What to do when your buddy gets away

[tstormdiver]

Ive had people runaway going up and going down. Generally I keep within arms length of whoever im with with so i can grab them in a hurry if anything goes wrong, though if im diving in a threesome it can be difficult.

For a diver dropping down, i just go head down and swim like the blazes till I can grab them and do a buoyant life to the surface.

For those who can not clear their ears easily, this is not an option, as they would be risking considerbale ear injury.

For a diver shooting upwards I do the same, swim upwards as fast as possible, grab them and lift them to the surface.

In this, depending on the depth & rate of ascent, you are risking decompression illness. If that risk is acceptable to you, then do as you must, however it is not a good idea.

This is one of the big reasons why I always dive a wetsuit even in water that's near freezing, I can react very quickly to anything that happens.

If a diver knows how to properly dive a drysuit, it shouldn't be much more different than a wetsuit,... but then I dive my drysuit with considerable squeeze, so ascents & such aren't a major issue.

 

[beasleym]

When diving with a buddy I know we generally play tag in our movements so we are never out of contact for more than tens of seconds. By that I mean that usually one leads the dive and checks the other, and shortly thereafter the follower makes his presence known.

When diving with someone new and particularly with someone new to diving I have them play wingman by staying just off my right or left an arms length away. I can then evaluate how their doing, their skill level, and if they stop to look I can see them stop. If they get into trouble I can either chose to help or draw their attention.

A little planning ahead of time goes a long way towards understanding and communicating.

 

[windapp]

For those who can not clear their ears easily, this is not an option, as they would be risking considerbale ear injury.

If it were a live or death situation, I would gladly sacrifice my ear-drums and take a year off diving. The question would be then, how would you judge if it was a life or death situation?

 

[Bubbletrubble]

If it were a live or death situation, I would gladly sacrifice my ear-drums and take a year off diving. The question would be then, how would you judge if it was a life or death situation?

It's not as simple as that. A ruptured eardrum can instigate a bout of immediate-onset vertigo. You would be taking a rather large gamble that, in the event you experience such vertigo, you would still be in a position to make an effective rescue of your buddy (and yourself).

 

[Bubbletrubble]

-deleted-

 

[Dive Bug Bit Me]

My first instructor kept telling me that buoyancy control comes with practice and time in the water. Guess that was the polite way of saying my buoyancy was terrible. Many newbs have terrible buoyancy. So yes buoyancy fixes everything, but it is a skill that needs to be learnt in water and some people just don't have it yet.

Thing is that I knew I was beyond bad and therefore made sure I had a hard bottom (for landings). First part of the solution is choosing a dive site that is more forgiving. Walls with no buoyancy control are a bad idea. Similarly deep with no buoyancy control is a bad idea.

Now that I have some semblance of buoyancy control (can can hover without effort for as long as is needed without thinking about it) the question is when do I bail out of helping others.

I have had few buddies float towards the surface, most catch themselves and come back. Only two have breached. Will I chase, yes but if I am uncomfortable with my ascent rate I will let them go.

Similarly I watched a DM go catch a couple who swam out over a wall in Belize. We were at 40ft. They swam over the wall and dropped to 140 ft without really noticing. My honest thought at the time, "This is the third dive of the day, my gas is half, I am on 32% Nitrox, I am not going down there". (Incidentally I was buddied with 2 close friends both of whom are DMs. Neither of them moved to go deeper either. Instead we just hovered over the divers to watch).

 

[scubadiveilat]

Plan you future dive to include such incidents. As said from others. If you can't allocate them after a minute or can't get there attention. Surface safely and meet them at the surface.

Never get to an area where it's deep and that one can't control his descent. Plan, Keep safe and have fun......

 

[windapp]

I don't think I made it clear my intention fom this thread. I was not asking what I should have or should not have done in a particular situation. Nor was I asking how to avoid being in a particular situation. My intention was that we would discuss what would be the risks/benefits of different actions when a buddy begins to ascend or descend rapidly. That way we can have some information to make very quick decisions when faced with these situations.

 

[dbulmer]

What if your buddy dropped quickly after doing a giant stride? Should you assume his air was off, and kick down after him to assist equalizing as best you can?

If we could, I would like to de-emphasize prevention in this thread. I know that virtually all of the situations we will talk about are preventable, but I am hoping that this discussion leads to more decisive thinking when and if these situations ever happen.

windapp,
Most of the replies you have got so far address your question I think. The most decisive thinking is preventing an incident from occurring in the first place so that you do not have to mull around thinking about solutions at a time when your buddy may be stressed or you are feeling stressed. I know it's not what you want to hear but the advice you have got so far is woth reading a couple of times again.

One complication of trying to assist at depth is dwindling gas consumption and narcosis which might end up killing both the rescuer and the casualty a) because both divers need gas b) your decision making at depth is impaired the deeper you go.

If you have divers using Nitrox you have the possibilty that both could exceed their maximum operating depth and could suffer from oxygen toxicity. (far less surviveable).

I'll leave it at that but do not discount prevention - I know you appreciate the logic behind it but you may not quite understand how scary things can get when things go really wrong underwater.

I don't mean to come across as some patronising git but reread the other posts a couple of times - the info is really good for you to really digest.

 

[n733lk]

It's not my intention to hijack this thread, but I have a practical question about checking weights in a new dive location. In August, me and my son will be diving in Cozumel for the first time. This will also be out first salt water dive. Assuming we don't get wet until we are above the reef, ready to dive, how do we properly determine the amount of weight needed for each of us?

Thanks!