GUE Fundamentals, Fund 1 and Fund 2?

[CptTightPants21]

I meant more of diving in doubles for awhile and then taking the primer aiming for a tech pass from it instead of doing the primer and then tech fundies.

Primer does not offer the 'tech' pass that would equate to a fundies tech pass. It is only a 1 (maybe 2) day course.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I meant more of diving in doubles for awhile and then taking the primer aiming for a tech pass from it instead of doing the primer and then tech fundies.

If you already are familiar with diving doubles, then taking the Doubles Primer would make zero sense. It's designed for someone with no knowledge of doubles. For me, part of the takeaway was how to choose a set of doubles suitable for my goals. I rented a set to use in the course.

 

[elgoog]

I meant more of diving in doubles for awhile and then taking the primer aiming for a tech pass from it instead of doing the primer and then tech fundies.

You can hire a GUE instructor for a day to do a couple of evaluation dives to see if you are at tech level and either convert you or give feedback on what more is needed. It doesn't have to be under the structure of a course or primer. They are super flexible about stuff like this.

 

[gobuyastick]

Primer does not offer the 'tech' pass that would equate to a fundies tech pass. It is only a 1 (maybe 2) day course.

I was under the impression that if you are proficient enough from your instructors point of view, you can lobby for a tech pass

You can hire a GUE instructor for a day to do a couple of evaluation dives to see if you are at tech level and either convert you or give feedback on what more is needed. It doesn't have to be under the structure of a course or primer. They are super flexible about stuff like this.

Ahh thank you for that bit of info

 

[Lorenzoid]

I was under the impression that if you are proficient enough from your instructors point of view, you can lobby for a tech pass

Theoretically, if one is in a Doubles Primer course and asks the instructor to evaluate him for a tech upgrade to his existing Fundies rec pass, and the instructor agrees, I suppose one could earn a tech pass that way. But as I said in a post above, Doubles Primer is intended to teach all about doubles to someone who knows nothing, and I can't imagine someone who has never dived in doubles before earning a tech pass. More commonly, you first get a rec pass, then you get proficient diving doubles doing the GUE skills in them, and you go back to an instructor and have him spend a day with you to evaluate you for a tech upgrade.

 

[KevinNM]

Im just wondering, has anyone gotten a tech pass from a doubles primer ? I heard its doable but not many go that route

You would need to do it with an instructor examiner, as they are only people who can allow you into classes without the prerequisite class. Someone here said they got into a tech 2 course after a dive with an IE, apparently without any previous GUE experience.

 

[Ayisha]

The Rec 3 course is a Trimix diver course requiring doubles. a stage bottle, and some deco, with a maximum depth limit of 130 feet/39 metres. It is unusual to think of a trimix diver as recreational...

That is nice for those that do not want to take a tech course but would like other gas options for deep dives still in the Rec range...

I believe Heliox was one of the standard gases taught in the Fundamentals course, not sure if it still is. In my Fundamentals course materials, 30/30 as well as 32% EANx were both listed as GUE standard mixes for 0 - 100 feet, but we didn't spend much time discussing heliox and never used it. They were both bolded in charts for fundies while trimix with it's various depths and mixes was in regular type. We were fine with just nitrox, so we didn't ask for more coverage of heliox.

Maybe a GUE instructor or someone who has taken Fundies recently can speak to whether there is still instruction on adding helium and if it's used at the Fundies level?

 

[CptTightPants21]

Discussed, but never used at fundamentals level.

 

[elgoog]

You would need to do it with an instructor examiner, as they are only people who can allow you into classes without the prerequisite class.

Why would you need to do it with an IE? Converting rec pass to tech is not a class in itself and you're not skipping any of the pre-requisite classes. None of the primers (doubles, drysuit, etc) are prerequisites for anything. You need to be proficient in those 2 to get a tech pass but that proficiency can come from anywhere.
I know for sure that my instructor is not an IE and does rec to tech conversions with evaluation dives and probably some additional material. The drysuit primer I did with him was "informal" - as in, I didn't register with GUE or get a card on successfully completing it. I was told that the content was exactly the same.

 

[Ayisha]

Why would you need to do it with an IE? Converting rec pass to tech is not a class in itself and you're not skipping any of the pre-requisite classes.

I believe gobuyastick stated in an earlier post that they were looking at getting a tech pass without completing the Fundies course. Not converting from a rec to tech pass.