Buddy Check mnemonic

[Jim Lapenta]

No mnemonic. I use, and am now teaching the use of, a written checklist in the students wetnotes. After doing this for my ow sidemount class with Doppler it made so much sense that I started including a set of them for my ow students. We start developing it during the pool and classroom sessions. It can be individualized for what ever gear the student ends up using.

 

[Max Speed]

My favorite checklist item is HBWRGDC. Have beer while rebreather guys do checklists.

 

[DaleC]

I have a question for those who check things like mask, compass etc... during the buddy check.

While I think it's great to catch those things I feel.. if I am standing in front of my buddy and don't have a mask (for example), and that's the first time I've thought about my mask, there is something wrong with what I am doing before the buddy check, not the check itself. It means I packed up without thinking about it, I suited up without thinking about it and I would jump in without thinking about it if someone didn't point it out to me.

As a solo diver I had to learn a system of remembering that did not include another person. This revolves around how I lay my gear out and how I suit up (organization and routine). So the buddy check, or pre-dive check, is really about ensuring my systems are operational.

But that's just me, I'm curious about other perspectives on this and what happens internally when a diver is routinely corrected about something (like forgotten gear or trapped inaccessible octos). Do they slap themselves and change or just become reliant on buddy checks to catch that sort of stuff. And what happens if you have a crappy buddy to do checks with.

 

[TSandM]

I am repeatedly amazed at the number of things I have to remember to get to a dive site, and the things I have to remember to assemble and connect to have all my diving kit in order. Despite having been at this for ten years, I am quite capable of leaving the house without important items, and I am depressingly able to leave my gauges in the trunk. I do a self-check after I do up my buckles, but the self-check seems to be able to miss things like forgotten weight belts -- and walking a quarter mile and swimming for ten minutes before discovering I have no weights is annoying as all get-out.

The team check is a final bulwark against being wooly-headed. If I constantly forgot something, especially if it were the same thing, I'd figure out a way to change procedures to ensure I had that thing properly sorted. But it's generally not a given thing, but more that, in a complex process, it's easy to forget SOMETHING . . . More importantly, everyone on my team knows that's a possibility, and the team check means we all know that no one has had a brain fart before heading underwater.

 

[Aquavelvet]

Glad it's not just me. [emoji5]️


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[DaleC]

I agree it's easy to forget something at home, I've done it numerous times. Forgetting while suiting up is less likely (that will probably come back to bite me ) because I lay it out a certain way and should notice if something is missing. If I look in my bin and a light or a computer is sitting there... I probably forgot it. So one of the last things to check is the bin. People who are very disorganized will have a problem with this I guess.

This is one area where standardization is an advantage though. I am amazed at the variety of configurations and ideas people have that show up at buddy checks and I can see how stuff can get missed even when doing them because what one person values another might overlook. The person who doesn't even own a compass will probably not remind the one who does if they aren't wearing it. The person who doesn't deploy their octo probably won't notice some else's entanglement.

I don't want to come off as poo pooing thorough buddy checks though. Doing them is better than not doing them. I do think they need to be practical and not too onerous though or the divers will probably not do them after a while or only pay them lip service. I usually have to be somewhat insistent about doing them, even with newer divers and most would quite happy splash without them.

 

[TSandM]

Our head-to-toe check takes about 90 seconds, assuming nobody finds something out of whack that needs to be fixed. I think the key is to have a procedure and follow it until it's smooth and efficient.

One of my husband's favorite sayings is that things don't get better underwater. Way better to catch something tangled, misplaced, loose, improperly connected, or whatever BEFORE you get in the water. I think the OP of this thread had a recent experience that reinforced that for him.

 

[boulderjohn]

The most frequent things that have been picked up on buddy checks for me have been missing gauges (which is not included in your mnemonic),

I think this can be a problem and should be part of the plan. If you are like me and put your instruments (watch, bottom timer, compass, computer--whatever) on your wrists, they are the usually the last things on and easily forgotten. They also become an issue if you are using a computer for nitrox diving--is it set to the correct oxygen mix? If you are diving on air and your computer thinks you are on nitrox, and might not be a good thing. For some people, making sure a computer is on before a dive is important. When I dive at high altitude, if my Shearwater Petrel computer is not turned on before the dive starts and then turns itself on under water, it will not know I am at altitude and will give me an incorrect depth measurement while I am diving.

I therefore tell students to add an "I" for "instruments" to the BWRAF mnemonic. I use Bruce Willis Ruins Another Independent Film.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

The op should add releases. Debbie and I go head to toe in oujr checks: mask, air on, tank full or close to it and note fill in psi, , primary and octo regs functioning, bcd inflate-deflate functioning, wieghts properly secured ( pockets in bcd in our case), releases located and secure, all straps to this point in good condition- not torn or frayed. Check compute and spg for functioning and battery level, then he boots and fins- straps in good condition, secure. If we have accessories, ( lights, camera) check function, secure for entry. Then dive. THis does not take long, but has saved more than one dive.
DivemasterDennis

 

[nolatom]

Okay, so if we add "Instruments", whether to make sure we strapped our wrist one on or set it to the right mix, or to know where and what your buddy's instruments are, then how about:

"B W R A I F"

("Big Women Really Are Incredibly Fun")??