The GUE Primer course is designed to introduce students to the essential skills required for sound diving practice. The course is non-certification; therefore completion of this class has no bearing on future GUE dive training.
The GUE Primer is designed to accomplish the following goals:
- Provide the recreational diver an opportunity to advance his/her basic diving skills, thereby developing more comfort, confidence and competence in the water
- Provide an introduction to GUE training while demonstrating the techniques necessary for success in future GUE courses
Prerequisites:
- Submit a completed registration form, complete with medical history, and liability release to GUE Headquarters.
- Be physically and mentally fit.
- Must hold insurance that will cover diving emergencies such as hyperbaric treatment e.g. DAN Master-level insurance or equivalent.
- Must be a nonsmoker.
- Obtain a physician’s prior written authorization for the use of prescription drugs, except for birth control, or for a prior medical condition that may pose a risk while diving.
- Must be a certified open-water diver from a recognized training agency
- Minimum of 14 years of age
Duration:
- The GUE Primer Course must be conducted over at least two days, encompassing both classroom and inwater work.
- Course requirements include a minimum of 6 hours of academics & land drills and a minimum of four in-water sessions.
- Course time should total at least 14 hours encompassing classroom, land drills and in-water work.
Training Materials:
- GUE Primer Workbook
- Doing it Right: the Fundamentals of Better Diving, Jarrod Jablonski
Academic Topics:
- GUE Introduction
- What is the GUE Primer?
- Why this discipline?
- Developing Diver Capacity
- Pre Dive Overview
- Equipment
- Buoyancy
- Body Position
- Trim
- Propulsion
- Situational Awareness
Land Drills:
- Pre-dive sequence
- Body Positioning
- Trim and Balance
- Equipment overview & fitting
- Propulsion Techniques
- Team Communication
Required Dive Skills and Drills:
- Demonstrate proficiency in safe diving techniques; this would include pre-dive preparations, inwater activity and post-dive assessment.
- Demonstrate awareness of team-member location and concern for safety, responding quickly to visual cues and dive-partner needs.
- Demonstrate a safe and responsible demeanor throughout all training
- Demonstrate proficiency in underwater communication.
- Demonstrate basic proficiency managing a GUE equipment configuration.
- Demonstrate safe ascent and descent procedures.
- Demonstrate comprehension of the components necessary for successfully performing at least two propulsion techniques that would be appropriate in delicate and/or silty environments.
- Demonstrate comprehension of the components necessary to maintain good buoyancy and trim.
Equipment Requirements:
- Tanks/Cylinders: Students may use a single tank cylinder with a K-, H- or Y-valve. Students may also use dual tanks/cylinders connected with a dual-outlet isolator manifold, which allows for the use of two first-stages.
- Regulators: One of the second-stages must be on a 5- to 7-foot/1.5- 2-meter hose. One of the first stages must supply a pressure gauge and provide inflation for a dry suit (where applicable).
- Backplate System: A rigid and flat platform of metal construction with minimum padding, held to a diver by one continuous piece of webbing. The system should retain a minimalist approach, with no unnecessary components.
- Buoyancy Compensation Device: A diver’s buoyancy compensation device should be backmounted and minimalist in nature. It should be free of extraneous strings, tabs, or other material. There should be no restrictive bands or “bungee” of any sort affixed to the buoyancy cell.
- At least one time-/depth-measuring device
- Mask and fins: mask should be low-volume; fins should be rigid, non-split
- At least one cutting device
- Exposure suit appropriate for the duration of exposure