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

[rddvet]

Maybe we'll find a public business webpage for a GUE Instructor who also teaches the SDI Solo Diver course?

I know of two GUE instructors who solo dive from time to time. Not regularly but they have and do. I'm sure other GUE divers besides me are aware of it. Nothing has ever been said to these instructors and they have not gotten any blowback from GUE (though I can't say GUE HQ is aware or not, but pretty sure it's known by all).

 

[jale]

The farther someone goes in the GUE world, the less likely that person is going to have any interest in doing something that deviates from GUE's core principles.

I thought "conservation" was one of their "core principles" and I don't get why JJ is involved in this Dubai's pool montrosity

 

[pauldw]

Soloing allows me to dive several days a week in local reservoirs and rivers. The visibility is measured in inches…

What is the attraction?

 

[jeffmg]

I have GUE training and I am very much an advocate for GUE and believe in the philosophies (team diving). At the same time, I am not opposed to solo cave diving. Some times it's more convenient (aka you're not going to dive if you have to track down a buddy) or safer (I have had some bad experiences with cave diving "instabuddies") to solo dive. Although I believe in team diving, I also believe that I'm adult enough and experienced enough to do some solo dives on my own. I don't push depths, penetration, or deco when soloing and am exceptionally conservative.
My GUE instructors and friends who are GUE instructors know that I do those dives and don't hassle me over it. I know they don't agree with solo diving as much as I do, but they're not bitching at me and not reporting me to GUE police.
GUE is a training agency only. The "cult" people dislike are members who take things too far. That happens in side mount, back mount, different ccr brands. It's not exclusive to GUE. "GUE" isn't going to care if you go solo dive. Your instructor and your GUE dive buddies may not like it. But there's no DIR Detectives coming to beat on your door.

Whats your gas rule/turn pressure for a solo cave dive?

 

[Wibble]

...The "cult" people dislike are members who take things too far. That happens in side mount, back mount, different ccr brands. It's not exclusive to GUE. "GUE" isn't going to care if you go solo dive.

Or ask questions about a certain rebreather and get abuse hurled at them.

Standardisation is one thing, but common sense is another. Diving styles need to be adapted for the specific circumstances of a dive. Could give many examples: sticking all tins left when they float up in a wreck, even on a leash; having a longhose under a CCR loop; abhorring sidemount principles for streamlining; using computers (although that's dropped in recent years); lights on helmets; "that" rebreather configuration...

 

[Doc Harry]

/+*

What is the attraction?

The ONLY attraction is getting underwater

I work on kicks, valve drills, manuevering, trim, hovering motionless, deco tank switches, picking up and dropping deco tanks on a line, various line drills, line placement, SMB deployments, navigation, etc. Drill after drill after drill, then repeat.

Also helps build comfort in water under difficult conditions. Being at the bottom of a murky reservoir in total darkness and zero viz at 120 feet is really spooky. But it's rewarding that I can navigate around the bottom of the reservoir in total darkness and pass the same rocks every time, knowing that I'm within inches of my targets every time I go diving.

Diving in near-zero viz is great for lost line drills!

With twin steel 130s I can do four-hour training dives.

 

[grantctobin]

Or ask questions about a certain rebreather and get abuse hurled at them.

Standardisation is one thing, but common sense is another. Diving styles need to be adapted for the specific circumstances of a dive. Could give many examples: sticking all tins left when they float up in a wreck, even on a leash; having a longhose under a CCR loop; abhorring sidemount principles for streamlining; using computers (although that's dropped in recent years); lights on helmets; "that" rebreather configuration...

Most (all?) of which make sense in the context of the organization and the training structure. If you had to make a system that works, on average, good enough and in fact the same from Tech 1 through 400' CCR dives with appropriate bailout, you'd be hard pressed to design something better or more consistent.

I think the context you're missing is that even the training director modifies his system when the "team" standardization calls for it and it is better for the environment. 12+ hour dive in Weeki Wachee? The assistant training director of GUE is in SM bailout, with a long hose under his loop, with a computer. Still no silly helmet though, I promise.

Edit: cave administrator* unsure if training director

 

[The Chairman]

In olden days, ie pre 2005, DIR bragged about having zero fatalities. When a DIR fatality was pointed out, they quickly cited what rule they had broken ergo, they weren't really DIR. Two of the fatalities were divers DIS (Doing it Solo). One of our early Mods, and a huge DIR proponent, often dove solo. He confided to me that he never posted about those dives due to possible rancor from his DIR peers. Of course, that's DIR and not GUE.

The ONLY attraction is getting underwater

I have guided blind divers as a part of Diveheart. They seemed to love the experience.

 

[pauldw]

Being at the bottom of a murky reservoir in total darkness and zero viz at 120 feet is really spooky.

Ah, makes sense. I was thinking of my wife's OW checkout dives, in a murky reservoir, where at one point the class was just supposed to be burning minutes underwater, and they couldn't see anything so they sat on the bottom playing with whatever crawdads walked over them.

 

[LiteHedded]

the mouthiest people about gue on both sides of the argument are (and always have been) the people who have the least experience with it. just check this thread for proof. nobody gives a **** if you solo dive or don't want to take gue courses. do what you want, who cares?

if you're an instructor and want to stay one, the arithmetic probably hits a bit different.