Do you actually see people diving with pony bottles?

[Dan]

When 4 divers sharing air from a tank is not considered as buddy breathing?

 

[rek_diver]

When 4 divers sharing air from a tank is not considered as buddy breathing?

I misunderstood the original post which stated 4 divers were sharing 2 regulators not 2 tanks.

4 divers sharing air from a tank may or may not be considered buddy breathing. If four regulators happened to be connected to 1 tank then the short answer would be "not considered buddy breathing in the typical definition of the term" but typically two regulators are attached to 1 tank so in that scenario there would be 1 regulator for every 2 divers and it's a buddy breathing situation. When I carry a pony I have 3 regulators on my rig (primary, bcd air 2, and pony), so if I was sharing air with 3 other divers, there would be 4 divers sharing 3 regulators and that's a hybrid sort of buddy breathing called "musical chairs air sharing". You don't want to be the diver without a reg in your mouth when the music stops.

 

[rek_diver]

EDIT: I really am confused about this.

You're in good company

 

[scubadada]

Buddy breathing has pretty much been eliminated from modern OW instruction because it is considered too likely to result in a double fatality.

Glen Egstrom, Berkeley professor and one time director of NAUI, studied buddy breathing decades ago. He determined that for a buddy team to be able to perform the skill confidently under real OOA circumstances, they would have had to have had about 17 successful practice sessions prior to that. He also determined that the skill was perishable--that buddy team would have to practice it regularly to be confident they could do it in a real situation.

I would not do it with anyone on a safety stop. I would just head for the surface. the odds of a problem occurring because of a missed safety stop on a recreational dive are close to nil.

If for some incredible reason I was somehow involved in a buddy breathing situation at depth on a recreational dive with someone I barely knew (as in this situation), I would let the other diver have the working regulator, and i would do a CESA to the surface. that is a lot safer than having that diver kill me.

Hi John,

I think you may over estimate the complexity of buddy breathing or underestimate the ability of (some) divers. Back in the day, LA Co Underwater Unit, 1970, there were no safe 2nds and buddy breathing was it. That's all we did in the pool and in the ocean. We were brand new divers, buddy breathing was certainly not the most difficult thing we were asked to do. If I remember correctly, you grabbed your buddy's BC and passed the regulator back and forth every 2 breaths. Not that you would have to do it today, but it was simply not that difficult. It was all we knew. I think this was better than a deep CESA. We didn't do safety stops, I don't see a reason you couldn't do one. Maybe it depends on your buddy.

Good diving, Craig

 

[Bogtrotter]

Just sounds like your average resort dive in Cuba.

 

[RayfromTX]

Correct--the safety stop was not a good choice, but if a DM and 3 of his clients went OOA on a dive, then that would have to be the most incompetent DM in the entire history of Cozumel diving.

I believe the story.

 

[RayfromTX]

They were not buddy breathing they were using another divers octopus.

OH WAIT

Never mind I get it now

That was the best gut laugh I've had all day. Yes it really was that crazy. I imagine that the rate of consumption off that single first stage reg was about the equivalent of a panicked big guy at 130'. I couldn't last long and I would have skipped the safety stop and cesa'd to the surface where they would have found me waiting for them. This was a normal rec dive in Coz so there was no obligation at the safety stop just a never ending stream of bad judgement that all worked out ok in the end.

 

[2airishuman]

Glen Egstrom, Berkeley professor and one time director of NAUI, studied buddy breathing decades ago. He determined that for a buddy team to be able to perform the skill confidently under real OOA circumstances, they would have had to have had about 17 successful practice sessions prior to that. He also determined that the skill was perishable--that buddy team would have to practice it regularly to be confident they could do it in a real situation.

I've heard of this but based on the many reports of people who have successfully learned and used buddy breathing, I am skeptical. I am unsure what "17 successful practice sessions" means. If it means practicing for most of the dive on 17 separate dives, I am very skeptical. If it means practicing 5 or 6 times on each of 3 dives that would seem reasonable, at least, and not far in excess of the amount some people practice other core skills.

 

[CuzzA]

can you elaborate?

Sure... We're often taught to keep your rig the same to develop muscle memory, right? My goal is to simply be so damn good it really doesn't matter. I could pick up anybody's rig and comfortably dive it like riding a bike. Does that make sense?

 

[Dan]

Why not a safety stop? If they've got a few hundred psi in each of the two remaining tanks that's probably going to be enough to sit at 15' for the better part of 3 minutes, and if they had just ascended from a deep dive why not use the gas if they have it to avoid a possible case of DCS?

I agree with your accessment. They were "supposedly" already in safety stop. The DM managed to keep everyone calm & sharing his 2 second stages to all 3 divers. The minute that his tank depleted of air, then everyone can do CESA from 15 feet, which would be a lot safer than skipping the safety stop & risking the DCS.