GUE / NTEC compatibility

[rjack]

GUE Fundies. Check my screen name if you need clarification.

Uhuh, just out of curiosity who was that with and which version of the class was it?

[Sounder]

Ah !! Come on dude. I could line up divers who have trained with other agencies who would dive circles around a GueFdiver who's ink was still wet on their c-card.

UTD, GUE, and several NAUI instructors produce some phenomenal divers. There is more than one way to skin a cat and still end up with a beautifully skinned cat.

BTW, did anyone else hear that Hyundai has the best reliability record AND best warranty? It's true, yet I bought a Toyota. There's lots of room at the top - some are just more well known than others, and the unknowns might end up surprising you when they drive past you on the freeway and honk while you're broken down on the shoulder.

[charnal]

Boy did this get off topic...

[scubamountaingirl]

did you get your question answered?

[Grateful Diver]

did you get your question answered?

Was there a question? Ah yes ...

Hello, in all the research I've done it looks like the current NTEC standards and training are very similar to GUE.

My question is: Are the two trainings compatible from a dive team perspective?

Example: Would a NTEC foundations diver be team compatible with a GUE trained team or a GUE diver compatible with a NTEC trained team?

What are the core differences, if any?

Thanks!
-CH

Without getting into (hopefully) any more agency-bashing ... the simple answer is that it depends on the instructor.

Some NTEC instructors (far more than 3) are team-compatible ... in part because they have been exposed to courses, dive partners, or fellow instructors who dive and teach that way. NTEC ... like its recreational NAUI counterpart ... gives the instructor wide latitude for how they structure and present their classes. My own NTEC instructor trains divers to be completely and seamlessly integrated into a GUE/UTD team ... and we dive with GUE/UTD trained divers regularly.

The premises of team diving are hardly new, and are not (whatever someone might tell you) unique to any one agency. Certainly GUE ... and now UTD ... have codified and standardized that technique. But they don't own it.

NTEC itself is not a diving philosophy ... it's a gear configuration. As a configuration it is very similar to the GUE/UTD configuration. However, it's just the tools. The bigger part of team diving is knowing how to use those tools in a manner that makes your approach to diving compatible with other team divers. Simply signing up for a course with a NTEC instructor will not guarantee that. You have to research the instructor, make your desire to dive in this manner known, verify what their diving philosophy is ... and then check to make sure it's compatible with how you want to dive.

Yes, that's more effort than simply signing up for a class with a GUE or UTD instructor. But if none of those are available in your area ... or if their teaching style is not a good fit to your learning style .. it may prove to be the best alternative.

As with any training, the best approach is to get to know your instructor prior to signing up for the class, and assure yourself that their training objectives are a good fit for the way you want to dive. That would be the case no matter which agency you were looking at, because in the end, what matters most really IS the instructor.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[Sounder]

Boy did this get off topic...

My bad. Skinned cats and cars... sorry 'bout that.

[charnal]

Thank you for the insightful post Grateful diver.

ScubaMountainGirl - Yes, it has been answered.

[scuba and dreams]

I was just saying that any agency's support in teaching a unified team approach to diving is helpful, and that in some cases, the NAUI instructors that teach that way are the minority within that agency, not the majority. Had nothing to do with GUE. It is easier to teach a certain way when your agency consists of a whole bunch of other, supportive instructors. I'd say NAUI has supporters of this approach, but it also certainly has those who, uh, despise it.

Sherman, you are another, so we're back up to three or so. But, from your website (and I don't know if this is true) it looks like your advanced nitrox class is down to 130 feet, a bit away from the concept of limiting END, but admittedly a nitpicky point.

And, Mr. Fundies Diver, I ended up not doing GUE training, quite frankly, because it wasn't available locally at the levels I wanted to train at. In contrast, AG was readily available, and I think he's a good guy. So, I really went by instructor and not agency in making my decision.

Which, respectfully, I think is a better way of going, even if that agency is GUE.

FYI; none of my classes exceed an END of 100 ft ( I never teach that course by itself...).....interpret that how you want

I am not as eloquent as Bob in his anwers; but what he said is right on.

It is also my personal opinion that NAUIs loss of AG is a loss for NAUI.

[LAJim]

Purely as a thought experiment - if everyone on this board could get their salaries and expenses paid in full and all we had to do was take (not necessarily pass) every course by every leading instructor from every reputable agency (including UTD, GUE, and NAUI) subject to our own personal safety standards (depth, gas mix, END, PPO, etc.) nearly everybody on this board would have a whole bunch of new instructors and agencies. But we don't have infinite time and money so a lot of things come down to initial conditions like where you live and who your friends are.

Now back to scheduling classes for academic year 2009-2010. Sigh.