Why not Fundies?

[lamont]

The price is what is stopping me from attending a DIR-F class, it's a pity...

The way to fix that is to get together several people locally for a class, and have the instructor come to you. If you put the instructor up in one of your homes you save on hotel costs, and all you pay for are the class fees, fills and such and you split the instructor's plane ticket costs up. You have to be motivated enough, though, to put it together...

 

[mdb]

My only criticism of GUE is that they have a class structured for failure. Rick

And some people love it.

 

[TSandM]

Rick, the class you describe sounds wonderful . . . but it is a TECHNICAL diving class. One of the unusual (or even unique) things about Fundies is that it teaches technical diving quality skills to recreational divers who may have no desire to do decompression diving at all.

It is interesting to me to read this discussion and compare it with the riding clinics my husband and I have run for years. We've held clinics in Seattle where people flew from Texas to attend, and where the lessons cost in excess of $200 an hour. It's routine for riding clinicians to have their airfare, hotel lodging and meals paid, and some of the big guys who come over from Europe insist on business class flights as well. There is almost never any problem filling such clinics.

I can tell you that at least MY GUE instructor doesn't insist on such pampering -- he's willing to drive if the distance is driveable, and stay in somebody's house. He just needs enough students to make holding a class worthwhile.

 

[H2Andy]

We've held clinics in Seattle where people flew from Texas to attend, and where the lessons cost in excess of $200 an hour. It's routine for riding clinicians to have their airfare, hotel lodging and meals paid, and some of the big guys who come over from Europe insist on business class flights as well. There is almost never any problem filling such clinics.

well, consider your demographics ....

but you're right ... if money were no object, DIR-F is a bargain

unfortunately, it's a bargain most people never find out about. DIR-F is just not marketed effectively (or at all)

let's face it, DIR-F (valueable as it is) is nowhere near being a household name with the overwhelming majority of divers

where will potential DIR-F students come from? the overwhelming majority of divers

etc. etc.

 

[TheRedHead]

Actually, Uncle Ricky's class is not a technical certification. It's an SSI speciality apparently designed as a foundation for technical diving, and in that respect, it is a lot like Fundamentals.

 

[ae3753]

I considered Fundamentals, but did not take it for the following reasons:

1. As TSandM said, it's Fundamentals of DIR. I was interested in the skills, team work, and dive planning, but wasn't interested in being DIR. All the Internet DIR rhetoric and banter doesn't help the cause.

2. Equipment costs. I didn't want to buy DIR required gear. A bp/w is serious money, and for what I wanted out of the class, my existing gear should have been servicable.

So when 5thd-X offered Essentials, I signed up for that class instead.

 

[BiggDawg]

For those of you who would consider taking Fundies

I thought that was "Why Not take UNDIES," but this seems to be a somewhat less serious topic....

 

[TheRedHead]

And some people love it.

Why do you think that is?

 

[JeffG]

1. As TSandM said, it's Fundamentals of DIR.


I was interested in the skills, team work, and dive planning, but wasn't interested in being DIR. All the Internet DIR rhetoric and banter doesn't help the cause.

2. Equipment costs. I didn't want to buy DIR required gear. A bp/w is serious money, and for what I wanted out of the class, my existing gear should have been servicable.

So when 5thd-X offered Essentials, I signed up for that class instead.

Yea signed up for a class that

The “Essentials of Recreational Diving” class is not an evaluation based class but more of a friendly learning environment where the students will receive foundation of NTEC configuration and DIR philosophy. The class is designed for any diver that wants to learn about the benefits of DIR and applying it to their diving.

Good thing you are not interested in being DIR and not taking DIR-f


LOL

 

[1_T_Submariner]

Why are there so few instructors that teach this course? It seems everyone talks about having to travel etc... to take the class.