GUE - Fundies?

[zahgurim]

Am looking to take a Fundamentals course somewhat soon, with the goal to advance later onto the Tech courses.

Anything I should know/practice beforehand, before signing up for the Fundies?

 

[TSandM]

Congratulations on deciding to do the class!

I have a couple of pieces of advice. One is to be familiar with your equipment. It's best if you can get at least 20 dives on the setup you are going to use in class. (Changing equipment AND trying to learn new skills sets you up for a great deal of frustration.)

Second, is not to stress out trying to "prepare" for the class. Remember, it is a CLASS -- you are supposed to be learning new things there.

Third, is to spend your "practice" time working on basic buoyancy skills. You can practice the basic five, trying to stay at the same depth and not move around the site. (There is nothing different about DIR mask clearing from what you were originally taught, except that you do it in the water column, maintaining buoyancy, trim, and situational awareness.) A solid base of good buoyancy and simple skills is the best platform for moving forward.

Have fun with the class -- it will change your diving!

 

[Rick Inman]

Congrats!! You will absolutely have more fun diving after the class.

In retrospect, I wish I had made more dives with other DIR trained divers right after fundies. I took the class and went back home 250 miles from any other DIR divers, and developed a bad habit with my frog kick. I didn't know I had the habit because there was no one to critique me. Then a year later a tech diver moved to town and started diving with me and pointed out the error of my kick. It was a painful lot of dives for me to break the habit.

So my advise is hook up with other divers during the class that you can do skills with, and can critique you. TSandM was in my class and offered several times to dive with me, but I never made it out, and that was a huge mistake.

Enjoy the class!

 

[b1gcountry]

I would just suggest getting all your gear setup exactly how you plan on using it for the class, and do a dive or two like that to find any extra gear snafu's. You will be going through stuff and changing things during the class, and you will have homework that will keep you up late enough. You don't want to be messing with your harness because the inner tube that holds you left backup light has been slowly developing a tear over the last two months, and finally broke, and now you're staying up until midnight even though you're tired as dirt, and have to get up at 6am for class the next morning.

You will be busy, so just do as much work beforehand as possible so you can devote as much time as possible to just learning and diving.

Tom

 

[crlavoie]

It's not a bad idea to be familiar with the equipment but understand that it's likely you will spend a good deal of time tweaking the configuration on the first day. Don't be offended by it. It all comes together rather quickly once you hit the water.

Aside from that, I would spend the time before the class just getting in the water and having fun. Above all, go in with an open mind and put the ego aside (actually, the ego thing will take care of it's self).

Congrats on your decision. Your diving will be forever changed.

 

[zahgurim]

Thanks for the tips!

I just ordered my drysuit, and am looking to get comfortable in it before committing to the class.
The rest of my gear I am very comfortable with, and other than needing to install a longer regulator hose, it's ready to go.

I'm looking forward to it!

 

[gxsr_sarge]

Am looking to take a Fundamentals course somewhat soon, with the goal to advance later onto the Tech courses.

Anything I should know/practice beforehand, before signing up for the Fundies?

It depends on your goal. If you are taking the course with a singe tank and no light and just want to get better at bouyancy, trim, etc. - I don't think you have to practice a heck of alot but rather get really comfortable with your gear and DS. I was aiming to pass GUE/F w/ my tech cert (doubles, can light, etc.) first time so I was "on a mission". So this is more or less what I did BEFORE taking the class (and passed, by the way):

- I read the GUE Fundamentals book a few times.
- I made a great connection with the local GUE dive shop. They set up all of my gear perfectly (i.e., BPW, hoses, fins, EVERYTHING - even down to the suit pockets). We didn't have to spend any time during class tweaking my set-up.
- I saw a TON of YouTube videos on the drills and kicks.
- I did about 30-40 dives in ALL of the equipment. (Yes, it was overkill using doubles on a 40' reef - but practice is practice).
- Practiced the drills on my own until I felt like it was routine and I was within a foot or two of bouyancy while performing all of the drills. I did this by doing the drills in front of a fixed spot so I knew when I was acending/descending.
- I practiced ALL of the kicks. I also had a chance to do a few pool sessions with GUE graduates that corrected my technique on a few things.
- If you get your back-kick down before the class, it will make the entire class much more manageable in the water as you will be able to control your positioning in relation to your team and instructor.

I took Fundies w/ a diver that hadn't practiced much AND had just done a few dives with his new drysuit. Needless to say, he was very very frustrated throughout the entire course and didn't pass.

I know that there are folks out there that subscribe to the "you're going to class to learn so why pick up bad habits before" philosophy. I would rather be solid on MOST of the skills and then re-learn a few than seem helpless throughout the entire class.

Also (and this is probably the subject of an entire other thread), if you're shooting for a tech pass and not already an experienced DS diver, make sure you have your trim and bouyancy down in your DS before you even think about taking the course.

Hope that helped!

 

[TSandM]

This is actually one of the biggest problems with Fundies. It's a class, but too many people come into it with the attitude that they want the signoff to go on with. It's an expensive checkout dive, guys. You get much more your money's worth out of the class if you actually let the instructor teach you something . . . And you'll learn it right the first time.

I understand the feeling of urgency, if you live somewhere remote and had to fly in an instructor, and you quake at the cost and logistics of reevaluations. But if you're in Florida, it would have been easy enough to have hooked up with an instructor after your class, if you happened not to pass.

To the OP -- don't stress out. Work on your buoyancy. Let the instructor teach you the things the class is there to teach.

 

[Rainer]

Agreed.

I think it's silly to practice for the class to any great extent. That's just a wicked expensive way to show off. Take a class to learn, not demo. If you don't pass, you have plenty of time to then go practice before getting re-evaled (for those flying the instructor in, I can see a desire to pass first go, otherwise, who cares.).

If you're going to work on anything, it should be getting comfortable in the gear you'll use for the class. Focus on buoyancy first, and trim secondly. If you can hook up with local DIR divers before then, great, if not, no big deal. If you're comfortable in the water, you have all the basis you'll need to get a lot out of the class.

 

[Gombessa]

I can see it both ways. Some people are on a mission, and to them, getting the most for their money means being as prepared as possible, and hopefully being in good enough shape to focus on the details rather than try to learn from whole cloth skills that easily take months and dozens of dives to master. I think a fundies instructor will ALWAYS be able to teach you more than you know.

For others, the start-it-fresh approach is undoubtedly the right way to go. If you don't have a lot of like-minded divers or GUE class grads around, or just aren't on a strict timetable to jump into the technical classes, be a sponge and relish the challenge, cause it'll tax even the most prepared student.

I approached my fundies class halfway between the two. I've always been diving with DIR divers, took Essentials early on, and had all my gear sorted out, and you know, for ego's sake I kinda wanted that early tech pass. But beyond "for fun" drills, I never put a laser-focus on perfecting kicks, drills, etc. I figured I'd learn everything I could, and if I didn't pass or didn't get the tech pass, I'd have plenty of time to dive with what I learned in class and re-evaluate later. After all, the reason I took the class is so I would have more fun on my dives, and that fun includes all the "ah ha" moments after class as you figure out how to do what you were learning a few months back.

So while I agree with the "take the class to learn" approach, I've got plenty of respect for the competitive Type-As who want to go for the gold, so long as they're not coming in with a sense of entitlement to that certification. In the end, the class is really what you make of it, so don't stress too much over how prepared or unprepared you are, you'll still pick up a lot, and if you're like me, it'll be the best money you've ever spent for diving.