Bolting to the surface...

[clownfish60]

I agree. I don't think solo diving is good for any new diver. And I am a long way for even attempting that. I am on this site to learn. The point is, the site seems to really knock the idea of instabuddies. Read through all the forums. Without outright saying it, first time buddies are bad. Instabuddies are ridiculed.. When I dive with someone I just met, and that person is an experienced diver (or so they say), I go out of my way to try and make them feel comfortable with me because I always get get the feeling that in their mind, they are saying "Oh my god, I get the new guy". I always demo a good pre-dive check. I did this before I even heard of this forum. This forum fully reinforces my belief that that is exactly what experienced divers are thinking.

Note to self...when I reach the point that I am as experienced as all of you, don't forget where I came from and treat my instabuddy wtih the respect a new diver should get in order to keep him/her in the sport.

Mexico..Spetember 2012. On a boat and partnered up with a woman that has all the experience in the world, fantastically expensive kit., telling everybody how to load up, checking their gear and tanks, reinforcing the pre-deive etc. (not a DM or dive operator). I feel bad as hell that she gets me as her buddy. 10 minutes in the water, the DM passes me off to his buddy to team up while he spends the next forty minutes keeping her from floating to the top. BTW. - DM told me that it people like her that keeps his job from becoming routine.

Sorry...this is a really great learning site.

Talking a good game, and having expensive gear does not equate to experience! That is something else that is good to learn too! lol! I remember seeing a guy pull a body bag full of gear onto a boat, telling stories about diving for 40 years, and start pulling out well used, high end gear. But when he mounted the BC backwards on the tank.. we all just rolled our eyes, and offered some help. It happens...

Back when I was diving a lot... I almost always was buddie'd up with the less experienced divers on the boat. No big deal... I just tried to still enjoy the dive, and helped them if they needed it. No disrespect, and no denigration. If they did something stupid, I would discuss it with them... and suggest an alternative. Mostly I tried to help them relax... that was usually the biggest issue! If they were really bad (as in endangering themselves)... I would let the DM know, and get another buddy.

I think many do find the whole "insta-buddy" thing mildly amusing (it can be a crap shoot)... but that doesn't mean we would not do our best to ensure that "insta-buddy" was safe, and hopefully comfortable, and learning as needed.

 

[tdtaylor]

I was taking a deep diving class, and the other student and I were buddied up. He had about 40 dives, I had about 120. The weather was very warm, but in the quarry, with low viz and clouds, we needed flashlights at 95 feet.

Well, my buddies reg froze and made a heck of a mess with the low viz and lights. I fortunately recognized it for what it was, and gave him my octopus attached to a pony with a longer hose. His eyes calmed, and I was about to signal to ascend as I was collecting and securing various items.

Next thing I know, he broke my grip on a D-rings and bolts to the surface, dragging me from the long hose. I crawl up to him, and at 50 feet flare to slow us down....for about 10 seconds, and he breaks loose again. By that point, his BC has so much buoyancy, I can not stop it.

Well, according to my computer, it was a 65 second ride from 95 feet. Fortunately we had only been down 5 minutes. Needless to say, constantly checked myself for the next day for symptoms.

the next day he sent an apologetic email to me and the instructor- we had plenty of gas left, everything was under control and we had a 30 cf bottle tied off at 20 feet. Should have never happened. We were both fine in the end, but I was sure a little shaken up.

Well, that is my story.

Terry

 

[Frosty]

IMHO, unanticipated air-depletion can never be an individual failure (unless solo diving). Monitoring and communicating gas throughout the dive is a team/buddy-pair responsibility. More than one diver has to be negligent in those responsibilities for gas to zero without everyone being aware of the issue in advance.

I couldn't agree more. -if there wasn't a sudden and unexpected gear failure then OP should have had a really good idea of roughly his buddys air level.
My feedback for the OP. First Whilst in the beginning stage of shareing air (the first few breaths). The air"doner" should be looking the "victim" in the eyes. What happened to you is one reason why.
The second thing has been well covered off. Once he has "bolted" He's on his own untill I have safely made it to the surface.Well covered off in that you can't save him if you are having your own emergency.

I take a bit of a different view on things than some others on here do. I take the view "no harm no foul" when people make mistakes and come out unhurt.. BUT with the HUGE proviso that if you screw up you have learned from it so you don't repeat the same mistake.

 

[DevonDiver]

I was about to signal to ascend as I was collecting and securing various items.

Terry, what was this task loading that distracted you from rescue?

 

[dytis-sm]

To answer the instabuddy issue, hell yes I will team again with someone I will not know. I was a lot of people's instabuddy and may have slowed or even ruined their dives. This is how I learned and learn how to be a better buddy. But I will be careful as hell in my planning, buddy check, and frequently checking gas consumption. I may even incorporate an air share exercise as soon as we get in the water just to be sure ;-)

 

[Steve_C]

I frequently dive with instabuddies. I try to be a good buddy to them. However, I make no assumptions about their being there to help me. I approach it as a solo dive in terms of my own self sufficiency. When in my home waters I will usually dive with a solo configuration even on the shallower wrecks and ledges for that reason.

I do think that a solo diving course (SDI) has made me a better buddy. There is a reason that there is a 100 dive requirement before taking the course.

 

[TSandM]

"Instabuddy" is generally interpreted, I think, as a pejorative, and the reason for this is the number of negative stories that get posted about dives which are attempted with buddies one has never met before, and of whom one has no prior knowledge.

I have very few "instabuddy" experiences, because I either have my own buddy with me (my husband and I travel together) or I have talked to someone on line before getting in the water with them. But of the "instabuddy" experiences I've had, 2/3 have been highly positive experiences. In one case, I picked up a buddy who was wandering around a Southern California dive boat with a GUE t-shirt on. In another, I picked up a buddy who was practicing for his UTD Tech 1 class. Are these highly selected people? You bet! But this is one of the reasons I belong to the niche in the diving world that I do -- I knew EXACTLY what the people I was getting in the water with had committed to in their own diving, so I knew we could put together a dive plan that was going to work for everyone.

But even if you can't apply a filter like that, you can at least apply one: If the person with whom you propose to dive will not sit down and make a dive plan with you, and will not do a buddy check, you need a different buddy.

 

[dytis-sm]

Just for the record, I looked at my octo's mouth piece last night and there is no way to hand it upside down as it has a bulky bottom that will hit against your nose. Also the way it is attached on my BDC it is pretty intuitive to be handed properly. Next thing I will test it in the water next time I am underwater.

Looking back I think that my buddy was already panicked as you correctly stated. I keep thinking to myself how he could have let himself to 0 psi (btw he had a steel 100)... I can see it on fresh OW certified but not with someone "Rescue" rated with 30 plus dives. Of course thinking back, I was naïve not to realize that 30 dives with Rescue rating means that most of his dives were with an instructor, in other words closely monitored. Again another error in my part... Should have been paying closer attention.

It is funny how certain things go around. A day ago I was participating in a discussion about people being trained back to back from level to level, never getting experience diving in various non-training situations. My buddy (who was a nice guy btw) had too many dives just getting trained that he knew how to enjoy a standard dive and keep track of air.

 

[DevonDiver]

Just for the record, I looked at my octo's mouth piece last night and there is no way to hand it upside down as it has a bulky bottom that will hit against your nose. Also the way it is attached on my BDC it is pretty intuitive to be handed properly.

I'm not doubting you... but this (upside-down donation) is something I've witnessed countless times with novice students, using all manner of regulators. I wouldn't discount the possibility, especially if the diver was at high stress threshold and you weren't actively observing/ensuring.

 

[shmuggy]

This was your first dive with him- I wouldn't go with him again. I certainly would not ascend with him either- I think it is fortunate you did not have a hold of his BC before he went up. Panic is the killer- you are obligated to help but not to compromise your health and life. It isn't unusual to see the people with the fanciest gear and all the bells and whistles screwing up.