Which skills during DIR-F?

[TSandM]

I suggest to don't miss the point, FOCUS ON LEARN, NOT IN PASS or reach the tec, if you're just pointing to the tec pass you're gonna miss a lot of advantages to have a gue instructor in front of you.

This is probably the strongest argument for taking Fundies early, in a single tank. At that point, you really are just there for the skills, as the card gains you nothing, really. You can focus on the instruction, ask questions, get input, and go off and practice. You can later transition in doubles, knowing what it is you have to accomplish in them, and come back and do the tech pass upgrade.

Taking Fundies in doubles with the NEED to get a tech pass to go on to the next class really does impact the value of the class for some people, I think.

 

[Rick Inman]

Man! This guy has my back in and out of the water.

Allen owns the boat. I don't.

Enough said.

I didn't pass fundies, and never went back for the re-test. I was happy to get the skills, and a list of the ones I needed to fix/learn. Circumstances brought an IANTD instructor into my life, and I went on with tech from him. And that instructor told me that it was the DIR foundation that allowed me to move into tech, and he himself took many of the GUE principals and applied them to the class.

I got my way more than my money's worth without ever getting the card.

 

[BarryNL]

I'm surprised about all this matter about having good, bad, better or worse diving buddys.
I suggest to don't miss the point, FOCUS ON LEARN, NOT IN PASS or reach the tec, if you're just pointing to the tec pass you're gonna miss a lot of advantages to have a gue instructor in front of you.

Easily said, but the reality is that a fail means coughing up another €600 to do the course again. It does kind of focus your mind on getting a pass.

 

[TSandM]

Very few people actually FAIL Fundies. If you have a bad attitude or are insistent on unsafe practices, or if your skills are really rudimentary (in other words, cannot be brought up to standards within six months of diligent practice) then you will fail. But the majority of people who don't pass get provisional ratings, which do not require the payment of the full fee again. It may require bringing the instructor out again, which isn't cheap, or travelling to where he is, which isn't cheap, either. And if you fly an instructor in, he may charge for his time. But it's not the full course fee again.

 

[David C R]

Easily said, but the reality is that a fail means coughing up another €600 to do the course again. It does kind of focus your mind on getting a pass.

As I know failing is more easy for those people who doesn't have the right attitude, closeminded, etc. but not for those who has a struggling dive buddy, on a deep analysis it's still the best goal you can achieve LEARN, forget the card, if not, I bet you won't get the juice neither you'll ENJOY the course, yeah it's true €600 are €600 !!
so the best you can do is prepare your self, dive, do your best!, but always with the right attitude and that one is not by just reaching a card

My best wishes for you and good luck!!!

 

[Doc Harry]

Now I don't know the authors of these two quotes well enough to know if they are serious or if they were writing with tongue-in-cheek. IF you know these skills (especially the latter set), why would you take DIR-F?

Is not the point of a class to be taught the skills which are the focus of the class?

I still say don't try to learn "the skills" before the class -- use the class to learn the skills and then, once you've learned to do them properly in the class, you can practice them until you are ready to be evaluated.

Read the original question.

 

[TSandM]

I read the original question. The OP asked what skills he should practice to get the most out of the class. I think Peter has a good point; if you already know how to do all the skills before taking the class, then the whole class boils down to a $500 evaluation session. That may be all some people want, but it's kind of a waste of some well-trained teachers.

 

[b1gcountry]

I read the original question. The OP asked what skills he should practice to get the most out of the class. I think Peter has a good point; if you already know how to do all the skills before taking the class, then the whole class boils down to a $500 evaluation session. That may be all some people want, but it's kind of a waste of some well-trained teachers.

This is interesting in light of the many comments I've heard that "no matter how ready you think you are for Fundies, you will always come away feeling like you don't know anything."

I would also imagine that a good instructor would push the better students a little more so they have more on their plates than those with less polished skills. It will be an interesting class to take.

Tom

PS, one of the reasons I signed up for it as well was the focus on buddy awareness and procedures. So it seems you would have things to learn even without the skills.

 

[O.M.O.H.]

Here is an interesting situation.

I have exchanged messages with Bob Sherwood of GUE, who is also an active GUE instructor in the NEW York area, as well as the whole North East for this matter, and he really urges not to take any steps to "prepare" for the DIR-F course. GUE Instructor résumé | Global Underwater Explorers

I can kind of understand it from the point of view where there is no guarantee that the new DIR-F candidate prepares for the class in the matter that will be acceptable based on the GUE standards. There is always a possibility that some "bad habits" will be acquired during the preparation and then the GUE instructor will have to unlearn this bad habits with the student...

Wll here is the the quote from Bob's reply to me:

...even with a good mentor, the best thing is to get into the fundamentlas course early, then work with someone else after. Once you go through the class you will have all of the information needed to help you as well as for you to be able to give feedback to the person you are diving with. All the definitions and proceedures will already be understood.
Too many people try to prepare for the class that is supposed to show you how to prepare...

 

[JeffG]

Here is an interesting situation.

I have exchanged messages with Bob Sherwood of GUE, who is also an active GUE instructor in the NEW York area, as well as the whole North East for this matter, and he really urges not to take any steps to "prepare" for the DIR-F course. GUE Instructor résumé | Global Underwater Explorers

I can kind of understand it from the point of view where there is no guarantee that the new DIR-F candidate prepares for the class in the matter that will be acceptable based on the GUE standards. There is always a possibility that some "bad habits" will be acquired during the preparation and then the GUE instructor will have to unlearn this bad habits with the student...

Wll here is the the quote from Bob's reply to me:

I would bet that all GUE instructors would give you the same answer.

and they will also tell you don't worry and/or think about the "passing" part.