Buddy checks - formal v. informal

[Kharon]

+1 for lowvis. I dive solo almost exclusively. I have a set order that I strictly follow in putting on my gear. If someone "helps" me, I take it all off and start over. That's my check - buddy or no. I've also got a set of rules that I strictly follow. Like lowvis said "Solo is no joke".

1. You are always diving solo no matter how many divers are in the water, or how many buddies you have, or how much experience they have or what you discussed during the dive plan.
2. It is always absolutely necessary to take at least one bearing before every dive.
3. If you forget something non-trivial during gear up that dive is aborted. If you aren’t focused enough to gear up perfectly you aren’t focused enough to dive solo.
4. If you forget something non-trivial during gear up on two dives the diving day is over. Two mistakes in one day means you are way off and need a time out.
5. If you make a non-trivial judgment error on a dive at least the next dive is skipped. You need to think about it.
6. If you make two non-trivial judgment errors in a days diving the next days dives are skipped. You really need to think about it.

 

[lowviz]

We all have our ways to enforce self-discipline. Interesting way to formalize it.

I was planning to dive Shark River Inlet last night, lowered that to L-Street, then took a pass. My head isn't totally together yet from a lot of recent events. I dive to relax, I don't dive to add to my problems.

 

[nimoh]

+1 for lowvis. I dive solo almost exclusively. I have a set order that I strictly follow in putting on my gear. If someone "helps" me, I take it all off and start over. That's my check - buddy or no. I've also got a set of rules that I strictly follow. Like lowvis said "Solo is no joke".

1. You are always diving solo no matter how many divers are in the water, or how many buddies you have, or how much experience they have or what you discussed during the dive plan.
2. It is always absolutely necessary to take at least one bearing before every dive.
3. If you forget something non-trivial during gear up that dive is aborted. If you aren’t focused enough to gear up perfectly you aren’t focused enough to dive solo.
4. If you forget something non-trivial during gear up on two dives the diving day is over. Two mistakes in one day means you are way off and need a time out.
5. If you make a non-trivial judgment error on a dive at least the next dive is skipped. You need to think about it.
6. If you make two non-trivial judgment errors in a days diving the next days dives are skipped. You really need to think about it.

a little harsh.

I did a dive last week where my buddy laid out two jumps, and I followed. Since I would never dive in a cave without a continuous guideline to open water, I was clearly not diving solo.

Neither one of us took a bearing before the dive, we simply entered the cave and looked for the main line.

If you forget something non-trivial during gear up, then go and get it. No need to abort.

 

[Lorenzoid]

There is a risk in trying to adopt a pre-dive check procedure that is so formal/elaborate that you will be tempted to skip it on some dives. I think the secret to an effective pre-dive check procedure is to adopt one that is neither TOO superficial nor TOO elaborate, such that you will feel comfortable following it consistently on EVERY dive.

 

[boulderjohn]

I wrote and teach a PADI distinctive specialty in dive planning. There is a chapter on pre-dive checks. Quick summary: I don't like any of the well-known, pre-established methods I know.

One reason for me personally is that I do a lot of different diving in a lot of different modes for a lot of different purposes. I end up doing something different in each case. If I did the same kind of diving each time, it would be much simpler, and I could have a set routine that is all my own. For basic recreational dives--which I assume is the intent of this thread, since it is in the Basic Scuba forum--I can check my buddy over physically in a few seconds. I have done this enough that I can see if something is out of place easily. I check each of my regulators and inflator, usually speaking out loud as I do in part as a reminder to my buddy to do the same. I check my computer to make sure it is set for the right gas mixture and on. (If it is not on before the dive while diving at high altitude, it will not measure depth accurately.) The entire process takes seconds and can be easily missed by anyone not watching us closely.

I dive with insta-buddies with some regularity because my wife does not dive. When I was still a beginning diver, I was unsure of myself and intimidated, so when they did not seem interested in buddy checks, we did not do them. That does not happen today, because I initiate it. I first talk about the way I donate air in an OOA emergency, since it is non-standard. When it is time to go, I look at their gear and say something about doing so while I begin my regulator checks. They invariably take part without argument. I suspect my doing so signals to them that I might turn out to be an adequate buddy for the coming dive, and that I am expecting the same from them.

 

[TSandM]

DaleC, I LOVE your analysis . . . somebody who isn't willing to take the time to do a buddy check is probably not going to take many of the other aspects of budding up seriously. I had not thought of it that way; I think I'm about to get to be even MORE of a PITA about checks

 

[tomfcrist]

Omitting the checks completely is like hustling a mob boss...you may get away with it, but it could surely ruin your day.

I do both formal and Informal depending on the dive buddy. If its someone I don't know, generally formal. If its someone whom I am very familiar with, I tend to take the informal route.

Informal doesn't necessarily mean just doing a quick glance. My informal is a quick look over on the boat, a bubble check and hose deployment under the boat, and a sanity check on the wreck.

 

[Bat-Fish]

DaleC, I LOVE your analysis . . . somebody who isn't willing to take the time to do a buddy check is probably not going to take many of the other aspects of budding up seriously. I had not thought of it that way; I think I'm about to get to be even MORE of a PITA about checks

MORE checks?? Lynne I've personally witnessed you stiff arm a resort DM who is attempting to "hurry" your process for getting ready to drop in. From what I've seen, your prep and checks are very thorough for both you and your buddy. A process I've adopted for my own buddy checks. If there's going to be more, I'm gonna to need to bring my notepad!

 

[Diver0001]

MORE checks?? Lynne I've personally witnessed you stiff arm a resort DM who is attempting to "hurry" your process for getting ready to drop in.

I had a moment when I thought she was going to stiff-arm ME for not saying "CHECK" loud enough.

A friend of mine who watched us get ready said to me later in the day, "that woman sweats something that would kill Murphy [from Murphy's law] if he got too close".

R..

 

[DivemasterDennis]

A predive buddy check should go way beyond BWRAF. My wife and I dive together all the time. We do not go over equipment we each know very well, but we check air and function of all gauges and computers, listen for leaks, go over the dive site and dive plan, and we do this on every dive. When diving with a new person, sometimes called "instabuddy," I do much more. Not only review of equipment and releases, but also the dive site, and each diver's plan for the dive ( photos, hunt, etc. We go over communications, and also learn a little about each others experience, last dive, and so on. I have a blog post on this. I think every dive should start with a pre-dive meeting and conversation between buddies, including but not limited to the pre-dive safety check.
DivemasterDennis