Abridged GUE Fundamentals trip report Vobster April 2008

[thehappychappy]

Due to having been very busy recently I haven't had much time to write up a proper trip report so have put an abridged "thoughts" blog up from my experience on a GUE Fundamentals course.

DeepStop Blog

The photographs have been provided by jimbob.


Clare, Macthefish and a bacon butty


Me (kitchen sink not included) & Davwardo behind me

Davie

[purple vonny]

You are progressing well, grasshopper

[big_si]

Nice work with the pass!



Was a bit surprised by "During other training I have had my gas turned off and my mask taken off me unexpectedly when doing dives."

That's awful. I've not experienced any of that in tech training before! I'd not be happy with that in training dives! That's unnecessary risk in my book!

[paramedic paul]

Nice one Davie, well done!

[thehappychappy]

It was only a provisional, it doesn't feel like a real pass, the congrats go to Jim (Tech Pass) and MAC (Rec Pass) oh and Davwardo for being my buddy


It was also nice to meet Mark Powell and I think Bardo managed to get the handles off Mac's "doubles"

Davie

[thehappychappy]

Was a bit surprised by "During other training I have had my gas turned off and my mask taken off me unexpectedly when doing dives."

That's awful. I've not experienced any of that in tech training before! I'd not be happy with that in training dives! That's unnecessary risk in my book!

That wasn't tech training and every time it was done it was done in pretty much shallow water (2-3 Metres), however I had it in my head that Fundies would be worse so I did take plenty demons with me and I didnt relax till I knew I couldn't get a full pass (Dive 3?).

If I had been relaxed from the start I may have faired better.

Davie

[nickb]

Was a bit surprised by "During other training I have had my gas turned off and my mask taken off me unexpectedly when doing dives."

That's awful. I've not experienced any of that in tech training before! I'd not be happy with that in training dives! That's unnecessary risk in my book!

I agree Si

This is not a Macho course, its a fun training course which has high standards to gain accreditation.

You are shown new ways of doing skills that you can learn via other agencies or via other methods, sometimes I think Tech courses are written up as if they are all macho i.e “I was given an out of gas and a primary light failure, life depends on blah blah” well in my opinion Fundies is nothing like that, here is just one small example..

During other training I have had my gas turned off and my mask taken off me unexpectedly when doing dives.

During GUE Fundamentals the instructor or support diver didn’t touch any of my life support kit ever, they pointed at me and gave me they signal to donate gas or to turn my torch off and even when having to do the no mask swim, I took my mask off myself, my buddy led me by holding onto to me (real technical divers call this touch contact) and the instructor stayed close by us in case anything should go wrong, so you see the emphasis is on fundamentals and safety.

I've never experienced this on either the technical courses I've done or that I've assisted on.

I haven't come away from any of these course feeling 'macho' at all - far from it. They seem to be very humbling things to undertake for most people and those that may have had a 'macho' attitude before the course usually come away from them with a different mindset altogether.

I've also read GUE tech course reports where 'out of gas' and 'primary light failures' have been abundant.

I'd sooner have read a report about the course you did rather than a veiled attack on other unspecified training courses, especially those that should not be compared with a 'fundamentals of diving' course in the first place.

Well done on passing the course though Davie; it's no small achievement by all accounts.

[big_si]

That wasn't tech training and every time it was done it was done in pretty much shallow water (2-3 Metres), however I had it in my head that Fundies would be worse so I did take plenty demons with me and I didnt relax till I knew I couldn't get a full pass (Dive 3?).

If I had been relaxed from the start I may have faired better.

Davie

That's a real shame. On the plus side though you've said that no further instruction is required, just further practice. That's something that you'll be able to put right with no trouble, I'm sure! Good luck with it all!!


May I ask what course you were doing when masks were pulled off and air turned off without warning? I find that completely crazy!

[thehappychappy]

......

I'd sooner have read a report about the course you did rather than a veiled attack on other unspecified training courses, especially those that should not be compared with a 'fundamentals of diving' course in the first place.
....

It wasn't mean to be a veiled attack on anything to be honest All I was trying to say was I took demons into Fundies that had no place being there in the first place.

We had a blast on Fundies although our heads where so full of everything we learned that the only thing that managed a decent sleep was my new torch



Davie

[thehappychappy]

May I ask what course you were doing when masks were pulled off and air turned off without warning? I find that completely crazy!

I don't think I was ever at risk during the course, the instructor was always the one doing it (it wasn't in the UK), they always done it in the shallows and it was after lots of dives with said instructor. It wasn't part of the formal course, it was more about experience and building confidence.

The knock on affect was that it gave me demons in my own head that I took to Fundies and had no need to take.

Davie