Brand new OW diver - PADI or GUE to progress?

[Lorenzoid]

I was gonna say, I would certainly get training before i.e. doing a 40-foot dive with a drysuit!

I would say it's a good idea, but I am a nut for education--spoon feed me, please! Others on SB might take the position that a diver could figure out drysuit diving for herself. Not me.

 

[salmon_ella]

I would say it's a good idea, but I am a nut for education--spoon feed me, please! Others on SB might take the position that a diver could figure out drysuit diving for herself. Not me.

I found this board through the A&I section and have been obsessively binge-reading it. I've come away with the impression that if you're not 100% sure what you're doing, everything is fine until it isn't.

 

[Dogbowl]

What happened out of curiosity ?
I know Advanced and Nitrox is happening and they are certain deep can and drift is easy to get there supposedly.

Nothing really “happened”. We (hubby and I) got our AOW and Nitrox in Cozumel and did some more dives afterwards and I came to the realization that we kinda reached a “plateau” with PADI courses. I didn’t think we would learn any more continuing with PADI, at least not the way I was expecting (I’m probably going to get an earful for saying this but whatever). And we certainly did not want to go pro. I noticed how we were not a good team underwater, and we did not know how to communicate. As we were going further with our diving, I no longer felt safe doing it the way we were doing it. GUE sounded like it would make a difference for us so we started that path. It’s so drastically different it was a kick in the face (or wherever else it hurts the most for you).

I don’t think GUE training is for everyone though. For example, I certainly would not recommend it for my sister if she ever wanted to learn to dive, because she’s not me and knowing her, she would quit on day 1. I take to the philosophy much more easily than my husband, for example. He resists it. But I think he will succumb in time muahahaha.

 

[stuartv]

That's reassuring.

Still, nothing makes someone "strictly GUE" except that individual's own free will. If someone announces he strictly dives only within the parameters of what GUE taught him, that's just his decision. Unless he's an instructor, GUE does not require him to dive that way.

Edit: John posted while I was typing. But I'm glad to see I have the right idea!

Understood. But, until he gets training from somewhere (which I really don't think he will), why would anyone expect, or even ask, him to dive any differently (than how he was trained)? I would not support a decision to dive differently than how he was trained without first getting other training.

"Sure, it would be easy enough for him to figure out how to plan a dive using M-D and other than Standard Gases - and "more modern" GFs. But, that is all well outside his training. Not hard, but not how he was trained."

"That open water diver, it would be easy enough for her to figure out how to plan a dive going deeper than 60 feet, but all that is well outside her training. Not hard, but not how she was trained."

/drama starter

I.e. go get training from somewhere else to support, for example, diving with other than Standard Gases. Or diving with an ascent profile that does not match what GUE teaches.

Also, diving 5 or 10 feet deeper than you've gone before does not carry the same need for training (in my mind) that using a decompression strategy you have no training on does.

I'm all for standard gasses as then it makes logistic easier.

Standard Gases may make some logistics easier in some cases, but I've never had a single instance where it would have made mine easier.

For me, logistics are much easier when I can show up and use the mix that is banked by the operator I'm diving with (e.g. EAN30 (North Carolina) or EAN36 (Cozumel), for example). it's also easier when I can start with a mix that is okay for the dives I'm doing, use, say half of it, then just go get my doubles topped up with air and do the next day's dives with whatever FO2 that happens to work out to.

And when I want a specific blend, every place I've been I just tell them what I want and they fill my tanks. It's no harder or easier for me if I ask for 18/45 (SG) or if I ask for 21/20 (non-SG).

And, I suppose it's not strictly speaking a logistical issue, but I definitely prefer to use 80% (a non-SG) for my final deco gas when diving in the ocean. When getting tanks filled, you just never know what conditions you're going to be in at the point you're doing your final deco hang. Having the option to hang at 30' and be that much further from the surface swell/chop is something I want.

 

[taimen]

it's also easier when I can start with a mix that is okay for the dives I'm doing, use, say half of it, then just go get my doubles topped up with air and do the next day's dives with whatever FO2 that happens to work out to.

I blend and fill my own gases, so it is logistically much easier if I don't need to stick to SGs. SG's also have a gap between EAN32 and 21/35. For dives in 30-40m/100-130 range the difference between SG(21/35) vs best mix is not neglible.