Buddy checks - formal v. informal

[TMHeimer]

Jim's point about written lists makes sense. I have always had a bad memory and have notes all over the house. I have lists of stuff I need to do as a DM. My personal diving is very benign shore diving that only varies at times with water temp.(NS vs. FL, etc.) or inlet current or not. So the basic BWRAF thing seems fine for me. But if your diving/equipment varies a lot, having lists with not only basic stuff but stuff unique to certain dives makes sense. I agree as well that the importance of the check is not always drilled in (ei. "you're gunna die"). I recently DMd for an instructor who pointed out the various scary reasons for doing this and that properly. I'm sure many new divers do the "uhhh...maybe..High five let's dive" thing and leave out many of the basics. I know because I was one of them.

 

[TSandM]

The equipment check is as Bob describes it -- head to toe. Hood, mask, primary reg, backup reg, wing inflate/deflate/dump valve, dry suit inflate/deflate. Gauges. Backup lights, primary light. Weights. Cutting device on waist. Pocket contents, fins. Flow check, bubble check, long hose deployable. Done.

Now, this particular sequence makes some assumptions: One is that everybody is using the same gear configuration, so there needs to be no discussion of who is going to donate what and how. Another is that weight is either not ditchable or on a belt. There are no releases other than the buckle on the weight belt, and the buckle at the waist. Everybody is breathing the same gas, and how much they have has been discussed in the dive planning review, with the mnemonic GUE EDGE.

When I dive with people who aren't using our standardized system, I have to remember a lot more things to go over, including hand signals, gas donation, type of gas being used, how decompression is being figured, where weights are and how they are dropped, and so on. I have to think pretty hard; the head-to-toe check is second nature now.

 

[DaleC]

If it works for you that's fine.

For me, having to make a little saying to remember the mnemonic and then remember what the mnemonic stands for is too complicated. The fact that many people dump the bwarf mnemoic (and sadly the predive check) shortly after class speaks to that. It is a weak point in the curriculum that feels "made up". And the check itself is also disjointed. Why check weights as separate from releases when what you need to communicate about the weights is the release mechanism. What do you look for during final check? If it isn't spelled out it can be missed. Take 10 divers and ask them what's involved in final check and you'll get 10 different answers.

As I said, I tend to think in terms of systems and how to manage them and that is what I try to transfer to newer divers if I dive with them. This also reenforces those systems in a way that may help the diver remember them underwater. This is your air system, these are the parts, this is how they should work, these are the alternatives (pony). This is your buoyancy system, these are the parts, this is how they should function, these are the alternatives (smb/liftbag). These are all your releases, these are the parts, this is how they should function, these are the alternatives (cutting tools). You are never SOL, there is always a way to resolve a problem.. if you ensure those things are present and working.

 

[lowviz]

...//... The fact that many people dump the bwarf mnemoic (and sadly the predive check) shortly after class speaks to that. It is a weak point in the curriculum that feels "made up".

...//... As I said, I tend to think in terms of systems and how to manage them

...//... You are never SOL, there is always a way to resolve a problem.. if you ensure those things are present and working.

Wow. We are more alike than different. I try for the fewest and most overloaded checks. I ALWAYS do those few critical checks.

Like puffing my drysuit. That checks for it being both connected to my gas supply and zipped. Same with wing, connected and holding gas. Watching my SPG needle while 'freediver' breathing each secondary checks for full cylinder, air on, valve open fully, and washes out CO2.

BWRAF? That sounds like something Calvin would say to Hobbes...

 

[AfterDark]

I can't remember the last time I did a formal buddy check or when another diver asked me to do one. For a long time I've watched the other diver gear up, not staring so they'd notice just short glances so I can keep track of their progress. When we're done I give my buddy the once over while I'm BSing about something. Most buddies are not even aware I do this and I never tell them. After we're in the water I'll give my buddy another eyeballing looking for leaks from their rigs.

With the amount of solo diving I do I'm accustomed not having a buddy to do checks so I never even think of a buddy checking me.

On boat dives more than once I've had to ask my buddy or crew to release my tank from the rack because I didn't before I donned it! A check might have helped there!

 

[lowviz]

...//... On boat dives more than once I've had to ask my buddy or crew to release my tank from the rack because I didn't before I donned it! A check might have helped there!

NOW I GET IT! The "B" in BWRAF stands for Bungee!

Yup, me too...

 

[PRO-FOUND]

When I begin teaching a class of OW students (after some lighthearted and informal chitchat) I begin by saying that during this class there are three things that I never joke about during the course, equipment assembly, pre dive safety check and equipment disassembly, I tell them that we can have a lot of fun but where those three things are concerned I will not be laughing or joking about. The first thing my students are taught is equipment assembly and this I teach in a particular way and each step is accompanied with an explanation of why it is done in the manner I teach. I then teach and demonstrate the pre dive safety check and this is also accompanied by explanation of why it is taught in that manner. During the pre dive safety check class I tell the students that if during the course they can think of something to add to enhance/better the pre dive safety check please tell me and the class during the course, I make it as almost that I am challenging them. I have found that this gets and keeps the class thinking of the pre dive safety check for the duration of the course front post in their minds, I can honestly say that over the years all my students leave the course with the correct attitude to pre dive safety checks.

During the course and at the end I explain all the things they are going to see once they start going on dive holidays/trips things that hopefully they will see and think wow those divers are asking for trouble or I think I do not want to be buddied up with this person or I wouldn't trust this Instructor/divemaster/dive leader with a dead cat let alone a group of divers. I explain that a lot of things they have been taught they will never see being implemented by other divers.

I have received countless emails from my students over the years telling me of horrors that they have seen or of times that they felt that they had to mention something to someone because they saw an accident waiting to happen, on many occasions they were thanked for there words or their actions but some times they were ignored or worse, sometimes after being brushed off or laughed at an accident would occur, like a tank becoming loosed after jumping off a boat or someone being left alone on the surface with there air not turned on and other little things, also unfortunately some far more serious incidents some ending in fatalities.
In my not so humble opinion the initial instruction that a student gets is where the road begins for them if that first course is badly taught then the onus is on the certifying instructor. if you know hand on your heart you taught well with passion you did your job, if a certified student leaves the course and does not continue to practice what you taught them then that is not your fault.

 

[lowviz]

This is 'Basic Scuba Discussions'. Possibly the most important forum on all of ScubaBoard. So I will put all kidding aside for a moment and tell those new to the sport where my informal personal checklist came from.

I signed on for a solo course with Steve Lewis a couple of years ago, big name in the biz. I remember driving through the gates of Dutch Springs full of expectation and resolve that I was going to be the best solo student ever. I also remember driving out in abject despair.

Got a most serious ass whooping. It was a skills assessment course. I stumbled through it in brain-lock that produced an epic fail. Learned the lesson of my life. It isn't about how diligent a student you appear to be, or how committed a diver you want to project, it is all about having those skills so you can come back alive, happy, and unhurt when nobody is looking. It has nothing to do with how others assess you or your skills, it is all about having the most basic and effective survival skills for yourself and your dive buddy.

Another Lewis drove the point home: Quote by C.S. Lewis: ?Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But y...?

Still stings. Still drives my continuous need to improve, and I have...

 

[Diving Dubai]

Like most on here when diving with my regular buddy (my wife) we just do a cursory check. We both dive wings and they are both rigged the same way. When diving with a different buddy then the check gets more formalised and if with a complete stranger then certainly the complete check.

With my wife we both verbally check our computers are on the right gas - although if it's a two tank dive generally we are using our own tanks which we have blended and filled ourselves and where possible have the same mix in both tanks and setting of the computers is done when packing the gear up (as well as function check of the regs etc to minimise silly problems occurring as we prep the gear on the boat.

The important check we both always do is ensure we see the other take 4 deep breaths and check the gauge for fluctuation. I'll be the to admit I've been distracted when donning my kit and forgot to turn on the air a few times. It's always been spotted by me with either the contents being empty or if I've left the system with pressure in after rigging and checking them the fluctuation shows.

New Divers
I've seen a lot of new divers who doing the checks , check the purge, smell the gas and then do a couple of quick breaths eih not looking at the gauge or looking but not understanding why shallow breaths aren't a test. I try when I see this to "suggest" they take deep breaths and explain why and they are always receptive to the information and take it on board. I don't know whether on the course its not fully explained or if with mass of information people take in on OW courses it doesn't really sink in.

 

[Imla]

Since you say you don't use BWRAF, I'd really like to see an example (or two) of the type of checklist you and your GUE-trained buddies use.

Linky?

Since TSandM was unusually short, I thought I'd expand a bit on the GUE checklist.

Goal - What is the purpose of the dive? Objectives or specified tasks. (Could be as simple as "Lets dive and come back up again" or complex as a list of scenes to film
Unified Team - Roles, duties, formation (Again, adapt to the dive)
Equipment Match part 1 - What equipment is needed to achieve goal and is it all present and working

Exposure - Time and depth
Decompression profile - Ascent strategies. (Ie minimum deco for normal NDL dives)
Gas strategies - Minimum gas and Usable gas.
Environment - Risks and vulnerabilities.

Althought this last part should come under Equipment match, I usually put them last...

Equipment match part 2 - Head to toe check of equipment before entering.
Modified valvedrill
Modifies S drill
Bubble check

Most of these elements can be done in the car on the way to the dive site. They are just quickly repeated before you splash.