Tethers

[CaseyJr]

Just finished reading some year-old posts about use of tethers, but have my own, unique situation:

We are a newly certified family of 3 (son is 13). We want to dive in some local lakes ("water parks") to practice and keep our skills up, but I'm a little anxious about our doing it solo (as in, not with an established group like our scuba class with an instructor, etc.). Even when we can go with a group, chances are we will be a "buddy team" of 3. We tried the threesome scenario on our OW cert. dive, but I was so focused on keeping the other 2 in sight (esp. our son!!) :eyemouth: that I didn't enjoy myself. BTW, vis. was maybe 4' on that dive, too.

I was wondering about using some kind of a hand-held tether -- at least until we (which translates to "ME") get more comfortable with our scuba skills. Besides the obvious entanglement problem, what would be some other pros/cons? Where can you buy this kind of tether? What are they made of?

 

[Anti-Hero]

The use of buddy lines in low visibility are not that uncommon. But they do add a significant chance of becoming tangled on something. I would recommend finding a 4th member and using two person close contact buddy teams.

Or use strobes and lights as ways of keeping track of one another. If the visibility is that poor, just discuss procedures before the dive. Make sure all members stay within arms length of each other.

 

[CaseyJr]

Anti-hero, thanks, but part of our problem now is that we don't have a dive network yet, so having a 4th person for any quickie trips isn't necessarily an option. And it's the staying within sight of one another part that prompted my question about the tether. It wasn't a problem when it was just my husband & I, but when our son was with us (that 3rd person) it seemed more difficult to be sure we stayed together (or maybe it's just a mom's worry for her child...)

I'm certain that once we are more confident divers, everything will fall into place. But right now what we really need is lots of practice and underwater experience with as little stress as possible. I just want it to be fun for us while we're learning.

 

[seductiveconcepts]

Like anti-hero stated, buddy lines aren't uncommon. I would just use a 2 pieces of 1/4inch poly line 4 or 5 foot long. Just put two bites (loops) in the end and everyone hold on to an end, this way you can easily let go if you are getting tangled. Just ensure you are always conscious of where the rope is.

 

[astrofunk]

Huh -- I've never heard of buddy tethers, even in low visibility, and my first thought is definitely "entanglement hazard". Perhaps other folks have experience with them, but I'd probably skip adding a piece of gear -- which will introduce its own whole host of problems -- and focus instead on developing buddy skills.

I dive in a team of three fairly regularly, and often in pretty terrible viz. My experience jives with yours that a team of three can be harder to keep together than a buddy pair, but it can *definitely* be done. The secret is deliberate, explicit dive planning, and good lights.

Here's how we organize ourselves: one diver is the dive leader. That diver is in charge of navigation. One diver "runs the deco" -- which for your purposes just means handling the timing of your safety stop when you ascend, letting everyone know when to level off and how long to stay at that depth. Before the dive we discuss where we will be headed (our direction and perhaps the distance we will go in that direction), the maximum depth we intend to hit, and how long we anticipate the dive will last. We also discuss our gas, and determine at which pressure each diver will turn the dive. The first diver to hit his or her turn pressure signals the others. We make our roles and our plan very explicit before we ever hit the water.

During the dive, we arrange ourselves shoulder-to-shoulder with the dive leader in the middle. If the viz is good, this formation can be fairly loose. If the viz is bad, we keep this formation pretty tight (we bump each other a lot -- it's actually a reassuring way to know that the other guy is there without having to turn and look), and we get out our lights. If you're shoulder to shoulder, and you all have lights, you will always know where your buddies are without even having to look. Everyone can be looking forward, and everyone will see everyone's lights. You can signal okay with a big, slow, circle of the light, and get the same signal back from your buddies. We've done some ridiculously dark dives this way; I can't say the aquatic experience was particularly inspiring, but being able to comfortably dive despite the crappy viz thanks to the reliability of good buddies is really satisfying.

In addition to lights and a solid dive plan, the other thing to have in place is a very explicit "lost buddy" plan. The details of this plan aren't as important as having everyone on the same page. We do the very typical thing: upon noticing that a buddy is missing, we start the clock. After looking for one minute, we ascend. Given how tight we typically dive, this very rarely happens. But when it does, the fact that we have an explicit plan in place offers a lot of comfort, and not surprisingly, it totally works.

These days I actually prefer a team of three to a team of two. We rotate roles, so that one guy isn't always navigating or running the deco... Now just because you're not the dive leader doesn't mean you get to turn off your brain -- you should be ready to help with navigation or timing or whatever -- but it definitely does free up a bit of mental bandwidth with which to look around and enjoy yourself.

Good luck! Plan some very conservative dives to build up your comfort, and I think you'll start enjoying yourself.

 

[Coldwater_Canuck]

Huh -- I've never heard of buddy tethers, even in low visibility, and my first thought is definitely "entanglement hazard".

As long as the tether isn't actually tied to the diver (just hold onto 'handle'), I'd think this would be a fairly low hazard. You'd need to get the tether tangled on an object AND tangled on yourself simultaneously. That said, if I were using this method, I would always have a good dive knife within my reach just in case somehow this did happen.

But I really like your method for roles in groups of 3. I normally dive with a single buddy, but if I have a group of 3 I'll definitely keep the roles in mind. Even for just buddy diving I think dividing the navigator and depth monitor is a great idea.

For most people, I agree that it's probably best to become better buddies than to add another piece of equipment. However, what may be somewhat unique in the original poster's situation is the 13 year old son. I can see this being an added burden because both adults are probably going to be a little paranoid watching him. Yet at the same time, at that age he's probably not the most effective buddy, so they end up watching each other extra closely as well. I think that having the 13 year old, while good for him that he has two adults to help him out, adds an extra complication to the "three buddy" system, add in the inexperience of all three, and in this case something like a tether may be an alright idea.

 

[shellbackdiver1]

I agree with everything "Astrofunk" stated.

Suggest the OP to seek training that teaches team awareness.

 

[String]

I really dislike buddy lines of all types. Obviously you should never EVER clip one to you.

Handheld ones cause problems in that they can still snag, stall wrap around things plus they mean 2 people are down to 1 hand each to fix other problems. It can also add to task loading.

Ive also not seen a situation yet where i think a buddy line is needed.

In bad vis its touch contact with kit. In better vis its just awareness to stay close.

If you have to dive in a 3 then put one person in front and the other 2 follow just behind. That way if the single guy has an issue 2 can see, if one of the other 2 has a problem the buddy can assist.

 

[CaseyJr]

astrofunk, thanks for your info, and to CC for recognizing where I'm coming from (it's a "mommy thing")! Just reading everyone's replies has boosted my confidence level a bit. Son & I are going for a pool practice session today (we try to spend at least an hour a week in the pool), so that would be a good time to talk with one of the instructors about my concerns.

 

[Scott]

Like String and others I dislike tethers of any kind for the reasons already mentioned. Another method I have used besides Strings and astrofunks methods with three's is to have two side by side (even holding hands if needed) while the other is above (in this case mom or dad) and slightly behind to the point they can touch the tank valves of those below. If the single diver has a problem they can take hold of the valve to get one of the others attention. This would allow both parents to keep a watchful on the their youngin and enjoy the view.