Buddy Line

[Old grouch]

Has anybody come across a retractable buddy line. I dive with my two teenage sons (13 & 14) and whilst they are both competent divers its good to have that physical contact, it's hard to stop being Dad sometimes.
I know somebody will suggest using a retractable dog leash but the reel is just too big and I doubt the internal mechanism will survive being repeatedly submerged.
Be gentle with me, it's my first post on this forum (actually, any forum).

 

[flots am]

Has anybody come across a retractable buddy line. I dive with my two teenage sons (13 & 14) and whilst they are both competent divers its good to have that physical contact, it's hard to stop being Dad sometimes.
I know somebody will suggest using a retractable dog leash but the reel is just too big and I doubt the internal mechanism will survive being repeatedly submerged.
Be gentle with me, it's my first post on this forum (actually, any forum).

A buddy line is nice for low visibility, however It won't prevent unpredictable behaviour in teenagers.

I'd suggest not taking them diving anyplace where they're not qualified to do the dive "without dad".

flots.

 

[Old grouch]

Thanks for the response. Both the boys are Open Water divers but they do get easily distracted. Living and doing most of our diving in the UK means we do lots of low viz dives.

 

[flots am]

Thanks for the response. Both the boys are Open Water divers but they do get easily distracted. Living and doing most of our diving in the UK means we do lots of low viz dives.

The UK apparently has all sorts of lakes and ponds. There are almost certainly places you can take them that are small and quiet, with a bottom that's within their range, and no ability to get lost.

I'd work on encouraging safe diving with a buddy, and go over "lost buddy" procedures instead of using a "leash", if for no other reason than to develop skills for the times they'll be diving without you.

flots.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I'd like to believe that youth does not exempt a diver from the same buddy procedures expected of every competent diver regardless of age.

 

[drrich2]

I've got a suggestion that would run a lot of money, but would not present an entanglement hazard.

At least take a look at the LiquiVision Lynx. You can apparently link them to each others transmitters so you can find out where another diver is relative to yourself.

If you want added capacity to keep track of people in low-viz. environments, it's an option, at least. Especially if by chance you guys don't already have dive computers.

Richard.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Why do you need a retractable device? I would think an 8 ft long piece of rope with fixed loops on the ends to slip wrists through and you in the center would work. Personally, I would not dive in conditions with young divers that we so challenging as to need a lanyard. I definitely wouldn't take both at once.

 

[grantwiscour]

Occaisonally, in low viz situations my wife and I use a short piece of rope that we each hold on to.

 

[mathauck0814]

Teens are hard - I would expect that if your sons are so unpredictable as to cause a problem and break down of good buddy skills that they're simply not mature enough to go diving. Perhaps tough love is the remedy here. Dive as a safe buddy, or don't dive at all. Revisit annually or on a cadence of your preference.

 

[Old grouch]

All good replies, thanks. Just to put your minds at ease, both boys are reasonably experienced (although nothing close to many of the people on this board) and have dived in many different environments around the world. We would never dive without a dive plan and they know what to do if we get separated, although it has never happened so far. The reason for my original question was that our dive site last weekend was a flooded quarry in the UK where a number of objects have been sunk / placed which makes for quite a fun dive. However, with the visibility at around 2 meters I found myself glued to my compass to navigate between features and I thought it would be reassuring for me to have them on a buddy line. I know you can use any kind of static lines but I didn’t fancy a couple of meters of trailing line whilst exploring the features. Anyway, I guess the answer to my original question is no and I thank you time.