Buddy awareness 101

[Charlie99]

I have seen some REALLY experienced divers buddy up and then seen them 10, 15, 20 feet away from eachother, go on oposite sides of a coral formation from eachother, unless they have ESP they were not communicating or aware of jack.

When ambling slowly along a reef in viz >50', then 20' buddy separation is very reasonable. When doing a high speed transit or swim, then following 5' behind your buddy is way too much.

When poking around a reef looking around for interesting stuff, sweeping the reef at 20 or 30' buddy distance is very effective and still allows excellent buddy awareness and support. As for being on opposite side of a coral head -- I often do that. After a while you get used to your buddy's breathing pattern and bubbles are still visible. We also don't do this without one or the other signalling intentions.

How to tell if you and your buddy have good buddy awareness

What happens when one diver suddenly stops can tell a lot about buddy awareness. A diver continuing to swim on out of visibility obviously doesn't have good buddy awareness.

On a more positive note, if you show heightened interest in what's under a a ledge or in some nook, and your buddy is right there checking out what you found, then you know he has good buddy awareness.

A good buddy that is leading will give enough hints and direction to the rest of the team that they aren't forced to follow in his wake. Side by side swimming makes good buddy awareness much easier. A good leader makes swimming side by side natural and easy.

 

[TSandM]

Well, I don't have enough experience to tell anybody how to be a good buddy, but I can talk about the experiences I have had diving with various people and how I experience them as buddies.

The people who are most relaxing for me to dive with share some characteristics. Their movements are predictable -- they don't suddenly stop, reverse, or hare off into the green for no obvious reason. If they do need to change momentum, they signal. They seem to be aware of where they can be seen, or their lights can be seen, and they stay there. They don't disappear from my ability to perceive them.

The people I find stressful to dive with are those whose movements are unpredictable, or who drop behind, or worse, behind and above me, where they can't be seen. I have spent significant parts of dives spinning around repeatedly looking for my buddy, and it makes me crazy, and I use air like mad. Not to mention that maneuvering like that almost always makes my drysuit seals leak . . .

I try desperately hard to maintain some kind of contact with my buddy, whether it is being able to see his light or to see him, because I think that's my responsibility as a diver. People who make that easy are fun to dive with, and people who make it hard just aren't.

 

[CUunderH2O]

I have had good buddies and bad buddies. The bad buddies I simply don't dive with anymore, it's not worth the stress and can ruin your dive or worse.

What skills do good buddies have?
- You know where to find them; ie. one of my buddies is always on my left shoulder, an arm's length away.
-They adjust their diving according to conditions; i.e. if low vis or high current, they stay closer, if not, then they can be further away.
-If you have to move single file at any time, they look back every 30 or 60 secs to see if you're OK.
-On deep dives, they do an air/NDL check every couple of minutes, and you respond in kind (less often on shallow dives)
-If you have a problem, they know how to respond (for this, I suggest you take a rescue class, or at least read the book)
-They discuss the dive plan before the dive, and follow it. If they need to change the plan because of conditions, they signal the direction and get an OK back before going in that new direction
-They go over hand signals before the dive (if a new buddy)
-They don't question your decision if you abort the dive, or decide to not enter the wreck/swimthru.
-They discuss what to do in case of buddy separation (this can vary according to dive site; at some of ours you can't ascend directly after your 1 minute search or you'll get run over by a freighter)

There's more, but these are the important points, at least to me.

Now for examples of BAD buddies:
-You're following a line to the wreck and your buddy gets far ahead of you, doesn't look back often enough and you suddenly feel very ill and can't continue the dive but you have to get his attention first.
-Your buddy doesn't follow the dive plan and takes off on his own, much deeper than planned, and you both end up hitting your NDL before you get to the good part of the dive.
-Your buddy takes off like a rocket when you get to the wreck, at 100', and doesn't seem to notice you're not with him, and you end up getting severely narced due to exertion at depth trying to catch up.
-Your buddy refuses to end the dive when you've reached your NDL, signalling he's still got 7 minutes showing on his computer!
-You and your buddy are diving in low-vis, choppy conditions and suddenly your buddy abandons you; doesn't follow the dive plan, goes to do the task (equipment recovery) on his own, and doesn't notice you got tangled in the lift bag's line just below the surface, where shore support couldn't see you anyway...

 

[kidspot]

Great list with which I agree wholeheartedly... of course I'm still working at being that kind of a buddy, but it's my goal and I'm getting closer all the time.

Aloha, Tim

Well, I don't have enough experience to tell anybody how to be a good buddy, but I can talk about the experiences I have had diving with various people and how I experience them as buddies.

The people who are most relaxing for me to dive with share some characteristics. Their movements are predictable -- they don't suddenly stop, reverse, or hare off into the green for no obvious reason. If they do need to change momentum, they signal. They seem to be aware of where they can be seen, or their lights can be seen, and they stay there. They don't disappear from my ability to perceive them.

The people I find stressful to dive with are those whose movements are unpredictable, or who drop behind, or worse, behind and above me, where they can't be seen. I have spent significant parts of dives spinning around repeatedly looking for my buddy, and it makes me crazy, and I use air like mad. Not to mention that maneuvering like that almost always makes my drysuit seals leak . . .

I try desperately hard to maintain some kind of contact with my buddy, whether it is being able to see his light or to see him, because I think that's my responsibility as a diver. People who make that easy are fun to dive with, and people who make it hard just aren't.

 

[markfm]

Now for examples of BAD buddies:
-You're following a line to the wreck and your buddy gets far ahead of you, doesn't look back often enough and you suddenly feel very ill and can't continue the dive but you have to get his attention first.
-Your buddy doesn't follow the dive plan and takes off on his own, much deeper than planned, and you both end up hitting your NDL before you get to the good part of the dive.
-Your buddy takes off like a rocket when you get to the wreck, at 100', and doesn't seem to notice you're not with him, and you end up getting severely narced due to exertion at depth trying to catch up.
-Your buddy refuses to end the dive when you've reached your NDL, signalling he's still got 7 minutes showing on his computer!
-You and your buddy are diving in low-vis, choppy conditions and suddenly your buddy abandons you; doesn't follow the dive plan, goes to do the task (equipment recovery) on his own, and doesn't notice you got tangled in the lift bag's line just below the surface, where shore support couldn't see you anyway...

Wow -- sounds like you're a BBM (Bad Buddy Magnet)

 

[CUunderH2O]

Yeah, I now insist on "no insta-buddies" on the boat, although to be fair, not all of them have been bad buddies. It's limited my diving a bit, having fewer buddies on my list, but I'm a lot more comfortable now! Basically I've learned this year that I'd rather have one enjoyable, good, long dive than many uncomfortable dangerous dives - quality over quantity rules. And the wrecks aren't going anywhere...

 

[spectrum]

TyTy I don't have a problem with you and your girlfriend holding hands. In fact I envy you. My wife and I have decent buoyancy control and unless we're on flat terrain our hands are too busy to stay hand in hand for long. Between checking gauges, navigation, snapping a picture, and managng buoyancy we're forever breaking the hand hold to the point where it's a PITA. If you can dive that way good for you.

Now what bothers me is this recurring concern about OOA and panic. I don't know where that's coming from. You pretty much say that you're not in a position to immerse (pun intended) yourselves in diving to build up your proficiency. When you do take a dive trip do you dive alone of follow along in guided dives? Do each of you ever dive with others? That can be a very good learing and confidence building tool. I don't have any answers here and I don't know your ability nor am I qualified to say squatt if I did but it seems like some element to experience, comfort or training is lacking.

A good buddy? One who stays in his or her role. A leader that leads, a follower who follows but gives the leader space to dive in. If you're there and on top of your game and accessible then that's the crux of it. Every diver should have every expectation of executng the dive on their own resources. Your budy is one form of back-up. The primary back-up is between your ears.

Pete

 

[TyTy]

TyTy I don't have a problem with you and your girlfriend holding hands. In fact I envy you. My wife and I have decent buoyancy control and unless we're on flat terrain our hands are too busy to stay hand in hand for long. Between checking gauges, navigation, snapping a picture, and managng buoyancy we're forever breaking the hand hold to the point where it's a PITA. If you can dive that way good for you.

Now what bothers me is this recurring concern about OOA and panic. I don't know where that's coming from. You pretty much say that you're not in a position to immerse (pun intended) yourselves in diving to build up your proficiency. When you do take a dive trip do you dive alone of follow along in guided dives? Do each of you ever dive with others? That can be a very good learing and confidence building tool. I don't have any answers here and I don't know your ability nor am I qualified to say squatt if I did but it seems like some element to experience, comfort or training is lacking.

A good buddy? One who stays in his or her role. A leader that leads, a follower who follows but gives the leader space to dive in. If you're there and on top of your game and accessible then that's the crux of it. Every diver should have every expectation of executng the dive on their own resources. Your budy is one form of back-up. The primary back-up is between your ears.

Pete

Good comments everyone, much appreciated. I see what ya'll are saying about checking on eachother, checking for air, etc... I guess Im sort of a nervous person in some situations where I will check so much it gets annoying. Plus my girlfriend often has to equalize (much more than I do) and so she stops a lot, so I constantly was checking to make sure she hadent stopped and was having ear problems. So we just started holding hands now if she stops to equalize I feel her body language through her hand and I just pause, keep looking at neat stuff and then she kind of signals we can go on. (A depth increase that I might not even notice happened through contour change might cause her to pause and equalize for a second.)

OOA dosent panic me but I think it will be a long time before I am comfortable having her out of my sight or arms reach. If I had those walkie talkie face masks for example I think it would be fine. My worry is not panicing nor is hers I dont think, if anything I worry about the lack of ability to communicate. I think buddy awareness is basically maintaining communication and being a distance at which you could help if the need should arise. I guess I just dont know for sure the distance and communication level at which I would be effective in that manner and thus I choose the minimal distance and maximum level of communication available to me.

Im the same way with guns, I am constantly checking safety aspects, especially when I am with other people. Not to be annoying but you translate that to underwater and it gets annoying cause everything is a little more effort consuming under water.

 

[spectrum]

I think I get the picture. Get out there and dive, dive, dive. They may not all be dream destinations but I hope you find that there are surprises almost anywhere the water is safe enough to dive. Comfort will rise. Ear clearing will become transparent (for most) and you'll be shopping for a bigger cylinder so you can match the little woman's bottom time. Just remember... one day it's holding hands next it's the fathom club!

Pete

 

[Spectre]

I think buddy awareness is basically maintaining communication and being a distance at which you could help if the need should arise. I guess I just dont know for sure the distance and communication level at which I would be effective in that manner and thus I choose the minimal distance and maximum level of communication available to me.

That's all it is. By holding hands, you are starting off on the right foot... being in constant communication via touch. What Buddy Awareness means to me, boiled right down to it, is staying in constant communication. You state that you can tell right away when your girlfriend stops to equalize. Likewise I can tell right away when my buddy stops, even if I can't see them; because their light is always in my field of vision.

tactile, auditory, visual.... it's all tools one can use to stay in constant communication. The more experience you get, the more you will use all three to keep contact. Light communication is primary, with visual secondary and in those situations where the lights may be off [on ascent] and the current isn't condusive to face to face ascents... then we get into things like listening to the breathing of the person behind you, and/or tapping them with your fin.