Solid technique in a twinset before you start technical, cave, rebreather and project dives.
GUE Technical Fundamentals the foundations of technical diving
Course description
GUE Technical Fundamentals links recreational and technical diving. You work in a backmount twinset configuration and learn to dive the way further GUE courses require: steadily and by procedure, together with your team. It is the stage where we check whether your technique will hold up at the next levels of difficulty. Further training raises the risk, so the basics have to be solid and repeatable.
The course is for recreational divers with a few dozen dives in a twinset who want to move into technical diving, and for those who plan GUE Technical Diver 1, cave courses or a rebreather. It suits anyone who wants to dive a twinset and a drysuit with confidence and to one team standard.
We expect full control of your position, equipment and procedures. You work on advanced buoyancy and trim control, precise movement, gas management and teamwork based on clear communication and a clear split of roles. You learn to react to problems, make decisions and act together with your buddies. All dives on the course stay within no decompression limits (Minimum Deco), and we assess buoyancy, trim, gas management and how consistently you apply procedures. We practise ascents according to GUE rules for no decompression dives: a stop at half of the average depth, an ascent to it at 9 m per minute, then 3 m per minute, and finally a slow ascent to the surface. You plan your gas so that, in your buddy’s emergency, two people can ascend from the bottom to the surface. We calculate this reserve, minimum gas, with the CAT formula.
At least 4 training days.
Theory and practice in a twinset: at least 8 training dives, all within no decompression limits (Minimum Deco).
At least 8 training dives.
A maximum of 3 students per instructor. With a group this size the instructor sees every detail of your technique.
Backmount twinset.
Nitrox 32.
We run the course according to GUE standards and procedures, with an emphasis on teamwork, standardisation and safety.
After you pass, you receive the GUE Technical Fundamentals certificate. After the course you can move on to technical, cave, rebreather or project diving.
The course is a mandatory stage of preparation for GUE Technical Diver 1.
- age: at least 16,
- health: a current medical certificate allowing you to dive; the course requires students not to smoke,
- certificate: a qualification from any diving organisation to dive to 30 m,
- experience: at least 75 logged dives, including at least 25 to a depth of 21 m or more, at least 25 in a twinset and at least 15 in a drysuit.
- Twin cylinder set (at least 2×12 L) with an isolation manifold.
- Steel or aluminium backplate with a DIR type harness.
- Two sliding D rings on the shoulder straps, bent at 45°.
- One sliding, straight D ring on the left hip strap.
- Crotch strap with two D rings.
- Wing (buoyancy compensator) with a lift of 18 to 22 L.
- Trilaminate drysuit with a telescopic torso.
- Two first stages and two second stages of regulators.
- Regulator hoses: long hose 200 to 210 cm, backup about 55 to 60 cm.
- Wing inflator hose matched to a short inflator.
- Drysuit inflation hose 70 to 80 cm.
- Elastic neck cord (necklace).
- Pressure gauge on a 55 to 60 cm hose with a bolt snap.
Training fee
We set it individually, depending on where the course takes place and on logistics.
Registration and certification fee
According to the current GUE price list. It covers registration, the certificate and training materials.
Additional costs
Breathing gases, dive logistics, travel, accommodation and meals.
Theory
Theory covers dive planning, gas management, situational awareness, team procedures, decompression and the dynamics of breathing gases. We also discuss the configuration of technical equipment and risk analysis.
Practice
You practise stability in the water, team procedures and reacting to failures. We repeat every exercise until the result is stable and repeatable.
FAQ
Projects
Technical Fundamentals prepares you for team dives in a more complex environment. After the course you can move on to:
- technical dives,
- cave dives,
- rebreather dives,
- GUE diving projects.
Each of these paths has its own training and its own prerequisites.
Further training
The natural continuation is GUE Technical Diver 1 (T1), but there are several directions:
- GUE Technical Diver 1: decompression dives with trimix to 51 m,
- GUE Cave 1 (C1): the first level of cave diving in GUE,
- GUE Cave 2 (C2): the next cave level, after C1 and dives at that level,
- GUE CCR Fundamentals: rebreather training.
Trips
We organise training and project trips for technical divers at Long Deco:
- training trips, where you consolidate your twinset technique and teamwork,
- project trips, where you dive with a specific goal.
We announce current dates and places separately.
