Insta-Buddy Briefing

[Charlie99]

The thread on the different types of air pressure signalling and the thread on bad buddies got me thinking about the pre-dive brief when diving with buddies that you have just met that day, aka instant buddies or insta-buddies.

I'm curious what things people discuss (or omit) before a dive with an insta-buddy.

I'm interested in what really works in real life, rather than the incredibly exhaustive briefing that is great in theory but which really isn't done in real life.

I'm also interested in what problems and miscommunications have arisen that could have been prevented by a pre-dive brief.

Charlie Allen

 

[El Orans]

Who are you:
• Type certification?
• # Of dives?
• General experience?
• When was your last dive?

Pre-dive briefing:
• Have you done this type of dive before?
• Have you been on this site before?
• Lost buddy procedure;
• Minimum gas planning;
• Goal for this dive?
• Who's the dive leader in the team?
• Relative position in the team.

Signs:
• Ascend;
• Descend;
• Remaining amount of air;
• (not-)OK;
• Equalizing;
• Cold;
• Safety stop;
• Stay close;
• "Check please" (need wetnotes);
• OOA/OOG;
• Using the light;
• Abort;
• "Glued to (left) shoulder"; (for really bad vis situations)
• Turning the dive.

Finally:
• Explanation own (DIR) gear;
• Buddy gear check;
• Modified S-drill;
• Bubble check.

 

[waynel]

The thread on the different types of air pressure signalling and the thread on bad buddies got me thinking about the pre-dive brief when diving with buddies that you have just met that day, aka instant buddies or insta-buddies.

I'm curious what things people discuss (or omit) before a dive with an insta-buddy.

I'm interested in what really works in real life, rather than the incredibly exhaustive briefing that is great in theory but which really isn't done in real life.

I'm also interested in what problems and miscommunications have arisen that could have been prevented by a pre-dive brief.

Charlie Allen

This post is exactly what I need. My wife and I are going to Key Largo for 10 days in June but she will only be making about 6 dives with me as there are other things she wants to do. So that means I will, for the first time since we started diving, be diving with a stranger as my buddy. Yeah, I'm a little uncomforable because I place safety at the very top of the dive planning.

 

[RonFrank]

I'm curious what things people discuss (or omit) before a dive with an insta-buddy.

I'm interested in what really works in real life, rather than the incredibly exhaustive briefing that is great in theory but which really isn't done in real life.

I'm also interested in what problems and miscommunications have arisen that could have been prevented by a pre-dive brief.

Charlie Allen

Generally I like to go over communication, do a dive plan, and go over equipment.

Really everything PADI tells you to do is right.

It's fun to review sea life *signs*, but OK, OOA, ear problems, thumbing the dive, equipment failure, and cold are things that need to be understood.

I generally ask them if they are weighted, and if they remembered to turn on their air. Some people don't like others messing with their reg, so don't assume that you doing a air check is OK without asking.

It's important to discuss how to signal PSI, but in reality if you don't discuss it, one can generally figure it out.

I discuss how I donate air as I dive with a long hose, but also have a Octo+ on my Zeagle.

I always do a plan, even if it's go down, swim around, come back up after 60 minutes.

I generally like to know how experienced the diver is, and what training they have. This can be done in a non-threatening way by just discussing diving. Most divers love to talk about diving, and are happy to swap stories.

I like to discuss breathing. If you are diving with a heavy breather, you may want to pay a bit more attention to their gas supply.

If you are diving a site that you have not done before, or if you plan on doing a bit of swimming around say on a reef, you may want to plan on a boat spot check. When I dive with my Cuz I arrange this pre-dive so that when I head to the surface after 45 minutes, she knows what I'm up to.

Finding a good insta-buddy can be hard, but not always. We had a GREAT group when we were in Coz last.

 

[RonFrank]

You missed an important one there El, and that is the is your computer in the hotel room check!

 

[Teamcasa]

Who are you:
• Type certification?
• # Of dives?
• General experience?
• When was your last dive?

Pre-dive briefing:
• Have you done this type of dive before?
• Have you been on this site before?
• Lost buddy procedure;
• Minimum gas planning;
• Goal for this dive?
• Who's the dive leader in the team?
• Relative position in the team.

Signs:
• Ascend;
• Descend;
• Remaining amount of air;
• (not-)OK;
• Equalizing;
• Cold;
• Safety stop;
• Stay close;
• "Check please" (need wetnotes);
• OOA/OOG;
• Using the light;
• Abort;
• "Glued to (left) shoulder"; (for really bad vis situations)
• Turning the dive.

Finally:
• Explanation own (DIR) gear;
• Buddy gear check;
• Modified S-drill;
• Bubble check.

Perfect.

But since I dive 999% with my lovely bride, I just ask if she is ready and is my gas on?

Dave

 

[El Orans]

But since I dive 999% with my lovely bride, I just ask if she is ready and is my gas on?

If I cannot reach the valve myself, then the tank is too low...

You missed an important one there El, and that is the is your computer in the hotel room check!

It was left in my car. :light:

 

[Leejnd]

This is so bizarre. I'm in the process of planning a 3-week trip to Bali with my non-diving Mom, during which I plan on doing a lot of dives. I just now clicked on "Basic Scuba Discussions" for the sole purpose of posting this exact question -- and there this thread was, at the very top. That's just...I don't know...kinda surreal!

Anyway, thanks Charlie99 for posting the EXACT thread I was gonna post -- and thanks for the responses. I'm printing this out and will take it with me on my trip.

 

[Steve_Dives]

When diving in the Keys I'll generally ask where they are from since they are never from there!

Basic hand signals, equipment configuration, experience and so forth as mentioned already. Oh, and what they do for a living generally comes up (paramedic, ER doc, PJ, etc. are nice to have along!).

I'll ask if they carry any special equipment (scissors, knives, spool, underwater explosives, etc.) with them and where they keep it.

I also ask if there is anything else I should know (i.e. hang-over, cramping, etc.).

 

[Charlie99]

I saw El Orans list and my first reaction was "way overkill" and "I never bother to cover all of that stuff", but then I starting jotting down notes on a typical dive with an insta-buddy.

GETTING TO KNOW ONE ANOTHER

Before any sort of formal briefing, we will have covered a lot of stuff just chatting on the way out to the dive site ----

General experience level
Specific site/area experience

New gear, rental gear, 1st dive in this thickness wetsuit or other things that may call for extra caution or checkout.

Type of diver / goal of dive -- e.g. photos, spear fishing, sightseeing, etc.

=============
General philosophy and goal of dive

How fast, how much area we are trying to cover, overall pace of the dive.

General agreement on appropriate buddy distance, preferred buddy positioning.

Level of buddy commitment (most important with more experienced divers. Not mentioned with newer divers since they automatically assume full buddy from beginning to end). Sometimes this includes discussion on “descend together vs. meet at anchor when your ready” and “ascend together vs. ascend enough to see them get on the boat”.

Who leads. / navigates. When I’m leading I’ll explicitly say something along the line of “I’ll be navigating and most of the time our intended direction of travel will be obvious from just looking at the reef. I’ll warn you about any inobvious changes in direction”. And also, “If you see something interesting, just stop. I’ll stop too..” This is where I work in my first “NO SURPRISES, PLEASE!”

====================
Site and Dive Specifics

Any unusual hazards. Whether or not a direct ascent to the surface is acceptable at any and all points of the dive. Any need, or desire, to get back to an anchor or mooring line for the ascent.

Overall geography if known. General intended path if known.

Expected depths and times. Sometimes multilevel, sometimes 1 depth and then ascent.
Planned Ascent rate, deep stops, and safety stop
Probably NDL limited, gas limited, or boat dive time / attention span limited?
On repetitive dives, I’ll compare what our computers are saying for NDLs at a couple of depths.
.

Turnaround pressure, ascent pressure, method of signaling.

SPG signaling method, SAC if known, (who will probably be the limiting diver regarding gas pressure)

I rarely cover “lost diver” procedure explicitly, athough it may be mentioned when agreeing on general level of buddy commitment.

I rarely go over hand signals, except in the case of where we have agreed upon a solo ascent. In that case I specifically mention “point at me, then thumbs up” is the sign for me to ascend with you. If we are doing a drift dive while pulling a flag, I’ll mention that they should ascend up the flag line, but not hold onto it, and that grabbing it and giving a few vigorous pulls on it is an emergeny signal.

Equipment review and buddy check is primarily visual and informal.
I’ll ask about anything unusual. "NO SURPRISES PLEASE!" -- sometimes explicitly, but usually just implied.
I will mention that I have pencil and underwater notebook in my left pocket in case someone wants to get verbose underwater. A mention that I have EMT shears in one pocket and a knife in the other often leads my buddy to do a pocket inventory declaration of his own.

As I do my final predive check, which includes looking at the SPG while taking a quick breath from the reg I’ll call out my starting pressure. The almost always gets my buddy to respond in kind. If he doesn’t, I’ll ask “what ya starting with?”.

If he's in front of me on a boat entry, we'll agree on whether he waits on surface, at 15' down, or we meet on the bottom.

At 15’ I do a complete visual and bubble check, and a final check on their general demeanor.

======================

Post dive I’ll generally converse a bit about whatever we saw, and then kind of open the door for suggestions and comments by asking “Anything different you want to do on the 2nd dive?”