How close your buddy vs Herd diving

[bamamedic]

I wonder how many new divers get freaked out when the real world of high visibility shallow depth Caribbean vacation diving does not match up with the theory of perfect always-in-arm-reach buddy system? Is it better to teach:

1) There are different risk levels in various types of diving thus various levels of buddy separation are acceptable and you need to learn the difference.

or

2) That the perfect in-arm-reach buddy system must always be maintained.

My problem with number 2 is the real world may show that does not happen and students may grow to disregard even when conditions do require the highest level of buddy discipline.

I discussed this topic with various professional divers and instructors, while many said they teach #2 they also said the real world is more #1.

I think it's really just a matter of either diving with good buddies, or interviewing instabuddies as to what your expectations are before the dive. For the types of diving I do (most definitely not shallow-water-perfect-visibility-Carribean diving), I keep my buddy within a couple of fin kicks. If you can't reach your buddy in case of emergency, there's no point in having a buddy in the first place.

If you really think about it, having your buddy close is at least as important in awesome visibility as it is in poor visibility. In poor vis, you've usually got lights to signal your buddy with, but in clear vis, there's no easy and quick way to signal your buddy that you have a problem. Nothing sucks worse than not being able to breathe, and trying to warp-speed-kick up to a buddy whose completely oblivious to your problem and still swimming away from ya.

It's not like you have to be elbow-to-elbow close, but definitely close enough to be at your buddy's side within 2 or 3 fin kicks.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

I teach the 5 second rule in turgid and 10 second rule in clear water for new OW divers.

I'm shocked that an instructor gives these recommendations to his students. It may be useful as a rule of thumb, but the risk is that the students neglect the #1 reason for staying close to a buddy.

It's not a matter of always being an arms length away but viz is only one of the factors. The bottom line is to stay however close you need to be to get a breath of air if you need it.

You may be able to see your buddy further than you would like to have to go if you need air.

I agree with gcbryan. Your buddy is carrying your backup gas. A buddy pair should never be farther apart than one buddy is comfortable swimming in the event of an OOA scenario. If I prefer to be 10 ft. away but my buddy wants to be 5 ft. away, then we'll maintain no more than a 5 ft. separation. Of course, other variables such as under water topography, visibility, currents, etc. need to be considered when deciding buddy distance.

 

[Guba]

I hope it leads to you sharpening those gas management skills as well!NetDoc

lol. I understand your point, Doc, but that wasn't really the problem since I still had 2000 psi in my tank when the situation occurred. I was using a rental tank (but all my own equipment otherwise), inverted to snap a few pictures, and the next thing I knew I wasn't getting enough air. It seems the visual inspection protocols down there aren't enforced quite like they are in other places, because I had debris in my tank. I STILL don't know exactly how to prevent that from happening again other than be more careful who I book charters with.

 

[diver 85]

I always prepare evey dive as a (possible) solo dive--& naturally so does my buddy....

EDIT:...I looked @ this pic & it's pretty much the closest we stay together, once we get the dive going 'good'(one of those diver's in the background is my buddy)---@ least in bubble sight(usually)....

 

[Stichus III]

We are all probably better off just carrying a pony bottle and making sure our equipment is well maintained.

We should not rely too heavily on other divers (our buddy) for our safety.

 

[TyGuy]

sometimes diving in a group is really enjoyable, other times it cant be a huge pain. i dive all the time with my university's dive club. most of which are fully competent divers. but sometimes when new divers wanna go for thier first rec dive after their OW cert (usually a few month to a year after their actual cert dives) they bumble around each other bounce of the bottom and run out of air quickly. making my dive much less enjoyable and much shorter.

but, when i dove in a group of experienced club members we all had controlled buoyancy, about the same rate of air consumption, and everyone knew how to navigate at depth. not to mention we all understood eachother's hand signals and were all capable of keeping up with one another.

 

[BettyRubble]

For whatever reason, I find myself in group dives alot. But about 2 dozen dives ago (I'm only up to 80 dives) I started insisting that everyone have a specific buddy. I don't get in unless I know who I am buddied with and I've done a quick discuss of the dive plan.

And I find more often then not, it is me trying to maintain proper buddy distance, not the buddy. But having had a minor incident where my buddy was too far off, made me realize that it takes alot of time and effort to 'reach' your buddy, especially if you are not in their "sight" range and they don't even realize you are having an issue and trying to reach them.

The advantage of a dive group (aside from shared experience) is if you hit an issue and your buddy isn't close, you have some options. But it shouldn't come to that.

 

[The Chairman]

There is a certain safety in numbers, but it's always nice to have just ONE person care about your welfare.

 

[Dr Neil]

Large group or actual buddy diving, you have to adjust your dive plan according to your buddy.
Assuming I'm diving with a total stranger, I would make that adjustment to make the dive enjoyable for both of us. Obviously, I would most likely not take a spear gun.

I also expect the new buddy to be totally honest with me about their dive experience. If you as the limited experience diver have never done the type of dive planned, let your buddy know!

 

[Herk_Man]

My interpretation of the buddy system is that you should be no farther away than what would allow you to touch your buddy with no more than two or three fin kicks. And for the majority of the time, you should be able to touch your buddy to get his attention without moving at all.

The things that can happen, the speed with which they can happen, and the lack of normal communication capability dictate that buddies should be quite close at all times.

I think the 10 second rule that someone else mentioned only works for the lead diver. The guy that is behind or above or below can get in trouble way too fast and fall out of the lead diver's crosscheck way too easily to be that far away.

JMHO