Primer vs. Fundies

[divad]

Having looked at the GUE website, basically primer is just the basic basic skills set for yourself (trim, buoyancy, etc) and fundies is skill set for team in addition to yourself?

You can't do the latter without the former. Primer is bargain.

 

[GShockey]

[QUOTE
If you do NOT continue into Fundies, you will have developed significantly higher precision as a diver than anything else I was exposed to before, and I have done quite a bit of training in 39 years of diving!

Do you need Primer before Fundies? No. Will you benefit, if you take it first? In my opinion, YES! You will be that much more prepared for what you can learn in Fundies, and take even more with you from the Fundies.

I am speaking as a diver who only earned a "provisional", and may never actually "pass", due to physical limitations to my kick. BUT, pass or not, both classes gave me skills and knowledge that only made my diving more enjoyable, and safer. That, in the end was my only real goal, not some pass or certificate.[/QUOTE]

And this has been exactly my experience with Primer students and exactly the correct attitude to take to any GUE course.

Guy

 

[keithdiver]

Hi Eugene.

I took both Bob Sherwood's Primer class, and his GUE Fundies class this summer. I happened to be at Dutch Springs early in the year, and Bob let me sit in and listen to day one of a Doubles class he was teaching for ScubaSam and Henrik. What I saw, as far as control underwater, especially with Henrik (for Sam it came a bit later) was beyond anything I had seen before. That convinced me to try the upcoming Primer class.

Primer was a humbling, and eye opening experience for me. I had always seen myself as pretty good uw, skill wise. In two days I got a good taste of a whole different level of control one can achieve in the water, and got my foot in the door as far as diving BPW and dry, which was all new to me. Even after diving for nearly 40 years. Primer is just that, a class that gets you up to speed on gear, skills and the beginning of team building, that you will build on when you do take the Fundies class. If you go into Primer with an open mind, and ready to learn, you will come out a better diver for it. If you continue into Fundies, which knowing you, and our mutual friends I am pretty sure you will do, you will continue to grow as a diver by leaps and bounds. If you do NOT continue into Fundies, you will have developed significantly higher precision as a diver than anything else I was exposed to before, and I have done quite a bit of training in 39 years of diving!

Do you need Primer before Fundies? No. Will you benefit, if you take it first? In my opinion, YES! You will be that much more prepared for what you can learn in Fundies, and take even more with you from the Fundies.

I am speaking as a diver who only earned a "provisional", and may never actually "pass", due to physical limitations to my kick. BUT, pass or not, both classes gave me skills and knowledge that only made my diving more enjoyable, and safer. That, in the end was my only real goal, not some pass or certificate.

Eugene, if you do not take the primer class look in Intro To tech with Trace Malinowski, he will be able to fine tune you also for the fundies class. My teammate Scubafeed and myself took the class and did a lot in preparation to what we were going to be taks loaded with in Fundies with Bob Sherwood. Gypsijym also did a couple of days in this class to help trace out with some of the task loading skills. This class totally humbles you as a diver:shocked2:

 

[scc135]

Thanks for all the help guys. After a week in Roatan, I thought I had my trim and buoyancy down, but after Dutch, especially diving with Henrik and Sam, it really showed me I have quite a bit left to go. As they've suggested, I've been leaning heavily towards doing primer before Bonaire, diving the heck out of those 2 weeks, and then taking fundies. I really just wanted a better feel for the difference.

 

[TSandM]

You can't do the latter without the former. Primer is bargain.

I'm not sure I understand this statement. It is certainly possible to do Fundies without doing the Primer.

...I'm just afraid that I would take fundies and be a complete wash-out, so primer seemed a good start. ...

As I said, if you are unsure or worried, the Primer is a great place to begin. When I took Fundies, we had six students, three of whom were pretty good divers, and three of whom were pretty painfully green. I got to be part of the "these guys are hopeless but I have to teach them anyway" team. We all learned a lot. None of us was very close to meeting the requirements to pass the class, but six months later, I did. And all of that six months was better and better (and more FUN) diving.

 

[liuk3]

Eug, I would go ahead and just give Bob Sherwood a call directly. He's really accessible via cell phone. You can get his phone number off of the GUE website, All About Scuba website, or your buddies whom seem to have been trained by him. The cool thing is that it seems like you've hooked up with a bunch of divers already trained by him who can give you the low down. After the class, you'll have buddies to dive with. Some people aren't so lucky to have GUE trained divers around locally. Speaking form personal experience, this is a big help and just makes it more fun. Bob will be able to help you assess which would be more appropriate for you Primer or Fundamentals. Looks like you are having fun with it all and hooking up with helpful dive buddies.

 

[drydiver]

Eug, Let me know if you get a Primer class scheduled with Bob, I know a few local people that would jump on that, depending on the scheduling.

 

[kathydee]

:

Bob will be able to help you assess which would be more appropriate for you Primer or Fundamentals.

I think this is a good plan!


No matter which training path you take: Primer then Fundies or diving straight into Fundies - Show up ready to absorb everything you can, take time to practice what you learn and diving will become so much more enjoyable!!!

Good luck with your training! Look foward to hearing about your class/classes !

 

[scc135]

Eug, Let me know if you get a Primer class scheduled with Bob, I know a few local people that would jump on that, depending on the scheduling.

Sweet. Once spring comes along and the water temps at Dutch become wetsuit appropriate, It'll be any weekend. I don't have many time constraints I can't work around.

 

[gypsyjim]

Eugene, you can always swing by Dutch earlier than that and speek with Bob, once he starts teaching there come spring, long before you may be willing to get wet in the wetsuit.