Buddy Diving Includes...

More than this, but at a minimum - buddy diving includes the following...
* For some strong current dives, initial surface checks and 15 foot descent stops may have to be very quick, and some divers cannot do those dives I know. My home bud always has problems clearing the first few days of a trip and he can't do a fast descent until the fourth day as a rule. He used to be bad about leaving our practice hole alone when I might be talking and not watching, but we have an agreement that prevents that now - based on the above.

I'm an air hog and I have had boat pick buddies send me up alone because they had air left; fine - but I wouldn't dive with them again. If I can't depend on good buddy protocols, I don't want to be responsible for them either - rather Same-Ocean dive with my pony bottle, TY. I have also been tempted to send boat pick buddies up alone because they needed or wanted to ascend before I did, but I never have.

Disagree with any of this is you want to, but if you do - I suggest that you are not Buddy Diving. And we have even seen court cases over buddy failures.

Any questions on any of my list? Buddy diving also includes pre-dive preparations and checks as well as post-dive well-checks, but I wanted to focus on the dive itself in this first post at least. All too often in A&I fatality discussions, the buddy was not there for the problem.

Diving has many facets..Recreational Buddy dives ( that probably make up the majority of rec. dives) should include what you stated. With the inclusion that at anytime anyone can call any dive for any reason without fear of any repercussion or hazing.
There are many other diving styles that are conducted a little bit differently, as long as both are equally comfy with that style...so be it. However, most newer divers really should stick to the hard and fast buddy diving rules. A problem can occur during any phase of any dive..and I would hate to be that buddy that just flagged an ok to a thumbing and watched them go, only to later find they had an issue during ascent that caused a major problem. However I also do many dives that are same ocean buddy...aka SOB. and enjoy them also.

Knowing each other's gear

True, Dave - but I posted this in the Basic Scuba forum. Other protocols should be discussed in Advanced I think.

Jar, good one - and we can go on with that one a lot, but I wonder if another thread with the basics listed would work better? Knowing how to dump your buddy's weight from whatever he is diving is a big one I think.

Self reliance is the best buddy! If anything, hanging out here on SB recurring theme you are ultimately responsible for your own safety. To dive otherwise is do a trust me dive and we all know what we think about those dives.

That being said, good safe diving practice is diving with a buddy. That means actually starting dives together, diving the dive together, and surfacing together. If not, then you are basically two solo divers diving coincidentally together! Your buddy is your safety net in case there is an emergency. Equipment failures do happen, and under water your buddy is your pony bottle.

In Scuba Diving magazine the Lessons for Life section highlights accidents with evaluations of what went wrong. On several occasions there was incident buddies became separated, usually when one diver ran low on air and the "buddy" wanted stay down longer. As the second diver finishes first diver isn't on board. First buddy drowned and second buddy not around to even know what went wrong, although accident analysis generally concludes if divers had been together fatality could have been avoided.

Stay together!

No, what do we think of those dives? I am fully capable of taking care of myself, my buddies are fully capable of tanking care of themselves, but we are all strongly committed to the team, and to assuring that none of use ever have to prove that capability. We are the most dependent independent divers that you will ever meet.

The problem here is we have divers of many separate skill levels. I dive with many that are much better divers than I and I dive with new divers a lot also. As the op stated, this is in a basic forum. Stick to your buddy should almost be religion at this point in the sport. I also can really appreciate the line: We are the most dependent independent divers that you will ever meet.New divers( and there is not a number to be placed there on dives) should always adhere to the stuck to you like glue rule. No dive is over because someone thumbs and begins ascent... a dive is over when all that started can help pull the cork.

I dive with my wife and I've never had any other buddy.

I don't really understand how you can trust someone you've just met to be your dive buddy.


[Edit: What I meant is, more precisely: "If I had to dive with an unknown buddy, I'd prepare as if it was a solo dive with an extra cause of problems.]

Hi Don - agree totally, we had a similar discussion last week at the dive centre I use.

It was a quite in depth chat about what we thought a buddy should be and how they should behave. One of the most important things we agreed was that everyone should be totally comfortable that they could call the dive at any time if they had an issue or felt uncomfortable, and their buddy would accept that without question or complaint and support them.

We have been night diving every night this week, not deep, probably 25 foot max, and diving for about 50 minutes each dive, and cold has been the issue, it has been comfortable for the dive, but just starting to feel it towards the end. Three of us have been diving, so we have not had two buddy pairs, but we have developed a way of constantly keeping a check on each other.

It turns out my regular dive partner suffers from a touch of Reynauds Syndrome (a circulatory condition leading to cold and numbness in the extremities) so he feels the cold first and usually most.

I hadn't known this until we had the long discussion, and although he has been diving for 30 years it turned out he was a bit reluctant to mention this, or call a dive because of this because he didn't want to let people down. One outcome of the discussion was we have all said to him to just call it when he starts to feel cold and don't wait, we won't mind.

He seems to feel much more comfortable now he is not thinking about this, because he knows we will be content call it should he start to feel the cold. I feel much happier knowing my buddy and knowing how he dives as well, I can honestly say I have no desire to go diving with a 'partner for the day' or someone I don't know.

I guess instructors and guides get this all the time with groups of new divers, but a couple of times my buddy and I have been split by the dive leader (a good personal friend) when the group has has less experienced divers in it and she has asked us to help, but I have always felt a little uncomfortable with not knowing the person I was diving with and how they will react to different things.

I think the role of a buddy in diving is often not given enough attention, training and importance. Don't get me wrong, I am not an advocate of no solo diving, and actually quite fancy the idea of giving it a go solo in suitable conditions, but for general diving I think the buddy system is good if properly applied, but I am not convinced it always is.

Thanshin:

I don't really understand how you can trust someone you've just met to be your dive buddy.

Click to expand...

Which is why I frequently dive solo