GUE Doubles Primer

Course Outcomes

GUE’s Doubles Primer course is designed to teach divers how to safely and comfortably dive a double tank/cylinder configuration using proper equipment and techniques.

Prerequisites

Applicants for a Doubles Primer course must:

1. Submit a completed registration form, a medical history, and a liability release to GUE Headquarters.
2. Be physically and mentally fit.
3. Hold insurance that will cover diving emergencies such as hyperbaric treatment, e.g. DAN Master-level insurance or equivalent.
4. Be a nonsmoker.
5. Obtain a physician’s prior written authorization for the use of prescription drugs, except for birth control, or for any prior medical condition that may pose a risk while diving.
6. Must be a minimum of sixteen years of age.
7. Be a certified GUE Rec 1 diver or be certified as an open water diver from a recognized training agency.

 

Course Content

 

Combining lecture and in-water sessions, this course focuses on cultivating the basic skills required. The GUE Doubles course is focused on increasing proficiency with double tank configuration, through proper control of the buoyancy, trim, propulsion, teamwork and other GUE principles.

Doubles Primer Specific Training Standards

1. Can be run with one trainee
2. Student-to-instructor ratio is not to exceed 8:1 during land drill or surface exercises; ratios cannot exceed 4:1 during any in-water training
3. Maximum depth 60 feet/18 meters
4. No decompression
5. No overhead environment diving

 

Training Materials

GUE training materials and recommended reading as determined by the course study packet received via online download after GUE course registration.

 

Academic Topics

1. Introduction: GUE organization and course overview (objectives, limits, expectations)
2. Double tank introduction
3. Developing diver capacity
4. Tanks/cylinders and bands
5. Manifolds
6. Regulators, depth gauges, pressure gauges and hose routing
7. Buoyancy and trim
8. Skills overview
9. Pre-dive sequence
10. Situational awareness

 

Land Drills

1. Gas analysis and labeling
2. Valve Drill
3. S-Drill
4. Pre-dive sequence
5. Team positioning
6. Communication

 

Required Dive Skills and Drills

1. Demonstrate proficiency in safe diving techniques; this would include pre-dive preparations, inwater activity, and post-dive assessment.
2. Demonstrate proficiency with required course equipment and an understanding of the GUE equipment configuration.
3. Demonstrate good buoyancy and trim, i.e. approximate reference maximum 30 degrees off horizontal while remaining within 5ft/1.5m of the target depth.
4. Efficiently and comfortably demonstrate how to donate gas to an out-of-gas diver.
5. Demonstrate the basic skills required to manipulate each valve on the double-tank system.
6. Demonstrate an understanding of the role of each valve in relation to the function of the regulators attached to the manifold.
7. Demonstrate safe ascent and descent procedures.
8. Comfortably demonstrate at least one propulsion technique that would be appropriate in delicate and/or silty environments.
9. Demonstrate a safe and responsible demeanor throughout all training.

 

Equipment Requirements

GUE base configuration as outlined in Appendix A, plus:

1. GUE double-tank configuration
2. Back-up mask

Explore GUE Standards

Prior to the commencement of class, students should consult with a GUE representative to verify equipment requirements and appropriateness of any selected equipment.