What is a Dive Buddy for anyway?

I apologize if I bring up a topic that has been hashed in the past , I searched but didn't see anything in the archives, lately anyway.

The reason I bring this topic up is I just read a story on another sight about a dad with his 14 year old son, who is his dive buddy, doing a dive at the Flower Gardens earlier this month. They did their first dive and after a surface interval prepared to do the second dive. After entering the water and descending a short time, the father was still at 2800 psi but the son was down to 1000 psi. The ascended and after they got on the boat it was discovered the boy forgot to take his 1st stage off so the boat crew could refill. This is no knock on the boat crew.

Now, my question is, before they went in the water wasn't it the responsibility of both the diver and his buddy to check pressure gauges, as well as other buddy checks?

My dive buddy is relying on me and I on my buddy to make sure everything is kosher with our gear BEFORE we get into the water. This includes all checks that equipment is attached properly and functioning. After we enter the water it is our responsibility to be together to assure a safe, fun dive with hopefully no traumatic experiences.

If they both would have performed the proper checks this wouldn't have happened. At the same time, the unfortunate death at Flower Gardens last week may not have happened if the buddies would have stayed together.

I know the buddy system was taught during my training and embedded in my mind. How about you?

ID this may be along the same lines as your thread earlier about the "lack" of proper training or lackadaisical approach many divers take today.

What checks do you and your buddy perform before entering the water, and what do you do after you get wet?

This is my soapbox...
Junior divers are generally not competent buddies, no matter how conscientious or well trained. They are children, and tend to get distracted as children will. If your "buddy" is a Junior Diver, you are diving solo - with added responsibility. If you want a buddy then get another adult to go with you as well as your Junior Diver charge.
Climbing down now...
Rick

I agree with you Rick...
My daughter will be certified next year(and can't wait) and I can't imagine letting her near the water til I check her equipment and know myself everything is ok even though I know she will think "Oh Mom". It is a buddies responsibility along with the diver themself but especially with a junior diver. I personally can't imagine a parent not doing the checks!
Ldreamin

Rick,
Not only do they get distracted, they do not have the presence of mind to handle an emergency. Panic and emotions take over instead of training and practice. As you said you are diving solo with responsibilities......A solo buddy?

I don't agree with the Junior Scuba. The surface supplied air thing is ok. But that's as far as it needs go IMHO.

I know that parents who SCUBA Dive want it to be a family afair. But why not wait the few extra years unitl the child matures into a responsible adult before you put them in harms way.

ID

I know that in the snow ski industry, kids learn how to ski at a very young age and, as I see it, skiing is no more or less dangerous than diving if it is handled properly. In fact, one of the reasons I have not taken up snow skiing, besides the fact that I hate cold, is that I do not balance very well on skis or skates and I do not want to take the chance that I fall the wrong way and end up paralyzed for the rest of my life. Yet, you have kids as young as seven learning how to snow-ski.

I think it depends on the child. A good friend's 14-year-old daughter handles herself very well in the water and is very responsible and attentive. In fact, I would rather have her as a dive buddy than many adults I have dove with. The ski industry seems to have let the parents make the call whether their child should be allowed to ski and it appears that the dive industry seems to have done the same. As long as there are guidelines, I do not see any problem with kids learning how to dive. After all, they are the future of diving.

My 2 cents.

The most mature and responsible child is still a "child". I believe it is unwise and unfair to place them in a position of being responsible for your well-being just so that you can experience the warm and fuzzies of diving with your children.

If you disagree, just look at the stats of teenage drivers. The insurance underwriters no what they're doing.

My 18 year old son has expressed interest in learning to scuba since I started. I am not discouraging him, but I am also not encouraging him at this point. Thankfully, my 14 yr old has no interest whatsoever, perfectly happy to snorkle.

Mitch,
Scuba diving and snow skiing are completely different. Sure a kid could hit a tree and break a leg or an arm, but the dangers in scuba are a lot more final. Not to mention the studies being conducted on the nitrogen impact on the skeletons of youngsters and the studies regarding osteoporosis.
Not to mention I have never seen or heard of buddy skiing, where one would rely on the other in an emergency. IMHO they are just too young and immature to handle the situations that may arise in scuba.

ID

Rick and Iguana

There has to be a happy medium, granted a kid is a kid but there is a time and place for children diving. Darwin had the right idea, when my son is old enough I will let him dive as a junior provided he passes the tests, will I put him in a situation that will be to far beyond my control, I think not!

I have high aspirations for my son and intend on sticking around to watch. I agree with BLTN and "I believe it is unwise and unfair to place them in a position of being responsible for your well-being just so that you can experience the warm and fuzzies of diving with your children" There is a time and place.
I was on dive trip that had a child diver age 13, a young girl and her father. The father insisted she shore dive in 3' waves. For the next two days the father was complaining that he wasted his money on her training. I personally think she will not dive again.

My son who will turn 9 in December has been doing the PADI Seal Team, out of the 10 kids in the class he's doing quite well. Friday night the class did a night dive, while the buddy teams were swimming around, some blinding each other, I gave my son's team the low on air share air signal, and as my son handed his OCTO to me, his buddy quickly copied him. I felt pretty proud of my son, it's a start and in 17 months I hope to take him to the lakes around here then to the "big pool", when we both agree his is ready.

The Junior Diver question is one of parental control. ID won't let his dive until they're adult enough to be a buddy; I take mine diving at the earliest age feasible - as a father, safety diver and veritable dictator of what we will and will not do. And while I will allow my child free reign within the boundaries I have set, I have no hesitation to physically intervene should one of those boundaries be crossed. That said, my youngest (now 12) dives with me (instructor, been diving a long time) or my bride (been diving over a decade and is a Master & Rescue diver) or both of us. I don't know when I'll let her dive with anyone else yet - but most likely her first real "buddy" dive will be in three or four years with her older sister, the nurse.
I fully intend to introduce my granddaughter (four next month) to Scuba as soon after her 10th birthday as she (with parental approval) asks to do it.
Rick

Granted the youngster failed to remove his regulator and switch tanks. But it was the adult buddy who failed to check his buddy's air supply before the dive commenced. The incident reported above wasn't the result of a child diving, it was the result of a buddy team not doing their buddy checks before getting in the water. (IMHO)

When we dove in Florida, my husband and I took a bit of ribbing as the newbies because we wouldn't get off the boat until we had completed the full buddy pre-dive check. We opted to take the ribbing and continue with the buddy check. On our certification dives this past weekend, even though the instructor was checking and adjusting everyone's gear, we still were always the last ones to leave the shore area and join the class for our dives. Why? Because after all the fiddling with gear and adjusting and readjusting, before we went out for the class dive, we stopped and did a full buddy check. We checked our spg's, our weights, connections, our watches, and our depth gauges. When the class came out of the water after each dive they asked the instuctor what the bottom time and the depth of the dive was. My husband and I, checked our watches, our depth gauges, and our tank pressure and recorded them and then checked those against what the instructor was telling the rest of the class. We were also checking each other's air consumption throughout the dives, trying to begin to get a gauge of how we are doing on air consumption. Just a great habit to get into as buddies I think.

tyki