Buddy separation plan

[sffrenchman]

When planning a dive, do you always discuss a buddy (or buddies if diving as a group) separation plan or do you assume that everyone will follow the standard procedure taught in OW ie. look for your buddy for 1 minute then surface.

 

[yodelhawk]

When in doubt... Ask!

 

[Rhodesaz]

My wife is my buddy. Trust me, I know what the plan is.

 

[TSandM]

It depends (so I didn't vote). If I'm diving with people who are trained the same way I am, we don't discuss it, because a) team separation is highly unlikely, and b) we all know what we are going to do if it happens. However, if I dive with buddies who are from other training or unknown to me, I do discuss it. I can do a lot to keep a team together, but I can't always do it all. And it's important that everyone be on the same page if separation occurs.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

The option wasn't in the poll, but my buddies and I see each other underwater frequently. Sometimes we even stick together for minutes at a time, but we don't always descend/ascend at the same time. As long as we all come up safely I'm OK with everyone onboard solo diving.

 

[Scuba_Noob]

With a new buddy, always. With old buddies, we've already discussed it before. However, at a new site, a drift dive, or with anything out of the ordinary (e.g., using a camera, etc.), I may just go over buddy separation with old buddies.

When I first started, I had a few incidents of confusion with new buddies where we got separated but were on different pages on whether to surface or not. I assumed the buddy would surface after looking around for a couple of minutes, but that didn't happen. Now there is always a thorough dive plan and proper communication.

 

[RTee]

I did not vote either because it also depends with who I am diving, how many divers are involved and where we are diving.

My GF is normally my diving buddy for rec diving and while we do a fair amount of diving travelling, the bulk is done is cold, limited vis and somewhat dark/darker conditions. We will always go over the dive plan even for sites we dive often because at some there happens to be so many ways they can be dove. We will also talk about the general plan if we decide to abort the dive especially on drift dives in busy area. However, at this point in time (with close to 250 dives together), it is not something we will cover before every single dive unless the site(s) call for something very specific.

If other folks join us and are also familiar with the site, the only thing we may mention is...if we ever get separated, see ya at the exit point. For those who are not familiar with the dive site, they will be throughly briefed on the dive site and what they should do if we become separated (as pairs) as well as do's and don't if they want to abort or cut short the dive due to local sub and surface conditions.

 

[Bob DBF]

Since the choices didn't fit my situation, I'm just giving the long version.

When diving Solo I try not to be schizophrenic.

Diving with my regular buddies, we go over a plan if we need to stay togather for a particular evolution. In other words, if we are really buddy diving we discuss the dive and the lost buddy evolution, because it may be different than the standard.

When diving with a new buddy, I discuss the lost buddy procedure and use the standard as everyone is farmiliar with it from OW class. That being said, I haven't lost a new buddy untill after we get back on the boat.




Bob
-------------------------
I may be old, but I’m not dead yet.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Like others, I could check any of the three choices ... depending on the dive and who I'm diving with ... or whether I even have a dive buddy ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[DivemasterDennis]

There should be fourth option. We plan our dives and carry them out so as to avoid buddy separation. Other posters have implied this, and I want to stress it. A dive planned for the conditions and properly executed should prevent buddy separation. Too many divers are too casual about maintaining buddy proximity. A casual "if we get separated we will...." is not good dive planning. I prefer " If due to a sudden change in conditions or unforseeable event we get separated, we will..." Debbie and I dive off on our own a lot, and when she is not with me, my buddy and I are often the only ones in the water for quite a distance. People need to take this issue more seriously. Solo divers are excused. They may have other issues, but not this one.
DivemasterDennis