Is tethering dangerous?

[Kunk35]

I'm just wondering, in low vis situations, is it dangerous to tether to your buddy? Does anyone do this?

Just wondering...

 

[NadMat]

I do sometimes, depending on dive conditions and on who my buddy is. While the line can prevent the 'loosing your buddy' complication, it can possibly cause other complications. If conditions are so bad that I could not track my buddy visually I would usually just not dive, but in some areas you have generally decent vis with areas of crap vis that you have to pass thru to do the dive. That is when I would be inclined to use my 'buddy line'.

 

[fdog]

I'm just wondering, in low vis situations, is it dangerous to tether to your buddy? Does anyone do this?

Just wondering...

If my buddy has a problem with an entanglement, then so will I, because I'm tethered to them.

Not to mention just the possibility of having the tether become the entanglement problem.

And because this is in low vis, my ability to deal with the entanglement effectively is greatley reduced.

So no, I would not do this. I'd just hold hands if the vis is that bad.

I will add that I have dove tethered to my "buddy" in an exceptionally low vis situation; my "buddy" was my tender, and the "tether" was the surface supply line.

All the best, James

 

[Mr.X]

We used PVC handled buddy line - 4-6' in research diving ??? It's been years. It was often in the bin. I would imagine a break way tether might be usefu, but then again if it's so bad then you've lost your buddy anyway! If anything I prefer holding hands with a pretty lass underwater in low viz.

Seriously, bad viz requires comm. units.

X

 

[Kunk35]

Probably the lowest vis I would dive in is 3 to 4 feet. I figure if I can't see my fin tips, there isn't anything to see anyway.

I guess a sidenote to my question would be, does anyone tether to their kids while diving.

A few weeks back my buddy and I went diving in low vis, and we wondered about it at that time. But talking to my wife about our kids someday diving, the question came up about tethering. So now I'm wondering about both situations.

 

[gonetobaja]

We use tethers during good vis when diving in Blue water. The boat can drift real fast in the Blue water so its great to be tethered to the boat.

Here are some shots of the Ocean Futures Scociety with us. You can clearly see the tethers we used.





makes it real easy to maintain your depth also.

GTB

 

[String]

I'm just wondering, in low vis situations, is it dangerous to tether to your buddy? Does anyone do this?

Just wondering...

Sometimes it can be, depends on the buddy.

Personally i wouldn't dive tied to anyone - a buddy line which has a simple hand loop is ok in a few very small circumstances. In my view, permanently clipped onto someone else is never the safest option.

 

[spectrum]

A hand resting on my tank boot works well for my wife when things cloud up. If the poor visibility is sustained (less that 5 feet) we're likely to call the dive.

I'd consider a buddy line but it would be hand loops, not clips and it would be slightly buoyant polypropylene.

Pete

 

[Gary D.]

We spend a lot of time tethered to a surface tender but not between each other. Some of it is tied in while other times it is just holding the loop.

If two divers are hard tethered together and one gets into trouble you now have two divers in trouble. If conditions are that bad recreational divers don’t need to be diving.

Gary D.

 

[serambin]

If you're diving really bad vis, a buddy is useless. In essence, you're diving solo. If the buddy can't see and respond to hand signals, either dive as a solo diver or call the dive.

Stan