoyancy at each depth before you move on the next, slow and controlled, exhaling slightly of course. We begin our ascent by inhaling, not by kicking, so you can practice that too. Your feet should be perfectly still, not sculling. If you have all of that down, when you eventually add task loading in your course, you'll already be really solid.

You could practice clearing your mask while maintaining trim and a particular depth, and then the same while doing a mask remove and replace.

Sometimes my buddy wasn't able to come to our practice sessions and I would get frustrated and didn't want to practice myself, and told my instructor, and he said no worries, face a tile on the wall in the corner of the pool and do it yourself - and I did.

Something else you can do is to check that you're balanced. Get neutrally buoyant at say, 1 foot off the bottom and stretch out horizontally. Don't try to make any corrections. Just lay out and see if you stay like that or tip head down or feet down. If you stay perfectly horizontal, awesome. If you're head heavy or foot heavy, this tells you whether to try moving your ballast down or up your body. That ballast could be where your lead is, the position of your tank, the position of your backplate, composition of your fins, etc. to bring you into a naturally flat position. You will learn that your body pivots depending on how far your arms are in front of you, the position of your head, and the position of your legs and fins, etc. and how to use your body to maintain trim. It's a lot easier though, if you aren't fighting what you can adjust with your ballast positions.

You can also check that you can reach and manipulate your tank valve when you're standing up, and also when you're horizontal in the water. If you have mobility issues, there are exercises you can do to help reach your valve(s), that will assist prior to doing the course when you have to show that you can.

What may not be a good idea to practice are actual procedures. Doing actual S-drills, valve drills, deploying an SMB, precise propulsion techniques, etc., are usually not recommended until an instructor has demonstrated the current procedures to you. This is where the imperfect practice can interfere with your learning. Even the GUE videos may not be the newest procedures that you will be taught in your course. Unfortunately, the procedures do change, even if slightly.

When you register for your course, you will have the opportunity to download all the course reading materials, which will include all the Standards and the Standard Operating Procedures. Read the SOP well, if you like to read that kind of stuff, because it will give you all the current steps in each of the skills that you will be learning.

Those are many of the things that you can practice, and perhaps not practice, IMHO. Good luck!

There are lots of mentors that could help you. If you're on Facebook, this is the GUE Quebec page which you could join: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1587824734765359/

Or the GUE Ontario page which you could also join: GUE Ontario

Wow ! OK, very useful advice !

I highly suspected that buoyancy and trim were two of the main skills that I would need to work on.

It's really too bad that such crucial information is not readily available on the GUE website, though.

Any suggestions about the size of the steel cylinder that I should purchase ? I suspect I should start with a HP 100, as I will be using a single tank XDeep Zeos [ 17 kg / 38 lbs lift] with minimalist webbing. Most of my diving will be done in canada (cold water lakes, ocean) with a trilaminate drysuit. I'm 5'10".

 

[Ayisha]

It's really too bad that such crucial information is not readily available on the GUE website, though.

I suspect it never will be. Most people will probably tell you not to practice, but those are things that should only help, not hinder your efforts.

Any suggestions about the size of the steel cylinder that I should purchase ? I suspect I should start with a HP 100, as I will be using a single tank XDeep Zeos [ 17 kg / 38 lbs lift] with minimalist webbing. Most of my diving will be done in canada (cold water lakes, ocean) with a trilaminate drysuit. I'm 5'10".

That is really something that you should discuss with a GUE professional before you purchase. GUE usually recommends an AL 80, because they double up well in the future or can be used as a stage bottle in the future, but YMMV. I have seen people use AL or steel tanks in Fundies. They may accept whatever you can trim out well, but talk to them. Steve doesn't bite. He's really very nice and helpful.

Having said that, I used and continue to use HP steel 80's because I'm short and don't like the length of an AL 80. They suggested an AL 80, but were ok with my HP steel 80's.

I'm very familiar with Canadian diving. I'm in Toronto, Ontario.

 

[Roger Hobden]

I suspect it never will be. Most people will probably tell you not to practice, but those are things that should only help, not hinder your efforts.



That is really something that you should discuss with a GUE professional before you purchase. GUE usually recommends an AL 80, because they double up well in the future or can be used as a stage bottle in the future, but YMMV. They may accept whatever you can trim out well, but talk to them. Steve doesn't bite. He's really very nice and helpful.

Having said that, I used and continue to use HP steel 80's because I'm short and don't like the length of an AL 80. They suggested an AL 80, but were ok with my HP steel 80's.

I'm very familiar with Canadian diving. I'm in Toronto, Ontario.

Thank you very much for your advice. You are very generous with your time.

I though that steel was much better for diving then aluminum because of the positive buoyancy effect of AL at the end of the dive ?

 

[hroark2112]

The buoyancy shift is going to be the same for a given volume of air. The difference is that steel tanks are usually still negative at the end of the dive, so you need less additional lead.

 

[Roger Hobden]

The buoyancy shift is going to be the same for a given volume of air. The difference is that steel tanks are usually still negative at the end of the dive, so you need less additional lead.

Correct. Sorry I was unclear.

 

[Ayisha]

Thank you very much for your advice. You are very generous with your time.

I though that steel was much better for diving then aluminum because of the positive buoyancy effect of AL at the end of the dive ?

Np. I love my steel tanks in our cold fresh water because they allow me to wear less ballast elsewhere. In cold salt water, I love them even more. Many GUE divers have steel 104's. Some divers prefer LP steel tanks so that they get more generous "cave fills" whereas some shops don't always fill HP tanks as generously. I'm pretty sure you can use whichever tanks you decide on, within reason, particularly since you use a drysuit, ie) redundant buoyancy.

 

[Roger Hobden]

Np. I love my steel tanks in our cold fresh water because they allow me to wear less ballast elsewhere. In cold salt water, I love them even more. Many GUE divers have steel 104's. Some divers prefer LP steel tanks so that they get more generous "cave fills" whereas some shops don't always fill HP tanks as generously. I'm pretty sure you can use whichever tanks you decide on, within reason, particularly since you use a drysuit, ie) redundant buoyancy.

Thank you again. I will try to reach Steve Blanchard and Dany Dulac and get their opinions, too. Also, I was accepted just now on FB with the GUE Ontario group.