AfterDark
Contributor
Mine works for me. I'd better hold on to this one looks like a replacement is going to cost much more!
How do the motorcycle type hold up to saltwater?
Lost buddy prevention
- Thread starter alex_can_dive
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Mine works for me. I'd better hold on to this one looks like a replacement is going to cost much more!
How do the motorcycle type hold up to saltwater?
Holds up just fine. My buddy found out that it doesn't hold up well to steel tanks though.
SlugLife
Contributor
If you do even a little bit of DIY, I'd suggest skipping the scuba-choice mirror.
I ordered a pair of mirrors for $5 on Amazon. Tilt the mirror, pop the mirror out of the holder, drill 4 holes, loop some bungee through the holes & tie to make a wrist-band, pop the mirror back in and you're done. Ideally, also remove the sticky backing with alcohol. To tie the bands, either use cord-locks (pictured) or tie an adjustable knot (I'm no knot expert, perhaps someone else here can suggest a knot).
I ordered a pair of mirrors for $5 on Amazon. Tilt the mirror, pop the mirror out of the holder, drill 4 holes, loop some bungee through the holes & tie to make a wrist-band, pop the mirror back in and you're done. Ideally, also remove the sticky backing with alcohol. To tie the bands, either use cord-locks (pictured) or tie an adjustable knot (I'm no knot expert, perhaps someone else here can suggest a knot).
Side by side is certainly preferred, all things being equal. However, I had a recent buddy with poorer air consumption on a wall dive, so we settled on 10ish ft apart in depth with him leading as the shallower diver. (Much better than the deeper person leading.) Trivial for him to see me, not too tough for me to see him. Occasionally one of us would join to see whatever cool thing the other had found. Vis was about 30 ft, and we both had lights on continuously for easy communication/status. It worked well.
OTF
Coney Island Whitefish Biologist
Some thoughts:
- I've found that the best way to look around for a missing buddy is to do a "barrel roll" rather than a helicopter turn. This is quicker, and helps check the blind spots above, below, and behind you better than a horizontal scan. Hard to describe but makes sense when you try it in the water.
- Dive with the same buddy in a lot of varied conditions. Eventually you'll get in the habit of staying very close together and comfortable being elbow-to-elbow in low visibility. Don't be afraid to get cuddly! Tethering is a bad idea except for some very specific advanced scenarios, like maybe ice diving. Holding hands works well though. Might feel awkward in American culture but it's normal in others. What happens in low vis stays in low vis.
- Get good at doing a modified flutter kick so that you won't knock your buddy's reg out when you're swimming in close proximity. Dial in buoyancy and trim.
- Get in the habit of always signaling (eg. light signal or tugging buddys fin) if you plan to examine something, change direction, or stop to adjust something, even if it's only for one second. Because it WILL always take longer than you think and you WILL get separated.
- Choose one person to lead and one person to follow in a specific place. Choose a formation and stick to it as rigidly as possible. "okay you're in the lead, and I'm going to stay on your right side at all times." If it's four people, choose a square or diamond with a specific person at each corner, or a single-file line where each person has a place. Assigning strict positions is probably the most effective way to avoid separation in low viz. Makes a huge difference.
- Discuss the lost buddy procedure before each dive. It might be different depending on the dive. Eg. a wreck dive might be "meet back at the anchor line" while a shore dive might be "look around for a minute then meet on the surface" or "the person with the dive flag stays down, the other person surfaces to find the flag, meet on the bottom".
- Bright colored fluorescent gear makes a huge difference. White, yellow, or green fins are awesome. Pink/red/orange colors tend to look dull brown in our green water unless strongly fluorescent. Strobes or glow sticks only help if it's very very dark.
- Consider solo training and equipment so you're prepared in the event of a separation.
- PM me if you want to try diving an interesting local training spot with truly awful vis that's great for practicing this stuff.
- I've found that the best way to look around for a missing buddy is to do a "barrel roll" rather than a helicopter turn. This is quicker, and helps check the blind spots above, below, and behind you better than a horizontal scan. Hard to describe but makes sense when you try it in the water.
- Dive with the same buddy in a lot of varied conditions. Eventually you'll get in the habit of staying very close together and comfortable being elbow-to-elbow in low visibility. Don't be afraid to get cuddly! Tethering is a bad idea except for some very specific advanced scenarios, like maybe ice diving. Holding hands works well though. Might feel awkward in American culture but it's normal in others. What happens in low vis stays in low vis.
- Get good at doing a modified flutter kick so that you won't knock your buddy's reg out when you're swimming in close proximity. Dial in buoyancy and trim.
- Get in the habit of always signaling (eg. light signal or tugging buddys fin) if you plan to examine something, change direction, or stop to adjust something, even if it's only for one second. Because it WILL always take longer than you think and you WILL get separated.
- Choose one person to lead and one person to follow in a specific place. Choose a formation and stick to it as rigidly as possible. "okay you're in the lead, and I'm going to stay on your right side at all times." If it's four people, choose a square or diamond with a specific person at each corner, or a single-file line where each person has a place. Assigning strict positions is probably the most effective way to avoid separation in low viz. Makes a huge difference.
- Discuss the lost buddy procedure before each dive. It might be different depending on the dive. Eg. a wreck dive might be "meet back at the anchor line" while a shore dive might be "look around for a minute then meet on the surface" or "the person with the dive flag stays down, the other person surfaces to find the flag, meet on the bottom".
- Bright colored fluorescent gear makes a huge difference. White, yellow, or green fins are awesome. Pink/red/orange colors tend to look dull brown in our green water unless strongly fluorescent. Strobes or glow sticks only help if it's very very dark.
- Consider solo training and equipment so you're prepared in the event of a separation.
- PM me if you want to try diving an interesting local training spot with truly awful vis that's great for practicing this stuff.
SlugLife
Contributor
Great post, agreed on all counts.
- Barrel rolls are also fun.
- Solo-diving is great (when properly equipped/trained/ready), my dive-buddies are usually solo divers as well, and when buddying we'll discuss whether to surface on separation. Usually, we just continue our dives, but there are exceptions, like when trying a new equipment configuration, or the first dive in 5+ months.
OP
alex_can_dive
Contributor
+1 agreed on "barrel roll" - it looks cool and I've seen a few divemasters do it. (The problem, though, is that I haven't mastered how to do it yet
)
)
SlugLife
Contributor
I didn't find barrel-rolls to be that difficult. Perhaps slightly disorienting the first couple times, but not bad.+1 agreed on "barrel roll" - it looks cool and I've seen a few divemasters do it. (The problem, though, is that I haven't mastered how to do it yet
Nobody instructed me how to do barrel rolls, but this is basically the steps I took, and I was able to do passable rolls in about 1-dive. Though I am comfortable being upside down, or strange orientations, so don't be discouraged if it takes you longer. Think of it like a rope-swing, it's "scariest" the first time, but way easier the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc.
- Setup
- First, make sure you have enough space & your equipment isn't likely to get tangled or wrapped around you.
- Warmup
- While moving forward in standard horizontal-trim (face-down), at a normal or slow pace
- tilt onto the left-side with horizontal-trim & continue a few kicks
- return to face-down horizontal-trim a few kicks.
- tilt right-side horizontal-trim a few kicks
- Continue switching between level, left, and right until you're relatively comfortable.
- Barrel roll
- Finally tilt towards one side and just continue that tilt until you're back to normal horizontal trim (congrats, you've done a barrel roll).
- After a few normal kicks, switch the direction of the barrel roll. Ideally, do about equal numbers of left & right barrel rolls.
- Bonus
- Finally, when you're good with barrel rolls, practice doing 90-degrees at a time with a few kicks in each orientation: (1) Face-down, (2) face-left, (3) face-up, (4) face-right, (5) face-down.
Joaz Banbeck
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A mirror should work quite well - if my buddy wears it. Then if I want to find my buddy, I just look for a diver who is getting his arm chewed off by a shark.
Barrel rolls are easy. But I was an experienced body surfer before diving, so I may be biased. ( If you are on a big wave, and you feel changes in the shape/power of the wave, a barrel roll allows you to see what is happening behind you. )
The general technique is counter to diver's training: we are taught to swim with the flippers and relax the arms. To do a barrel roll, you relax the legs, swim with the arms, twist the torso, and let the feet follow.
The particular technique: starting with your right hand near your hip, bring it forward and across your chest staying close to your body, and then extend it ahead of you to the spot where your left hand would be if you were starting a stroke with your left. At the same time, slide your left hand across your belt behind you, again staying close to your body.
While doing this, rotate your torso, bringing your left shoulder back and your right shoulder forward.
Then move both hands as far away from the body as you can.
Now your body is wound like a spring, ready for the power stroke.
Keep the right elbow straight. Start kicking. Bring the right hand back to your hip. Rotate your torso the other way. Keep the left hand as far way from your body as you can, and bring it back to your left.
Barrel rolls are easy. But I was an experienced body surfer before diving, so I may be biased. ( If you are on a big wave, and you feel changes in the shape/power of the wave, a barrel roll allows you to see what is happening behind you. )
The general technique is counter to diver's training: we are taught to swim with the flippers and relax the arms. To do a barrel roll, you relax the legs, swim with the arms, twist the torso, and let the feet follow.
The particular technique: starting with your right hand near your hip, bring it forward and across your chest staying close to your body, and then extend it ahead of you to the spot where your left hand would be if you were starting a stroke with your left. At the same time, slide your left hand across your belt behind you, again staying close to your body.
While doing this, rotate your torso, bringing your left shoulder back and your right shoulder forward.
Then move both hands as far away from the body as you can.
Now your body is wound like a spring, ready for the power stroke.
Keep the right elbow straight. Start kicking. Bring the right hand back to your hip. Rotate your torso the other way. Keep the left hand as far way from your body as you can, and bring it back to your left.
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