DIR- GUE Why are non-GUE divers so interested in what GUE does?

[crofrog]

In a thread about "why do people interested in GUE not go all the way?", you have multiple people (e.g. Wibble) relaying their experiences dabbling in GUE training and finding the mindset too rigid. And then you have comments like these in response, implying that those experiences are ill-informed or invalid. If GUE folks are trying to prove to the rest of us that GUE folks are actually really open-minded and reasonable to engage with, that may not be the way to go.

I wasn't trying to ask "why don't people go all the way," but more why do people not even start, yet are extremely curious what the GUE position on X or Y is and then argue about why previous training or beliefs are better.

 

[Esprise Me]

I wasn't trying to ask "why don't people go all the way," but more why do people not even start, yet are extremely curious what the GUE position on X or Y is and then argue about why previous training or beliefs are better.

Are you open to an answer that doesn't boil down to "those people are inferior"?

 

[tridacna]

@crofrog

Let me help you rephrase your question.

“It's pretty interesting to me to see many people ON SCUBABOARD being super interested in what GUE does.”

The vast majority of divers that I’ve met have shown zero interest or curiosity in GUE. This burning question only occurs in the minds of a few self-centered GUE divers on SB.

 

[crofrog]

Are you open to an answer that doesn't boil down to "those people are inferior"?

Sure, I don't care what they do when they're diving and I don't think they're inferior. The inverse doesn't seem to be true.

 

[crofrog]

@crofrog
“It's pretty interesting to me to see many people ON SCUBABOARD

Well yes, that is the medium we're are talking on, yourself included. Apparently, you're GUE curious or you'd not even be posting here.

 

[sourdough]

Regretful how it devolves into right/wrong debates. Such is the curse of forums.

You guys be safe, enjoy diving, and the many courses we're all lucky to have available from so many sources.

 

[tridacna]

Well yes, that is the medium we're are talking on, yourself included. Apparently, you're GUE curious or you'd not even be posting here.

I have zero interest in GUE. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Not a sausage. Fark all.

This is a typical SB argument about why GUE/DIR divers think that others look at them in awe. I don’t. Not many people do. It’s another way to dive. Emperor has no clothes.

 

[Wibble]

Well yes, that is the medium we're are talking on, yourself included. Apparently, you're GUE curious or you'd not even be posting here.

Could be that we're interested in diving and it's good to get a broader view of what's going on.

Take for example the JJ JJ. What's all that about given it's such a complete departure from the vast majority of all rebreathers out there -- even the stock JJ's not like that. As a rebreather diver, I'm very interested in how people configure their machines and the thinking behind it.

I'm not frequently alone diving with friends is way more fun. My entire diving friends group has gone or is going through fundamentals and our diving is way easier because everyone knows what we need to do and everything is standardized.

Where I dive it's hard to stick together due to poor visibility and the wrecks. It's vital that you can handle issues yourself.

I just don't understand this "everything is standardised" mantra. As long as it's not something stupid like an i3 BCD or slob-knobs, an experienced diver shouldn't get into problems and they should be able to sort random other divers out -- what happens if there's someone else in some odd config in trouble: leave them? So what if you're diving with mixed teams of OC & CCR or, perish the thought, sidemount? What's important is you can sort your own kit out.

This "everything is standardised" was my issue when I attended fundies. I saw on boats that the vast majority of people don't dive DIR-compliant kit. It soon became apparent that the only way of diving like that was the GUE way with all the travel and extra grief that entailed. Good standards of core skills is a given; adding different local tweaks to one's harness -- a loop break for example so you can get out of your kit on the surface -- isn't the end of the world, but you'd think it was the way that some people complain.


I have dived subsequently with a GUE team. And damn strange it was too, especially the 'deco' ascent in a circle! Was fun in some ways. But so is doing an hour or more deco on your own; very relaxing.

 

[rddvet]

In a thread about "why do people interested in GUE not go all the way?", you have multiple people (e.g. Wibble) relaying their experiences dabbling in GUE training and finding the mindset too rigid. And then you have comments like these in response, implying that those experiences are ill-informed or invalid. If GUE folks are trying to prove to the rest of us that GUE folks are actually really open-minded and reasonable to engage with, that may not be the way to go.

It was a generalization about my experiences with non-GUE divers that have a disdain for GUE that have no clue what they're talking about. I never directed my comment at any particular person and most of the people I'm talking about are people I've met in person not on SB>

What people also don't seem to want to understand is that GUE has a rigid mindset about their practices because they're tried and true and have worked for many years in many different situations. But just because you train as a GUE diver doesn't mean you have to rigidly live by that dogma. I believe in team diving, but I also believe in solo diving for the right person in the right instances. I also dive sidemount regularly and a non-GUE approved rebreather. Nobody's coming and taking my GUE card. None of my GUE instructors care. In fact my GUE instructor is also an IANTD and TDI instructor trainer. The benefit of using him is he has knowledge from both inside and outside of the GUE world. People think because GUE has very particular gear setups and practices you can't do anything else. That's BS. I was using GUE best practices in my dives prior to becoming GUE certified (ie proper gas switches, diving a drysuit with heavy steel doubles).

 

[Esprise Me]

Sure, I don't care what they do when they're diving and I don't think they're inferior.

Because they're yellow.

There is a lot of truth said in jest. I think there might be some of that.

OK then!