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Just curious. In all my training never once did my instructor tell us anything about touching your buddy except when doing air sharing. In one of the sticky threads about losing buddies, none of the responses were "catch up to your buddy and grab them". So say I'm tooling along beside and behind my buddy and I see something I want to investigate but I don't have a tank banger. Is it ok to tap my buddy to get their attention? What if they're struggling to maintain buoyancy and while attending to their equipment. Ok to grab them to prevent them from sinking/ascending? Other situations?
In my opinion the sign of good buddies is a buddy who you shouldn't have to tank bang or go after or go up and grab to get their attention. It's like a pilot on a plane, the eyes should always be moving from the sky, to the instruments, your buddy should be dividing his attention between himself and you making sure you are okay, so in your situation described that isn't an emergency, you should just have to pause a moment, wait calmly for your buddy to bring his attention back to you to then show him what you need to.
If he isn't bringing his attention back to see you shortly then you need to discuss with him about being better buddies for your safety.
Nothing wrong with touching your buddy to get their attention, to let them know of a course change, or to avoid a problem. Where we dive vis can be low at times. I tell folks that we are into NASCAR diving here when the vis is low (if you ain't rubbing , you ain't racing). I'd rather have a buddy bump or have other contact with me in low vis situations than have me wonder where they are.
I tap, but don't grab, to get my buddy's attention sometimes.
Different buddies prefer different distances apart. My favorite buddies are the ones that are beside you (left or right side) about a meter or two away, so I don't have to look around to check on them. Some buddies like to stay behind or stay forward, but that makes it more difficult to get someone's attention.
Grabbing would only be acceptable in an extreme emergency situation (e.g., uncontrolled ascent/descent, doing something outrageously stupid, keeping someone away from danger, etc.).
lol....my wife will be my buddy...unless I piss her off that is. Another situation is when trying to descend with about 1500 psi of air, sometimes she struggles. Never did my instructor help any students descend in that situation, but I can see where he'd want the students to learn how to do it themselves. No problem helping your buddy with that initial descent?
I can see where it's not a good idea trying to grab your buddy because you might screw up and pull a fin off or a hose out or something equally bad. So I didn't know if this was like, some unwritten scuba rule. Thou shalt not touch your buddy.
There are many times when touching is not only acceptable, its actually the best idea. Any time my buddy is struggling is a time they need some reassurance and a simple touch may make all the difference. Recently, I had a student (AOW) and his buddy race to the upline and immediately start their ascent. I caught up with them pretty quick, and could see his angst dissipate when I grabbed his hand, looked into his eyes and gave a friendly "Are you OK?" sign. He had a bit of a narc going on and this helped him to regroup and continue his ascent at a more leisurely pace. A touch can be incredibly calming in a stressful situation. Its a tactile communication that they are not alone with whatever problem they might be encountering. In actuality, the pair passed by me within just a few feet without even seeing me to ask for assistance. Why? Perceptual narrowing with both stress and depth often causes people to miss the obvious. A touch lets them know unequivocally that you are right there with them. Its truly magic!
Also, I have no problems grabbing a fin, tapping a shoulder or doing whatever in order to show my buddy a cool thingamajig or three. Some people are more touchy than others, and I am one of those people. Go figure!
before I bought a tank banger I would always give my buddy a tap tap tap
These days, if they're close enough, I just wave my fingers/hand in their peripheral vision
If someone were to tell me off for touching them then they would not be my buddy after that. Diving is best done with someone, it's really a team thing.
On netdoc's note, for the blind diver, grabbing/ touching is the way to communicate. The dive is also based upon touch and sensation, not visual.
If you spend 35 minutes in a blacked out mask you'll quickly learn how important/ nice it is to be in physical contact with your buddy.
Tap or lightly grasp. I'm often diving with students who don't have the best of awareness when underwater. If they're focused on something else or I need their attention I'll either tap or give their arm a very small fingertip squeeze. Sometimes I have to go for the leg or the fin depending on the buddy.
The key is to be gentle. I myself get pretty ticked off when someone gives a hard tug on my fin or arm. It's just my first reaction.
I wouldn't resort to tank bangers or noise makers. I find it hard to hear tank bangs over the sound of the bubbles and IMO we as divers don't need to add to the noise pollution.
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Originally Posted by diveprof
