Which skills during DIR-F?

[Mike Manthe]

Hi,

Although the mentioned skills are important, my experience during the DIR-F was the focus on attitude - means buddy awareness and situation awareness (+ gear setup).

In one of the courses I interned, the skills of the students (after practicing the whole winter) were superb but they were not able to communicate nor keep contact within the group. They did not pass.

 

[BarryNL]

Now I don't know the authors of these two quotes well enough to know if they are serious or if they were writing with tongue-in-cheek. IF you know these skills (especially the latter set), why would you take DIR-F?

Is not the point of a class to be taught the skills which are the focus of the class?

Well, I have to admit we have a slightly strange culture here in The Netherlands - the main point of the class seems to be to get a tech pass so you can start training for tech1/cave1. Most people taking the class here train the skills for at least 6 months before booking onto a course. This probably has something to do with the fact that we have no native instructors and flying in instructors to upgrade provisional or rec passes is a little expensive.

 

[Peter Guy]

[Note -- had to go check to see which forum I was in so that I don't get into trouble with the ScubaBoard Mod-Squad!]

Barry -- you have described one of my VERY favorite peeves regarding GUE/DIR training (as opposed to "DIR" training). The stated purpose of GUE's DIR-F is to prepare the recreational diver for Technical training. IF you have already "perfected" the skills which are to be taught in GUE's/DIR-F then there should be absolutely no reason to take the class.

At that point, GUE is no better than "Put Another Dollar In" -- pay the money, get the card. (At least that's my ever so humble opinion regarding it.)

But then I'm not in your position regarding the availability of instruction since there is a local GUE instructor who has been extremely good at working with me long past the class date.

It just seems to me that there's gotta' be a better way.

 

[BarryNL]

Barry -- you have described one of my VERY favorite peeves regarding GUE/DIR training (as opposed to "DIR" training). The stated purpose of GUE's DIR-F is to prepare the recreational diver for Technical training. IF you have already "perfected" the skills which are to be taught in GUE's/DIR-F then there should be absolutely no reason to take the class.

Well, I'm not sure how true that is - GUE fairly reasonably expects that you are familiar with all the DIR-F course material before taking the Tech/Cave class. I don't think that a full skills assessment would be that much different to the DIR-F class. I suppose GUE could put together a two-day assessment of your skills and knowledge instead of the full DIR-F course, but I don't know how much demand there would be, or how much cheaper they could actually make it than the course.

Obviously if GUE were to accept certifications from other agencies then that would be one way forward, but I really don't know of any other courses which are anything like DIR-F (at least, not from the big agencies).

 

[Mike Manthe]

IF you have already "perfected" the skills which are to be taught in GUE's/DIR-F then there should be absolutely no reason to take the class.

You might be right when you're focussed on skills only. But as I stated before, imho the DIR-F is more about team diving and awareness.

@Barry: I know the dutch way. It really seems that many of the dutch divers are very tech/cave 1 minded. It's about time that Gertje will become an instructor.

There are DIR-F-comparable IANTD, PATD or TDI-courses available. They are DIR because the instructors are also GUE-trained and put together the best things from the different agencies. And so we come to the old conclusion: It always depends on the instructor.

BTW: Do you dive in Hemmoor?

 

[Gombessa]

I've heard a lament from a recent GUE-F graduate that those who had buoyancy/trim down solid were given a MUCH easier time despite lack of proficiency with skills, than those who had the skills down but had less mastery of position in the water. It probably depends to some degree on the instructor, but I imagine the foundational aspects of buoyancy/trim are much more important to have down cold than knowledge of the skills, which they teach you from scratch in the first place.

 

[allenw1972]

Right now focus on finding out who the other students that have signed up for the class are. Once you do that, make sure they all have better skills than you do. There is nothing worse than teaming up with a struggling diver during the class. It could make or break your pass if that is your goal. I am being a little sarcastic here and no offence to my Fundies classmates, but I feel that with the right buddy, I may have gotten the tech pass.

 

[Meng_Tze]

...but I feel that with the right buddy, I may have gotten the tech pass.

Somehow I doubt that.....AFAIK, passing levels depends on the diver's abilities, not what his/her buddies did.

 

[TSandM]

I have to agree reluctantly with the observation that having the wrong buddies can make the difference between passing and not passing. The problem is that Fundies is open to almost everyone. In my original class, we had everything from a guy with several hundred dives to a fellow with precisely EIGHT. I was paired with him, and a man with 16 total lifetime dives. I don't care how skilled I could have been, managing a team of three like that just isn't possible. Doing coordinated descents and ascents wasn't going to happen. Air-sharing ascents with someone who can't control an ascent in the first place are not going to come off very well.

If you're just a little shaky, diving with a better buddy can make you look better than you are. But even if you're solid, diving with really wobbly folks can keep you from demonstrating your skills.

 

[Meng_Tze]

I have to agree reluctantly with the observation that having the wrong buddies can make the difference between passing and not passing. The problem is that Fundies is open to almost everyone. In my original class, we had everything from a guy with several hundred dives to a fellow with precisely EIGHT. I was paired with him, and a man with 16 total lifetime dives. I don't care how skilled I could have been, managing a team of three like that just isn't possible. Doing coordinated descents and ascents wasn't going to happen. Air-sharing ascents with someone who can't control an ascent in the first place are not going to come off very well.

If you're just a little shaky, diving with a better buddy can make you look better than you are. But even if you're solid, diving with really wobbly folks can keep you from demonstrating your skills.

Surely it would be up to the instructor to share/rotate the workloads and watch each diver for THEIR merits? I find it disconcerting to read this from you Lynne. It seems to indicate that the system/instructor is not able to identify individual merits and performance, especially in a team setting at such a basic level