How to dive in three's

[boulderjohn]

The formation you use depends on the dive you are doing. If you are swimming over irregular structure, wing-on-wing works very well, with the leader (or the weakest diver, depending on the situation) in the middle. But if you are swimming the hull of a wreck or a wall, doing that means the two folks on the outside don't get to see very much, and going single file works much better. But obviously, if you are swimming in single file, you have to a) move slowly, b) check in on everyone very frequently, or c) have very good lights to use for passive communication.

The key to making a three man team work (and it really isn't hard) is simply that everyone on the team has to prioritize keeping the team together. .

Yes!

Everything depends upon the kind of dive you are doing. You have to decide ahead of time what you are planning to do and what makes sense in that location. What is right in one situation would be totally wrong in another. Common sense goes a long way.

 

[LAKelpDiver]

My two buddies and I typically all dive together, sometimes we add one more friend. We all ride motorcycles off road together too and we carry out diving as a threesome or the foursome just as we would when riding. We all discuss and agree to the dive/ride plan and objective, and pick the order which we are going in. The leader picks the actual path, but it is the person in the rear that dicatates the pace. We are accustomed to checking back often, especially when there is limited visibility, be it crappy water or dust. Leader looks back and paces himself with number two, number two is doing that with number 3, and so forth. This allows us to strech out a bit given the visibility and you always have at least one buddy close. #3 might not be able to see #1, but #2 should be able to see both. As we are already accustomed to doing this while riding we have adapted it to diving and it works quite well for us.

We had our foursome out diving yesterday and one of the other divers on the boat, his partner lost a fin while waiting to step off the boat. Over the edge and gone out of sight. So they both sat down and were done for the day, it was the last dive. We invited the two finned guy to come along with us, we briefly explained our overall plan for diving in a group and how we go about it. He joined us and spent the entire dive with us, in crappy visibility, we all went down together, we all came up together. Worked out quite well for us and him.

 

[PR_SMITH]

I do a fair bit of threesome diving, often in poor viz. We always put one person in the middle, designate them as navigator, and agree that diver X will on the left of the center diver, and diver Y will stay on the right. We try our best to stay in formation, and will either look for an OK signal via can light circles (if near to the bottom) or hand signals every minute or so. The intervals between OK's varies with with the viz; poor viz increases frequency, great viz, less frequency. Each team member is responsible for tracking the other two.

If a team member wishes to break formation, say when arriving at the wreck/reef/whatever, then hand signals are exchanged, i.e. I'm going to swim through the paddle wheel here and exit over there, etc. Then we regroup. It may not sound relaxing to some, but we always have fun and it takes the guess work out wondering who is doing what and when......

 

[hi-sailor-diver]

"Any practical advice on diving in a three buddy system. I'm often faced with joining a buddy duo or diving solo off a boat."

The advice about various shallow or deep triangle formations is OK if you are diving with folks you know or who are otherwise committed to the group process.

If you are on a cattle boat and everyone else is in diving pairs and shows no interest to include you then you are almost assuredly both safer and more likely to enjoy your dive if you just go solo.

As an ex-instructor, if a group had an odd number I would take the single as a buddy if i was working the trip. If I had a buddy team I was particularly concerned about I would dive with them as a third after telling them to just concentrate on each other--and I would take their six.

As a single diver if I don't find a another single I'd rather start out knowing I was on my own and making my dive with that mindset of being fully responsible for myself. It's a better answer than feeling responsible for two others who will likely NOT be being attentive to you.

 

[Hang Loose]

I've been in this situation and I don't like it either (diving as a 3rd when you are not wanted). The last time it happened there were two big groups; an off-assignment National Geographic group broken into two groups with video cameras; and a training group of new certification divers, also broken into two groups. The dive master on the boat just asked me if I was comfortable solo-diving, my experience level, and I said I was good so that was that. I dove more conservatively being by myself and didn't wander too far from my destination with no complicated navigation. I probably stayed shallower than I would have if I had been with a buddy, and didn't venture far into any sea caves (< 20 feet) and not at all if there was any current or surge. Basically don't take any unnecessary risks and dive a profile you are completely comfortable with otherwise don't do it.

If you are not comfortable with solo-diving, then tag along with the group (that doesn't want you) that you are more comfortable with, because if you tag along with the group that is much more experienced than you, this can be equally as bad if they take off and leave you. Generally, avoid diving solo but there are times when you may have to for whatever reason.

 

[daniel1948]

Thanks, those are all good ideas. Here's the problem I often face.

I come on a boat and everyone is buddied up. They're friends or couples and I join a pair, and they reluctantly accept me as the third person. We jump in the water and the two take off like a usual buddy team and I'm left to tag along, but I know if something goes wrong I'm on my own. I'm essentially diving solo, with all the disadvantages of having no control of where I go. Also the onus is on me to stay with them or I'll get left behind and it may be a while before they notice I'm gone. And while the best plans call for one person to be the leader, surely they're not going to let the stranger be the leader and interfere with their plans. So one of the two leads, the other of the couple follows and as above I'm stuck on my own.

That's the problem I generally face. I travel alone because none of my friends is interested in the things I like to do. So I always find myself dependent on whoever is available. If there's another lone diver, the DM will assign us to be buddies. Sometimes my buddy is conscientious about buddy procedures, and sometimes he just dives as though diving solo and I do my best to stay close. Sometimes I end up with a pair, and usually they dive as though I were not there, and I do my best to stay close, on the assumption that if I have an emergency and signal them they'll respond. The best situation, and the most common, is that all the less-experienced divers go as a group with the DM and I go with them. From time to time the DM asks everyone how much air they have, and when one gets low, the DM sends the two with the least air up together.

As the odd man out, I am not in a position to insist on anything. Divers who do not care for good buddy procedures will not change just because I insist on a plan. They'll agree to the plan and then ignore it once in the water.

But I will not dive solo. I have no criticism of those who do; that's their own choice. But for me diving is a buddy sport and I want the added safety a buddy provides, even if that's only a spare reg within swimming distance.

<...snip...> Don't dive in teams of three with people you don't know.

Great advice. Except that for me, this would mean never diving again, since I cannot know before a trip if I'll have a buddy. (Actually, this and the seasickness problem may be why I have not dived in two years. -- And, yes, I've tried everything you can suggest for seasickness. Scopolamine works best for me, but even that is not enough if the seas are rough.)

 

[DevonDiver]

As the odd man out, I am not in a position to insist on anything. Divers who do not care for good buddy procedures will not change just because I insist on a plan. They'll agree to the plan and then ignore it once in the water.

But I will not dive solo. I have no criticism of those who do; that's their own choice. But for me diving is a buddy sport and I want the added safety a buddy provides, even if that's only a spare reg within swimming distance.

You won't dive "solo", but will dive with one or more buddies who you expect to ignore dive planning (and, by expectation, other issues) once in the water. Hate to break it to you, but that's not how the buddy system works... so you might as well be solo.

If you watch the video link on this thread, you'll see a very intelligent dissection of the buddy system and solo diving... concluding in some very persuasive points which emphasis that accepting (and training for) solo is likely to be far safer than any self-deception that the buddy system is safe unless absolutely adhered to in all aspects..

 

[dbulmer]

DD,

Your point is a valid one but the buddies you think might be poor might end up being better than anticipated.
Diving solo removes the doubt which can be a mixed blessing depending on circumstance but I'd rather divers in general attempt to make the buddy system work than just give up and do solo diving.

There are some people who have both the training and aptitude to solo but I don' t think that applies to most divers and does not apply to the recently qualified or inexperienced and I include myself in the inexperienced group.

 

[DevonDiver]

dbulmer... I don't chance my safety on a 'might be' or 'attempt'. Are you suggesting people should?

Solo training doesn't mean you have to dive alone. It does, however, mean you don't need to rely upon others.

 

[dbulmer]

Diving safely in a team of 2 or 3 people takes time to develop. It does not happen instantly - you have to work at it .. constantly in some cases.
During that time mistakes will be made and hopefully divers will learn from their mistakes.

To answer your question, I do chance my safety on a might be or attempt but leave it to others to decide whether they wish to.
I do not place a moral obligation on others to chance their safety on a might or attempt.

Diving in a buddy team does not mean that you have to rely on others either but having extra human brains can also be an asset.