Posted by Kevin on December 13, 2001 at 13:50:27:
Posted on another board on Tuesday, finally got around to posting it here today. Please keep the flames to a minimum, as I am basically a shy and insecure person.
Hello everyone.
I had the opportunity this last Friday, Saturday and Sunday to take the GUE Fundamentals Course. Most of you know me, and have dove with me. For those of you that don't, I hold instructor ratings with three agencies, technical certs with four and was qualified as a diver with one other. I consider myself a hard core wreck diver, with an emphasis on hard core. This was the most through and most comprehensive training I have ever received. It blew away any of the advanced technical training, and this was just the GUE "introductory" course.
I decided to make the most of this course, and just be myself. I felt this was an honest approach. When I did not understand something I asked questions, when I disagreed, I questioned and discussed. In the end I strated to see the light. I did not hide the fact that I have developed bad habits in my diving practices, nor did I pretend I was something I was not.
I dove with my normal everyday gear, or at least I tried to. My 250 pound bag, crowbar, sledge and machete/diveknife were confiscated the first 20 minutes. Oh well, I knew that was gonna happen. They let me keep my double 95s, but I had to ditch my pony. I did secretly sneak a much smaller sabre into my pocket, and they caught me on that too. After the first hour my gear setup began to enter the realm of DIR. I got a few laughs when someone found my chain male dive gloves ( hey, they're indestructable. ) After the gear got squared away, started to plan our dives, scheduling what we needed to accomplish according to the lectures and predive briefings. We started with gear and gas management, moved on to s drills, valve drills and other fundamental skills. We covered a wide variety of skills in the water, including dealing with trim, buoyancy and propulsion exersizes ( did you know there are at least seven different types of kicks, and all of them have different applications ? ) We moved on to emergency skills like sharing air, no mask breathing nd swimming, and line work and bag work.
Over the course of the weekend we made four LONG dives, and some divers got in a beautiful night dive in the park and in Descanso Bay. We were physically pushed, especially those of us with doubles !
Some additional thoughts that occured to me as I was taking the course:
GUE is not a marketing ploy for anyone. In fact the only time I heard Halcyon mentioned was in small negative way, a minor piece of equipment they make was not up to specs, and that was changed after it was brought to their attention. Andrew never actually even mentioned that he wons a dive store that sells all the equipment we were using. In fact, I formed the opinion that GUE and DIR has very little to do with gear, its about a philosophy, and that philosophy dictates the safets, most streamlined and well thought out gear. In fact, the bottom line was simpler is better, less is more, reduce and if you don't need it, don't bring it.
GUE is about saftey and enjoyment, and its those two things that drive the training. Be as safe as you can be so that you can enjoy the diving as much as you can. Thats the whole reason behind the unified team concept and optimal gear choices. Could you imagine if every airport had different rules and regulations and procedures ? Could you imaging if unit in the military had diffect non-compatible equipment ? When the " fit hits the shan " you have no time to find a secondary reg, or play with and AIR 2. or figure out if a pony bottle is turned on. You need to breathe NOW, not in ten of twelve seconds.
GUE and the DIR mindset are very well thought out. Yes the training has a lineage to caves and wrecks, but it is 100% completely applicable to all types of diving. Let me specifically state that DIR is PERFECT for local California diving and simple shallow open water dives. Thats the beaty of its simplicity.
I would like to thank Andrew Georgitsis for the best course I have taken to date. And thanks to Sonya for running the video camera all weekend underwater, its the most effective training aid. You can actually see the mistakes you are making, and how best to correct them.
John Walker and Terry May and Mark Hall were of invaluable assitance both in and out of the water. They spent time and energy and money to help out. There is also one other diver whose name I forget, and his advice on gear was of tremendous value to me. He has the cleanest doubles rig and even his small 6 cf inflation bottle is neatly tucked away. He has given some great ideas on how to further inprove my rig.
Future posts may include stories of Calico Bass and how Terry, Bill, Mark and I have been banned from the All You Can Eat Sushi at Flips. Any photos posted of me from the weekend are forgeries, altered and doctored, I was actually in Detroit that weekend. Hey, I have never ever been accused of being a choir boy, but you know that.
Now heres the part of my post that is gonna cause some of you to start to think:
If all divers accepted and practised the DIR philosophy, we would reduce our diver fatality rate BY AT LEAST 80 %. After this last weekend I have vowed to say goodbye to my old bad habits. If the five friends that I have buried in the last few years had been DIR trained and followed DIR procedures, they would not have died in the oceans. Simple fact, argue all you want but you'll eventually loose. DIR equals SAFETY, SAFETY means more enjoyment on the dives. The more you enjoy, the more you dive, and the safer you get. GET IT ????
Kevin Rottner