Every GUE based diver I have ever dived with has had great skills. The little contact I have had with Jarrod and what I have heard from others makes me believe he is not only an outstanding diver, he is more importantly a man of great integrity who is trying to create outstanding divers. There is, however, a trap in thinking to which it can be easy to fall prey when comparing agencies. To show what I mean, I would like to create a hypothetical example that takes things to a bit of an absurd extreme.
Let's say that I create a cave diving training agency called the WFD--World's Finest Divers. I make the name of the organization the mission statement. You cannot begin cave training with WFD until you have logged 1,000 dives and completed Advanced Trimix training. There are 5 certification levels leading to the Cave Diver certification with my agency. The training requirements for each level include a list of skills too numerous to mention here, including skills 99% of the world's cave divers have never seen performed and many would argue are completely unnecessary. Each level includes a minimum of 50 training dives, and once each level is reached, 100 experience dives at that level are required before you can begin training at the next level. One of the training requirements is to lay a total of at least 1,000 feet of new line. Students would have to compete in at least one triathlon during training.
This would, no doubt, be a very expensive program, especially since my instructors would have to be well paid. Only very wealthy people with a lot of time on heir hands and great physical conditioning would even consider enrolling, but I could possibly get some such students.
When I get my first graduates, I would have complete justification in saying that the people graduating from my cave course are superior divers to the people graduating from all other cave diving courses, including GUE. By extension, that would mean that the skills of divers in all other agencies, including GUE, would be inferior to the skills of my graduates.
Does that mean that I have the best agency? Does that mean that my agency is superior to all others? Would that make all other agencies, including GUE, inferior agencies? Would I be able to sneer at those other agencies because their standards are no match for mine? I think it rather shows that I have created an agency that fits the needs of a very select clientele.
To show a contrasting point of view, take a look at the link I gave to the Extreme Exposure Diver Education page, which I think shows an outstanding educational program, one with which I would be proud to be associated. Notice that a beginning diver has several choices, including two price levels of PADI courses and the GUE program, which is more expensive. The implication is that the shop management thinks that different programs can provide a solid level of learning to different students with different personal goals in mind. I cannot believe a man with Jarrod's integrity would sell customers a program he did not think would be suitable to their needs. The page shows a wide range or programs, giving potential customers a good selection from which to choose the kind of training they wish to pursue. Each of those programs is better than the others in terms of meeting the needs of a specific student. A program that is better for one student would not be better for another.
Let's say that I create a cave diving training agency called the WFD--World's Finest Divers. I make the name of the organization the mission statement. You cannot begin cave training with WFD until you have logged 1,000 dives and completed Advanced Trimix training. There are 5 certification levels leading to the Cave Diver certification with my agency. The training requirements for each level include a list of skills too numerous to mention here, including skills 99% of the world's cave divers have never seen performed and many would argue are completely unnecessary. Each level includes a minimum of 50 training dives, and once each level is reached, 100 experience dives at that level are required before you can begin training at the next level. One of the training requirements is to lay a total of at least 1,000 feet of new line. Students would have to compete in at least one triathlon during training.
This would, no doubt, be a very expensive program, especially since my instructors would have to be well paid. Only very wealthy people with a lot of time on heir hands and great physical conditioning would even consider enrolling, but I could possibly get some such students.
When I get my first graduates, I would have complete justification in saying that the people graduating from my cave course are superior divers to the people graduating from all other cave diving courses, including GUE. By extension, that would mean that the skills of divers in all other agencies, including GUE, would be inferior to the skills of my graduates.
Does that mean that I have the best agency? Does that mean that my agency is superior to all others? Would that make all other agencies, including GUE, inferior agencies? Would I be able to sneer at those other agencies because their standards are no match for mine? I think it rather shows that I have created an agency that fits the needs of a very select clientele.
To show a contrasting point of view, take a look at the link I gave to the Extreme Exposure Diver Education page, which I think shows an outstanding educational program, one with which I would be proud to be associated. Notice that a beginning diver has several choices, including two price levels of PADI courses and the GUE program, which is more expensive. The implication is that the shop management thinks that different programs can provide a solid level of learning to different students with different personal goals in mind. I cannot believe a man with Jarrod's integrity would sell customers a program he did not think would be suitable to their needs. The page shows a wide range or programs, giving potential customers a good selection from which to choose the kind of training they wish to pursue. Each of those programs is better than the others in terms of meeting the needs of a specific student. A program that is better for one student would not be better for another.
