Hand Holding?

[david.tolan]

You should not NEED to hold hands. If she's a slower swimmer, slow down. If you swim side by side, a glance should tell you that she's where she should be.

However if what you are saying is that on the dive, you are not realising that she's falling behind.... Well that's BAD.

Another diver in our group had problems and took my wifes OCTO on a dive in the red sea a while back. Not really sure where his buddy was. Neither was he.....

Also, if she's got bouyancy problems, then you holding her hand will stop here from solving the problem.

There's no problem holding hands.

There's a BIG problem having to.

My wife an I finished our advanced open water. I'm a stronger swimmer and seem to get away from my buddy.

Is it ok to touch to ensure we are both on the same plan?

Opinions welecome

 

[Dragon2115]

Aside from the romance points it sounds like it would be ok as long as you only use it as a reminder for you to slow down. If it makes her move faster than she's comfortable with then you should stop doing it and try another way, like letting her lead the dive.

 

[PlanoDvr1]

My wife and I hold hands, more so when we are getting down to the agreed upon depth. It is not that we want to stay together, we are pretty good at that, its a touchy-feely thing. We hardly hold hands while we are drifting or swimming looking at all the fishys. But, I still would hold her hand even while we are doing that, cause you know, she's my best buddy.

Doug

 

[lord1234]

touching does not make you "gay"

 

[pennypue]

My wife and I hold hands, more so when we are getting down to the agreed upon depth. It is not that we want to stay together, we are pretty good at that, its a touchy-feely thing. We hardly hold hands while we are drifting or swimming looking at all the fishys. But, I still would hold her hand even while we are doing that, cause you know, she's my best buddy.

Doug

<sniff, sniff>
That's beautiful Doug....

Brookie.....:whack: SLOW DOWN!!!!
I'd take one of your fins away from you!

 

[TyTy]

My wife and I hold hands, more so when we are getting down to the agreed upon depth. It is not that we want to stay together, we are pretty good at that, its a touchy-feely thing. We hardly hold hands while we are drifting or swimming looking at all the fishys. But, I still would hold her hand even while we are doing that, cause you know, she's my best buddy.

Doug

I hold hands with my girlfriend (one and only dive buddy) on all 4 dives since our certification dives. We do this for a lot of reasons, mainly because I am a nazi about the basic dive rules (checking gauges, never loose your buddy, etc). When we are not holding hands I am constantly checking to make sure she is right by me and not in trouble so I end up missing the sights to constantly check on her.

Secondly, we are learning to communicate via hands. If we see somehting we want the other person to look at we squeeze a little and point with the other hand, when we need to go up a little the person that wants to go up brings their hand upward a little and then we both go up without having to look at eachother, if we need to go right, you pull or push the hand, to the right we go, etc... Also she gets cold really easily and I can tell how cold she is by if I feel little shivers here and there.

Not to mention we are always an arm length apart and if one of us gets in trouble I think we would have a much easier time getting spare air.

Also, we hold hands lightly so that we can take our hand away to do stuff. I dont have to check on her unless she motions to take her hand away, when she does I let her have her hand but then I look at her (and vice versa) to make sure everything is cool.

I can see where if one more experienced diver was taking another on a improper dive but in my case (and probably most with wives and gf's) the divers are equal in experience and just do it to lessen the anxiety of worrying about eachother, decrease the distance between buddies (for safety) and because we love that person :07:

 

[Walter]

00scuba has it right. There's nothing wrong with holding hands if you're doing it to be holding hands. If you're doing it to compensate for a problem, you should fix the problem. Both divers should be comfortable before starting to hold hands on a dive.

 

[Wijbrandus]

Mark me down as one that likes to hold hands with his buddy. She's been there for the last 14 years, so I guess I am kind of attached to her...

Though it's strictly for romantic reasons. She certainly doesn't need any handholding for her diving, and wouldn't take it if I offered it.

 

[blulife]

I think it's positive! If you can hold the hand of your buddy you can always know his/her conditions, also when you're looking at the wonderful world that is around you!

 

[Martini]

Walter is right holding hands is fine as long as you are doing it hold hands. If you are doing it to compensate for other problmes you should probably deal with those problems first. My wife and I are both instructors and we hold hands on many of our dives.