Why did YOU take (or plan to take) GUE Fundies?

[ndemeis]

I guess I'll answer about planning to take fundies. Right now I just contacted Scuba Shack in CT to sign up for the Primer course. The reason being I don't think I am a fundie level yet but hope to take it next year along with PADI's rescue diving course. I want to start out with better habits and I am a bit of a clean slate now.

The reason why is that the training I received in the past through SSI and PADI for OW and AOW just didn't seem like it was about the training and it was more about the money. I like the idea that people actually fail these courses. I have yet to hear of someone failing PADI or SSI training. Also both courses were low stress, low thought. The reports I've read of GUE courses are most people have to work and put in a lot of effort to do well. When I did my AOW I would have failed the navigation section, but the instructor was like ok you did close enough and passed my partner and I. Looking back I wish I would have failed. This created a bit of a nonchalant attitude toward diving for me. Now that I am getting back into diving and becoming more serious I want something with more serious training to make me the best diver I can be.

Really looking forward to the Primer course in a few weeks and will hopefully put up a report if I'm not to lazy

 

[gsk3]

Interesting that most of the responses so far center around in-water skills. For me, it was the philosophy. I have something of a background in quality improvement in the medical setting, and the idea of DIR is inherently compatible with what research in other fields (notably aviation and medicine) have shown to result in better safety. So I was interested immediately. My wife and I spent two days with Bob Sherwood in the water, and was hooked.

That said, if the philosophy hadn't been backed up with real accomplishments and in-water lookin' pretty, it would have all rung a bit hollow. Right after our OW cert, we went to Bermuda on a cruise ship and got a few dives in. One of the guys on the boat was Cave 1 trained, and watching him move with extreme precision through a short cramped tunnel just for fun certainly confirmed my impression of the system.

 

[amascuba]

I took it for a couple reasons. I wanted to gain a skill set that was comparable to divers that I had seen that had already or about to take the fundamentals class. Watching them in the water were my first inspiration. Second, I wanted to learn more about more about the secret handshake black magic voodoo called decompression on the fly and to a lesser extent rock bottom.

What I got out of the class has been invaluable to my diving. The team mindset, situational awareness, easy to remember on the fly planning strategies, and the divers that I've met since then has made my diving what it is today. It's fun, exciting, and I have a group of friends and team mates that share the same interest in diving that I do.

 

[Peter Guy]

Randy -- no, your response regarding UTD does NOT count -- but not because it is about UTD but because your did not answer "Why" you decided to take the UTD course (and which one -- I'm assuming Essentials).

What I'm trying to figure out is if it is "normal" for someone to have a "triggering event" which results in the decision to take the class (for me it was a "panic moment" which convinced me the training couldn't hurt and perhaps would help!) -- as opposed to just a "I need more training and this seems like the right course."

 

[randytay]

Randy -- no, your response regarding UTD does NOT count -- but not because it is about UTD but because your did not answer "Why" you decided to take the UTD course (and which one -- I'm assuming Essentials).

What I'm trying to figure out is if it is "normal" for someone to have a "triggering event" which results in the decision to take the class (for me it was a "panic moment" which convinced me the training couldn't hurt and perhaps would help!) -- as opposed to just a "I need more training and this seems like the right course."

Well, your original question asked why anyone took GUE Fundies so am not sure if you wanted input from a UTD Essentials. But here's my "Why":

It started that I read a thread on SB that GUE does not recognize other agencies' cert and another reply that neither does other agencies recognize theirs. I did a google on GUE and got some info from their website but has no idea who they are, what they do or why I need to start from the bottom. Then it happened that my brother from Singapore contacted me about wanting to get certified for diving; being NAUI certified, i naturally tried to look for a NAUI instructor in Singapore and came across Chang's website. I took a look at his videos about his OW classes and was very surprised that his students were taught stuff I was not (e.g. frog kicks, air share). I was very inpressed with their skills and questioned my CD why I wasnt taught those skills. His answer was "thats technical diving" and wanted nothing more on the conversation. I studied their videos for weeks and realized that he is also a UTD instructor so I googled UTD. The entry in wikipedia says the founder of UTD, AG, was a former TD of GUE.
From SB, I also learned of the infamous 5thDx video and found out that the guy in the video is AG. I told myself: none of my instructors thus far has THAT kind of control and neither any divers I have met demonstrated them either. I want those skills BADLY, and I also like the equipment configuration which appears cleaner and more "sophisticated". It was a no brainer. I contacted AG, had a long conversation with him and finally met him and Jeff during DEMA last year. I am both very happy and surprised to find they are very friendly, welcoming and accommodating.

Fast forward, I have been taking classes with UTD ever since. There was no special epiphany or anything, it is just an accident that I found out about them, what they teach and know I just HAVE to do it.

 

[lamont]

After my open water checkout dives, I felt like I really didn't know the failure modes of my gear, didn't understand how they could be made redundant, wasn't very comfortable with using a CESA as an emergency procedure and didn't feel like I was really skillful enough (e.g. was worried about doing a sweep for my regulator if it got knocked out of my mouth in reality). I don't think the training was particularly bad compared to other PADI training, but it just wasn't enough for my slightly paranoid mind. So I went looking for other information/approaches. What I read about GUE at the time I agreed with, and I could reject the whole "its a cult" bias and the issues with GI3s personality (coming from an open source software background it seemed rather a lot like rejecting RMS and ESR along with the average religious zealot slashdot newbie). The rest of it fit well within the principles of redundancy and failure analysis and standardization that I used at my job in IT and just made sense when you looked around at what others did at difficult tasks.

So, post-OW dive #1 was decked out in all the correct gear, and dive #25 or so I was into fundamentals...

Based on Peter's classification it was definitely a choice to get different training and a different style of training, rather than having an oh-**** moment.

(I did actually have an oh-**** around dive #20 before fundamentals, but I was already on that path anyway...)

 

[USVet96]

Any DIR training opportunities in Miami, FL or close vicinity?

It is something that I want to pursue for ALL (pretty much) the same reasons as mentioned above. Because of my injuries I may not be able to use the complete system because I may not be able to use ALL the appropriate gear, but I CAN incorporate the methodology and philosophy of simplicity / safety of the DIR system to use during my rec dives.

Looking for local to Miami.

Thank you

USVet

 

[Scott L]

Any DIR training opportunities in Miami, FL or close vicinity?

It is something that I want to pursue for ALL (pretty much) the same reasons as mentioned above. Because of my injuries I may not be able to use the complete system because I may not be able to use ALL the appropriate gear, but I CAN incorporate the methodology and philosophy of simplicity / safety of the DIR system to use during my rec dives.

Looking for local to Miami.

Thank you

USVet

It would be easier to visit High Springs, FL for the class. Much, much better UW training areas (spings). Choice of 4+ instructors. Accomendations are dirt cheap. Many include free dirt. I can suggest several habitable facilities...

Nearest modern, clean hotel. 10 minutes south of Extreme Exposure/GUE Headquarters...
http://book.bestwestern.com/bestwes...ay-Grand/Hotel-Overview.do?propertyCode=10281

 

[USVet96]

It would be easier to visit High Springs for the class. Much, much better UW training areas (spings). Accomendations are dirt cheap. Many come with free dirt. I can suggest several inhabitable facilities...

Forgive my geographical ignorance here, but where exactly IS "High Springs" lol.



Thanks

 

[lv2dive]

What I'm trying to figure out is if it is "normal" for someone to have a "triggering event" which results in the decision to take the class (for me it was a "panic moment" which convinced me the training couldn't hurt and perhaps would help!) -- as opposed to just a "I need more training and this seems like the right course."

Does a milestone birthday count as a triggering event ? For me, it was most definitely "I need more training and this seems like the right course."

I got back into diving right before a big birthday and coming up on a year of fairly intense recreational diving (for someone who lives in a land-locked location), I realized I had taken myself as far as I could go. Although I do a decent job of "monkey see, monkey do" and had been able to improve by emulating other's diving practices, I knew I wasn't where I wanted to be... at this point I probably had about 250 dives. I had definitely gotten the sense from people on SB (TSandM in particular) that Fundies would help get me there. I didn't know any DIR/GUE divers in person until I took the class.