Do you dive with a buddy? Always, Sometimes, hardly ever?

[MASS-Diver]

This is a very interesting thread with alot of good points made.

Right now I have 2 good buddies that I alwasy dive with, however, as summer approaches I'm considering doing some solo diving. I live right on the ocean and I could get in a lot more dives in if I went alone. The sites I'm consdering are shallow beach dives where I've done alot of free-diving in the past.

I've gotten alot of negative responses from the people I've brought this up with, mostly, "you're either crazy or stupid, and you should have your C-card taken away." These responses have certainly given me pause, but, the oppurtunity to do alot more dives and the appeal of going alone and not having the responsility of a buddy once in a while keeps the thought in my head (proper buddy diving is hard work).

It was pointed out earlier that you can drown in any depth of water, but, for me depth is a factor. (Knock on wood) I don't see myself drowing in 15-20' of water without somthing somewhat extraodinary happening. I think my freediving skill, fitness level, realtivley young age, and swimming skills increase my margin of error in shallow water.

I still have not made up my mind,but, I feel like shallow water, with redundant gear, under perfect conditions, in an area I know so well, might be too good to pass up.

 

[sailnj]

Not to form an opinion or anything but, two things -

one, sometimes it's hard to find a buddy to go diving with you.

Given that, when you can find someone it comes with a certain expectation on you to look out for them and if something goes wrong you will have that guilt with you the rest of your life.

Personally I'm not sure how much I'd want to burden someone with that. I mean it's obviously a riskier thing to do then playing a game of golf why don't we accept some personal responsibilty and drown or embolize alone with honor, and for goodness sakes leave the body for crab food. A burial at sea isnt so bad after all for a diver, plus it saves all those horrid costs for coffins, gravestones, embalming,....etc.

I mean think about how lame we've all become expecting someone else to save our ass. If your worried about getting tangled in a wreck, then you know what, don't dive wrecks. If your worried about getting dissoriented in deep water then don't go deep. There is probably just as much chance of a buddy saving you and you putting the buddy in peril trying to save you. I know I would risk my own neck if my buddy was in peril in front of my eyes. Even more so if the buddy was a real friend, you know his kids played with mine, that sort of thing. How could you face the widow??

 

[PaulB]

I've always had someone willing to buddy up with me...maybe it's because I'm so darn cute ...then again it could be because I've only dove about 70 times and havn't had enough time to be "buddy-less" lol

 

[ColdH20diving]

I always dive with a buddy. I'm fortunate in that there are several divers at my place of work, so finding someone to dive with is not a problem. For me half the fun of diving is sharing the experience with friends.

 

[the sharkman]

I guess I'm a litttle late with this reply, but I always dive with a buddy. A friend of mine told me a story about an acquaintance of his who died, only 10 ft below the surface. He got tangled in some rope, while his family and friends where above on a boat. He was diving down to a sunken boat to retrieve the owners things. By the time they figured out what had happened it was too late...

sharkman

 

[mudguppy]

I had never thought of diving alone until I started training for Dive-Con. I found myself buddy-less this sat. as we were observing the O.W. skills. But...just because I don't have a buddy, there are still a lot of people around so I am not too worried. I don't think I would dive without other people around.

Although, I am starting to understand why people would think of diving solo....and get away from the crowds!
utahere:

MG
:tree:

 

[Jean-Paul]

It depends on the type of dives I make.
When teaching I basically dive without a buddy.
When just diving I mostly dive with my brother or my wife Because we made so many dives together it is like diving as one anyway.
Here in Holland we don't like divers to go solo because of the many accidents that happened in the past with these divers.

Keep wet

 

[budgy]

I solo dive quite often. It seems the majority of us solo dive now and again, I suppose its up to you. There are advantages and disadvantages. The Scottish diving association disapproves and I agree it isn't really a suitable safe practice for the average recreational diver. Saying that your buddy remains your greatest danger in the water. Doesn't really make sense does it.

 

[WJL]

budgy once bubbled...
...your buddy remains your greatest danger in the water....

What do you mean by this statement?

Statistics on divers' deaths reported by DAN and others show that a substantial fraction of the deaths are associated with divers diving alone. I am unaware of any statistics showing a substantial numbers of divers killed by the actions of someone else under water. I sure it has happened, but it seems that the incidents are not statistically significant.

So, how is it that your buddy is your greatest danger in the water?

 

[Quest]

I rarely ever dive with a buddy unless im doing a dive involving deco, line penetration etc.

im not going to argue a case for nor against diving alone as there are pros and cons to each.

And im not some wild wacky diver as those in favor of buddy diving might make me out to be.

In fact im one of those few divers that endorse the idea of not allowing people to night dive or wreck dive unless they have a C-card for that kind of diving.

However, i choose to dive alone (via beach or dive charter) depending on the circumstances.

But, one thing i dislike about some recreational diving instructors is that they instill a fear in divers about diving alone.

Sometimes if your to cautious or to protective it doesnt give the opportunity for a person to develop their own sense of awareness and abilities to perform under stress or fear.

Dont get me wrong im not saying go dive to 160FSW without proper training and experience.

But, i believe the traditional recreational diving classes preached to much "Dependancy" on your dive buddy and not enough "Self-Efficiency" with oneself.

One should be capable of resolving any emergency they may have to face while diving even though they may not be able when the emergency does occur.

Unfortunately, i see to many seasonal divers depending to much on their dive buddy or being able to swim to the surface when they need too.

I diver should know their gear and capability, they should be able to handle all their gear without help from other divers, they should always strive to be more proficient and more educated about diving and should be as redundant as possible to deal with any sort of emergency regardless whether their buddy will be there or not.

Because sometimes they might not be there for you when you need it and "in the end the only dependable person you have is yourself"!

This is a phrase you often realize from reading stories about diving accidents.

Whether its two unexperienced diving buddies lost in a cave fighting for each others last bit of gas using their diving knives or the entangled wreck diver whose buddy is low on gas and needs to complete their deco dive before getting surface help.

Again in the end the only dependable person you have is yourself.