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floater · April 5th, 2006, 01:32 PM

andrew,

if you want to pass fundies, then you should get the gear and practice with it. if you want a tech pass in hopes of taking future GUE tech or cave courses, then you should get doubles and a can light and practice in those. that's just how it is. however, some people don't care about passing, and just show up to see what it's all about and that's fine, but if you then want to take further GUE courses, you'll have to take DIR-F again for a pass this time.

a third option, provided the instructor agrees to provide it (mine did for another student), is that you show up for the first two days of intruction without the gear, just rent or borrow it and see what DIR is all about and then finish the several weeks or months later after you've had a chance to secure your kit and practice in case you decide DIR is for you.

it's a lot of money, but the gear is solid so even if after DIR-F you deicde it's not for you, chances are you'd still want to keep the equipment configuration. in fact, most people don't became 100% DIR right after DIR-F if ever.

lastly, you might want to get your instructor's opinion (and ours) on gear you purchase before the course. they generally explain the gear configuration and why this and that are prefered and what to look for etc. during DIR-F, but if you've already bought the 'wrong' stuff then it's too late. and if you haven't bought anything yet, then it's hard to pass...

April 5th, 2006, 01:32 PM	#8 (permalink)
floater(Offline) Mostly harmless Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Currently in the US, but I'm not American Posts: 155	andrew, if you want to pass fundies, then you should get the gear and practice with it. if you want a tech pass in hopes of taking future GUE tech or cave courses, then you should get doubles and a can light and practice in those. that's just how it is. however, some people don't care about passing, and just show up to see what it's all about and that's fine, but if you then want to take further GUE courses, you'll have to take DIR-F again for a pass this time. a third option, provided the instructor agrees to provide it (mine did for another student), is that you show up for the first two days of intruction without the gear, just rent or borrow it and see what DIR is all about and then finish the several weeks or months later after you've had a chance to secure your kit and practice in case you decide DIR is for you. it's a lot of money, but the gear is solid so even if after DIR-F you deicde it's not for you, chances are you'd still want to keep the equipment configuration. in fact, most people don't became 100% DIR right after DIR-F if ever. lastly, you might want to get your instructor's opinion (and ours) on gear you purchase before the course. they generally explain the gear configuration and why this and that are prefered and what to look for etc. during DIR-F, but if you've already bought the 'wrong' stuff then it's too late. and if you haven't bought anything yet, then it's hard to pass... Last edited by floater; April 5th, 2006 at 01:35 PM.