GUE Tech training is recognised as the most comprehensive and rigorous in the world today. Divers are taught a rigorous theoretical background, covering gas planning and management techniques, decompression theory and it’s practical application, the benefits and disadvantages of various breathing gasses and a considerable amount of dive planning and contingency management.
The in-water teaching begins with shallow dives building up critical skills in the form of scenarios, where problems are set for the students to solve in a logical and safe manner, using existing skills from GUE Fundamentals, and new skills taught on the course. This phase lasts for 2-3 days, and then we progress on to ascent training. Here, we dive to 30m and ascend conducting the gas switches and simulated decompression on the ay up, keeping to a strict depth-time schedule. Problems also need to be solved in this phase, and the schedule maintained.
Progress is then made to the experience dives, where all of the planning, dive and decompression management skills come into play. We have some very neat tools for tracking gas usage, calculating decompression and generally managing the dive. Three dives are done, the depths and exposures depend on whether it is a Tech 1 or a Tech 2 class.