GUE specific communication ?!

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Patoux01

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Hey guys,

I'm not really DIR, but diving sometimes with GUE members and instructors I've been diving with went through some of the GUE courses.

However, it caught my attention that the signals they use don't seem to be what I thought was the standard. For instance when signalling a tank pressure, I'd do "1 - 5 - 0" and confirm with an okay signal, meaning 150 bars. What they would do is "100 - 5".
A quick explanation of the signs, so that everybody is clear on that.
1 = 1 finger up
5 = 5 fingers up
0 = just like "okay" but with all fingers making the "circle", an okay being with open fingers.
100 = 1 finger down

When I asked about it (it was during a course not related to DIR) I just got the answer "it comes from cave diving that's how it is.", which I'm not really happy with... Being the kind of guy that will very often question what he's being taught, most instructors seem to have an issue with me :wink:

I have been explained that the reference book for communication was the CDS-NSS "Cave diving communication" book. JJ's "Fundamentals of better diving" doesn't seem to agree with the former, for instance giving numbers going from 1 to 10 while CDS-NSS gives 0 to 9. I can't seem to find how to signal for "bigger" numbers in any of those, so having only the 0-9 range available "my" method seems to be the only one possible. Using the 1-10 range, I'm left without a clue of how I'd signal something as stupid as "12".

However, those 100 signals seem very non-DIR to me, in fact non-technical in any way as you'd still have to add 100 + 50 and take a wild guess that the guy is signaling 150 and not 105.
When asking this question on a mainly recreational forum I had as answer "well discuss it in the freaking briefing you idiot". To me, this is something that is so obviously standardized that there should be no discussion about it.

So here come the questions:
- does GUE use another communication than the CDS-NSS ? Isn't that book the reference for communication in technical divers?
- does the briefing among DIR divers cover all signals every time? If it does, then the whole DIR philosophy becomes really laughable imho. I just can't imagine it.

Thanks for any replies... To be honest, I haven't read through the whole fundamentals book, and I'm aware that the CDS-NSS only suggests this as a base set.
 
First time ever hearing of signals like that..

I teach al my GUE classes with what I believe is the standard one handed tec diving signals for numbers.

Like this, except I don't keep fingers together for above 6

It's the same signals in the gue required reading materials.. Fundamentals book written by Jarrod.

http://www.newseadivers.co.uk/scuba_signs_numbers.jpg
 
I don't know anything about the "one finger down" for 100. Every dir guy I've ever dove with would signal "1-5-0" for your example, or "1-0-5" for 105 and "1-2" for 12 and so on.

1-5 are palm forward, 6-9 back of the hand forward and fingers inward, 0 similar to the ok sign like you describe.

I generally think the CDS book is great and more people should read it. Some things are a little weird but it's generally good IMO.
 
Never heard of "finger down" before. To mean a number or anything else for that matter!

12 would be 1 and 2
150 would be 1 - 5 - 0

The hardest part for many people is slowing down enough for the numbers to make sense as individual digits instead of a mess of gibberish. The CDS book has all the standard signs in it although there are typically a few more regional signs that grow up organically, like "octopus" which might as well be the same as "stubby squid."
 
same

although I like fingers together for the numbers 6-9. helps differentiate them a bit more. a few of GUE's hand signals aren't as clear as they could be
 
You know, I dove with a GUE instructor last week and I was trying to figure out why she was telling me my backup light was on while she was dropping her stage..
 
You know, I dove with a GUE instructor last week and I was trying to figure out why she was telling me my backup light was on while she was dropping her stage..
It can be very confusing. I gave up trying to argue about it with gue instructors tho. I haven't had much luck convincing them the signals are similar
 
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