GUE CCR, It's OFFICIAL
GUE CCR, It's OFFICIAL
Keeping in tradition of course write-ups throughout the GUE courses I've taken, I'm throwing this one out there to help demystify some myths. I'll first start off with the fact that this course took quite a bit soul searching, mainly to rule out taking a RB-80 course. While the two are similar in that they prolong dive times and safety substantially, the RB-80 truly excels at long range square profile cave diving which isn't in my back yard.
It's also difficult to decipher all the information out there with the abundance of rebreathers on the market and translate any of it into the ethos of GUE style diving. Fortunately, GUE has seen the many advantages of CCR as an exploration tool for many reasons including logistics, conservation, and the ever increasing costs of helium. For these reasons, and many more, GUE has officially picked the JJ-CCR as part of its "Rebreather Diver" course curriculum. The configuration, while looking a bit like a Franken-unit has been meticulously dialed in to be a progressive stepping stone to the previous training required to take a GUE's CCR course (i.e. Fundamentals, Tech 1, Tech 2).
The cost of the above courses may seem staggering to someone who is just beginning their journey, but realistically, is probably one of the best deals going in the training industry. To elaborate, if you added the cost of doing the "on paper" equivalent with another agency, you would start with an Intro to Tech, Advanced Nitrox/Deco Procedures, Normoxic Tri-Mix, Hypoxic Tri-Mix, CCR Mod 1, CCR Mod 2, CCR Mod 3, Cave CCR. More than likely the training would be with different instructors and possibly multiple agencies. The importance of that is there is not a seamless and progressive evolution from course to course and instructor to instructor as there is within the GUE curriculum. None of this is meant to take anything away from the many great instructors teaching for various agencies.
So what is taught in the course?
On day one, I met with our instructor Richard Lundgren and my teammates for the first time. One of my teammates was a former GUE instructor from Norway and the other was one of their regular dive buddies (no pressure). We started by filling out the normal waivers and paperwork, then jumped right into the kid in a candy store phase. We opened our gray plastic crates of joy filled with awesomeness. We spent the next couple of hours assembling our GUE compliant eCCR rebreathers for the next days diving. Throughout this process, we learned some of the insight of 5+ years of CCR configuration experimentation with various rebreather manufacturers and why GUE decided on the JJ-CCR as the vendor of choice. We followed a checklist that actually gets signed by the user, then affixed as a sticker to the unit. While I don't know how unique this is in the industry, it seems brilliant that there is a signed documented record of the build checklist that can be used for reference in case of an accident. Far too many times with rebreather incidents, there is not enough information to determine if there were pre-existing problems with the unit or if it was user error. We also learned plenty of nuances like checking for cell linearity by the math and not trusting the controllers "Calibrate" function at face value. After setting everything up and being placed in the corner of the classroom to tease us, we went over some course modules and lecture.
Day two started at Blue Grotto Dive Resort which has been updated magnificently in the last year. We covered our dive briefing and then the CHAOS pre-breath checklist to check the controller calibration, HUD calibration, ADV, O2, and observe for symptoms or problems with the unit. Then into the unknown…
WOW…
I had a huge smile from ear to ear after the first dive. I wanted to kick myself in the rear for listening to other people claim "You'll want to sell it after the first dive". I was having a blast. We were given some awesome tips on how to control loop volume, what happens when triggering the ADV, and the cycle it would cause with O2 being added into the loop when the magic nitrox makers on our back were in action. Our team was hovering within a 6" window within the first 10 minutes. The rest of the time was going over skills while remaining neutrally buoyant. I felt like it was easier than open circuit to maintain buoyancy. I'll attribute that to years of GUE training where near perfect buoyancy is something each diver strives for.
Days Three through Five were more drills, situational awareness, team work, air sharing, flooded loop recoveries, manually running the MAV, assents, deco procedures, dil flushes, cell checks, ect. By the end of day five, I felt safer with the redundancy of the RB unit than with open circuit. The addition of having all the open circuit backgas available in exactly the same configuration as my normal open circuit training is a huge plus for me.
Day 6 was a shorter day going over test materials, breakdown, and cleaning of the unit. We also discussed limitations and progressions into more aggressive diving. In the end, we were given the keys to a very powerful tool with some guidelines on building experience before doing T/2+ dives. I don't think I've ever been so excited about a new piece of equipment since being exposed to breathing on a regulator underwater for the first time. I've left out plenty of details as the only way to get the full value of the course is by taking it.
Richard Lundgren explained the "Giggle factor" to us in great detail. Since then I've done a few two to three hour dives, and looking at the dil gauge and seeing less than 100 psi used in expensive helium is priceless. I'm sure the unit will pay for itself in no time, but the ongoing "Giggle factor" after each dive helps me forget the initial cost of the unit.
I'm always happy to discuss my personal experiences with training if anyone is interested. I don't want to turn any of this into a debate on the how and why's. For someone like me with prior GUE training, everything with the configuration makes sense and I see the value of why everything is where it is and the protocols set in place. If you've made it this far, thanks for reading.
Dan
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Originally Posted by scubainchicago
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