GUE, DIR, and Philosophy part II

[JT2]

I was wondering what a GUE instructor would tell someone who approached them about becoming a diver, would they refer them to PADI, NAUI etc.., since they don't certify basic OW divers as I understand it, it seems that this would have to be the case, and wouldn't that be ironic, you first have to start off doing it wrong before you will be accepted by the folks who are going to teach you to do it right. This does not make sense to me. If they have to spend most of the DIRF class trying to get rid of your bad habits and teaching you the proper way to do skills, why not offer a class that teaches you properly from the begining, why don't they do this, especially if they are so tired of all the strokes out there, why don't they offer a class so that you never have to be a stroke? I am a proponent of DIR but this is one thing that makes no sense whatsoever.

 

[TCDiver1]

JT2 once bubbled...
I was wondering what a GUE instructor would tell someone who approached them about becoming a diver, would they refer them to PADI, NAUI etc.., since they don't certify basic OW divers as I understand it, it seems that this would have to be the case, and wouldn't that be ironic, you first have to start off doing it wrong before you will be accepted by the folks who are going to teach you to do it right. This does not make sense to me. If they have to spend most of the DIRF class trying to get rid of your bad habits and teaching you the proper way to do skills, why not offer a class that teaches you properly from the begining, why don't they do this, especially if they are so tired of all the strokes out there, why don't they offer a class so that you never have to be a stroke? I am a proponent of DIR but this is one thing that makes no sense whatsoever.

Quite a conudrum eh JT2?

I agree with most of what GUE is trying to do also, but you would think they would have started at the entry level where they say the problems all start.

An excellent question!

 

[The Chairman]

DIR was developed for cave diving... extreme cave diving at that.

Having a certification program that is recognized world wide is no small feat! There are a lot of "i"s to dot and "t"s to cross. If not, I could easily start "Doin' it NetDoc" (but DIN is already taken) and certify till I was blue in the face. No other agency would recognise it, but I could do lots of certifying.

Then there is the question of liability. I am not even sure that GUE even offers any type of c-card. This would greatly reduce liability in a sue-happy world.

I am sure that there are a bazillion other things that I am not mentioning (or privy to) that have gone in to them NOT offering a basic OW class. That being said, I have heard of individual shops that offer a DIR oriented BOW class, that use NAUI as the actual certifying agency. In fact there are a few NAUI board members who are leaning towards using DIR for the tech portion of the program. Will that happen??? Time will only tell.

 

[Cave Diver]

gedunk once bubbled...
Ask any of the DIRF people in here how much they practice the skills they learned. Something i greatly respect about the DIR mentality is that, practicing skills, in an attempt to perfect them, is mandatory. Something every diver, OW or otherwise could learn from.

Skills of some sort are practiced on every dive.

 

[TCDiver1]

Cave Diver once bubbled...


Skills of some sort are practiced on every dive.

Yup, that would be the case for most avid divers.

From what i see on here i would classify most people who follow GUE/DIR, avid or at least they talk avid.

I was refering to the large population of "dive a couple times a year in the carribean" divers. From my experience this is the group that causes many discussions regarding lack of skills, trained or otherwise. Sure, there will always be some LDS's or instructors who short standards but that is not the only problem

Show me any diver, regardless of how much training they have had, that does not dive often, and practice pertinent skills while doing so, and i'll show you a diver that has lost much of any skill they once had.

Unfortunately, the way things stand today, we can't make people dive if they don't want to. Free country and all you know.

 

[Cave Diver]

gedunk once bubbled...
Unfortunately, the way things stand today, we can't make people dive if they don't want to. Free country and all you know.

The thing I dont understand is WHY wouldnt they want to??? I dive every chance I get, even if it is only at the local mudpuddle.

 

[AquaTec]

you could make certifications expire

 

[Uncle Pug]

GUE certs do unless you anually submit logs to show that you have done the required dives.

 

[AquaTec]

I like them more and more all the time.

 

[AquaTec]

actualy so does Dive Rescue International
which a public safety divers training agency

i just got my renewal and as part of it I need to submit not only a list of all the dives I have done, but what training specific dives i have done. and what mission specific dive i was involved in, and have the last two signed off by the training/diving officer.

plus there is a little written test to complete