Eric Sedletzky
Contributor
Just curious as to what peoples' tolerance levels are regarding a buddy that constantly has equipment issues which causes dive to be cut short or get called before they even happen.
I'm not talking about buddy skills here or new clingy divers, or new divers that may not be completely familiar with their gear, or buddies that are annoying control freaks or have some other personality disorder.
What I'm talking about is a buddy that may be a really great friendly person and a pleasure to be around but when it comes to diving, every time you try and dive with them something goes wrong.
Things like freeflowing or hissing regs or bubble streams coming from various connections, chronic leaky masks, wetsuit or drysuit failures, computer failures-dead batteries, underweighted/overweighted, forget to bring an essential piece of gear, or just plain call the dive for some other personal reason once you're geared up and ready to go (or 10 minutes into the dive). Some people are just like that. Something seems to always go wrong preventing a full length dive with no issues.
Where I'm from it's a whole day dedicated to driving out to the coast (sometimes better than 2 hours) , lugging gear, setting up on the beach, doing two dives, driving home, cleaning gear. From the time I leave to the time I get back to the house it can sometimes be 12 hours.
I've had my share of buddies that have let me down over and over for silly reasons. I've probably spent several thousand dollars in gas and other expenses over the years dedicating a whole day to have it cut short or not happen at all.
So how many times of this is your personal limit.
I give them a few chances to straighten things out and I'm a pretty patient guy who is willing to work with them, but if I see a pattern I make some changes.
I can understand that everyone can have a bad day, me included, but every time?
I'm not talking about buddy skills here or new clingy divers, or new divers that may not be completely familiar with their gear, or buddies that are annoying control freaks or have some other personality disorder.
What I'm talking about is a buddy that may be a really great friendly person and a pleasure to be around but when it comes to diving, every time you try and dive with them something goes wrong.
Things like freeflowing or hissing regs or bubble streams coming from various connections, chronic leaky masks, wetsuit or drysuit failures, computer failures-dead batteries, underweighted/overweighted, forget to bring an essential piece of gear, or just plain call the dive for some other personal reason once you're geared up and ready to go (or 10 minutes into the dive). Some people are just like that. Something seems to always go wrong preventing a full length dive with no issues.
Where I'm from it's a whole day dedicated to driving out to the coast (sometimes better than 2 hours) , lugging gear, setting up on the beach, doing two dives, driving home, cleaning gear. From the time I leave to the time I get back to the house it can sometimes be 12 hours.
I've had my share of buddies that have let me down over and over for silly reasons. I've probably spent several thousand dollars in gas and other expenses over the years dedicating a whole day to have it cut short or not happen at all.
So how many times of this is your personal limit.
I give them a few chances to straighten things out and I'm a pretty patient guy who is willing to work with them, but if I see a pattern I make some changes.
I can understand that everyone can have a bad day, me included, but every time?