The Self Sufficient Diver...

[shadragon]

I have been thinking about this for some time. The more I dive, the more I am convinced that a paradigm shift needs to be made in the way recreational OW divers are both equipped and trained. Traditional training says if you get in trouble "Look to your buddy". OK, not a bad thing necessarily and I am not saying we abandon the Buddy System as it has many advantages when it works. The problem is you end up reliant on the other person maybe even dependant in many cases. It is a solution that works as long as you have a buddy in the neighborhood or one even willing to help. However, the insta-buddy phenomena exists and you never know what you are going to get in the buddy lottery.

So let's reduce the importance of the buddy initially. Let's get Joe or Jill diver to the point where they can handle 95%+ of the issues and gear failures without a buddies assistance. We can still have the buddy around for insurance, but even if they disappear completely the diver is still confident and has a very good chance of getting to the surface safely on their own merits.

Essentially I am saying let us look at the training and equipment most OW divers get and see what we can do to improve it. Let's concentrate on two major problem areas.

LOA / OOA - According to DAN most people get serious injuries (DCS and AGE lung over expansion) when trying to get to the surface in a CESA because of a LOA or OOA situation. The 'standard' solution in those cases is the OCTO from your buddy. To be clear, today's dive injuries are happening under the current buddy system. The well oiled buddy team in perfect sync with each other is an exception rather than a rule. How many stories have you seen of LOA/OOA situations where one guy says, "had to CESA because my buddy was too far away to reach and he wasn't looking at me."? OK, in that situation you don't have a buddy and this is where my point comes in. Low viz, complacency, currents and underwater features like reefs and wrecks continually conspire to separate buddies all the time. With Murphy's Law in full swing, bad things always happen at the worse time. If Diver A can handle the LOA/OOA situation by themselves then if there is a buddy separation, a slow and controlled ascent can be done and it does not result in injury.

How? Pony bottle. Yes, there are Spare Airs and doubles on either side of that solution and they are in no way invalid. Something is better than nothing. A Pony or Bailout Bottle is designed for one purpose: Getting a REC diver to the surface (Or at least a lot shallower than they would ordinarily be). Pony size would depend on the depth or dive profile. Doubles are for more technical profiles requiring speciality training and are overkill for OW divers in this example. Give an OW diver more gas and you are just delaying the problem. Then they do get into trouble they are probably in a DECO situation doing a CESA which complicates things more, not less. Training could be simplified to the point of "Once you or your buddy are on your Pony, the dive ends..." Why? That is exactly what they say today about OCTO's. Replace one word with the other. Done...

A Pony with reg and second stage would allow a fully redundant system that can get a rec diver safely to the surface. A simple reg and bottle could be gotten for what, $200 or so? How many chamber rides, DCS hits and lung injury cases could be avoided if everyone had a bailout bottle? Another benefit: Now if your pony equipped buddy is in a LOA/OOA you don't have a wild eyed diver trying to claw your reg out of your mouth.

Now the paradigm shift. Responsibility must be placed squarely on the individual diver. They should be told that if you are in a LOA / OOA situation it is because YOU screwed up. You went too deep, didn't monitor your air, whatever. At the end of the day, your safety rests on your shoulders. Logically, if you got yourself into that situation then you should get yourself out of it. ...and that is the way they should handle it. Current training does not cover this (by standard) and they say if you are OOA go to your buddy. The buddy should become option number 2 with the onus on you as option #1. This lets a new diver know that they are in charge of their own destiny. Just because your new buddy Joe goes deeper and stays longer does not mean you are under an obligation to stay with him until you are OOA. Today the agencies simply say "stick with your buddy". How about "stick with your buddy until you reach the point where you have to leave to make a safe ascent to guarantee your own personal safety." Remember ~85% of divers only get the OW rating and never progress beyond that.

Basic Safety Gear - What does an OW diver truly need? Well, it depends on the conditions and water temp obviously for exposure suits, boots, etc. You cannot duplicate everything without complications and cost. However, can we distill their needs down to a bare list to handle issues? I think so.

How about: Whistle or air horn, time-piece, SMB (reel optional, but nice to have for free ascent SS), knife (X2 - primary and backup), flashlight (X2 - primary and backup) and mirror. Would cost under $200 for all that, but give a lot more chances of survival if things go wrong. These are minimums, by the way. Not saying you cannot carry other things or more lights, strobes, EPIRB, etc.

The key, in my mind at least, is to teach the diver to be self-reliant first wherever possible. Build redundancy into their gear as soon as practicable and let them know that responsibility and personal safety comes from them and not some faceless buddy.

To be clear, a Pony is not a substitute for proper gas management. In a perfect world they would never be needed. However, the DAN stats show that the current system is failing to protect divers. Like the introduction of the OCTO and NITROX, I think the time for Pony promotion is here...

So what do you think?

 

[Web Monkey]

To be clear, a Pony is not a substitute for proper gas management. In a perfect world they would never be needed. However, the DAN stats show that the current system is failing to protect divers. Like the introduction of the OCTO and NITROX, I think the time for Pony promotion is here...

So what do you think?

I'm really on the fence with this one. When I first started, I had a pony, and I really liked it, and beleive it gave me an extra safety margin, however I never had to actually use it, and rarely dive with one now.

Now that I've been diving for a while, I've seen ponies that were empty and thought to be full, and when back-mounted, were off and couldn't be turned on, adding yet another second stage that couldn't always be be located, and sometimes a second gauge hose or computer that was showing data the diver could misinterpret as being from the primary tank. I've also seen a diver that (UW) accidentally unscrewed the first stage while trying to turn the tank on.

It seems like the people that can dive safely with a pony and get some benefit from it are exactly the same people that probably won't run out of air or need one.

What I'd really like to see are OW classes that teach how to plan safe dives with a known-good buddy, and how to be a good buddy. An if the dive plan shows that a single tank and a good buddy just isn't enough, dive doubles along with any other necessary tanks (or don't do the dive).

Although I'm probably a little less sympathetic than I should be, I consider "Oops I rank out of air!" to be right up there with "I'm pregnant! How did that happen?"

As for the other equipment like SMBs, spools and airhorns, I think they're great and would never dive in OW without them, although the SMB does require training and practice, so for new divers, i'd suggest a big safety sausage that could be blown up on the surface.


Terry

 

[String]

To be clear, a Pony is not a substitute for proper gas management. In a perfect world they would never be needed.

You can OOA for other reasons other than crap gas management too - regs can free, freeflow and occasionally even fall apart.

My view is every diver should go into the water equipped to go solo. That means whatever happens they are capable of self-rescue without having to blindly rely on a 3rd party to get them out of trouble.

If you are sure you can safely perform bolt 'n' pray from 20m depth then for no stop, no overhead 20m dives leave the pony. If you aren't sure you can then take one and so on.

Id like to see training moved on from over-reliance on a buddy (who is an unpredictable human who might or might not react sensible in all situations) to self-rescue.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I already teach from day one that each diver is responsible for their own safety. A buddy is simply a backup. As you stated, barring a gear failure, if a diver goes LOA or OOA it is their own fault. No one else's. It is an instructor's duty to communicate this and then make clear the things that can lead to it in order for the student to avoid such an occurrence. Biggest things that seem to contribute to alot of new divers having this issue is not monitoring their air, not knowing their air consumption, following someone else(trust me dives), and just plain laziness brought on by overconfidence.

First: I have my students check their air frequently so they get in the habit of doing it. Do a few skills- ask pressure, begin a swim portion- what's your pressure, get to the other platform- again ask for them to tell me how much air they have.

Second: When we debrief and go over all the numbers I tell them that this is what they need to get a rough idea of how much air they are using and then explain that on their next few dives they need to take time to do a proper SAC rate calculation. THey have the info and I give them the formula.

Third: trust me dives are a no no. Just because your buddy or the DM wants to go to 70 or 80 feet does not mean you have to. Calling the dive is always an option and there is no shame in altering the plan to fit your comfort level. If they refuse find another buddy or DM.

Lastly it seems that many agencies push their instructors to not communicate the facts about diving. The biggest one being that even though it is fun, exciting, and relaxing, the truth is if you get lax and dive outside of your training and experience there's a good chance that it will hurt or kill you in a heartbeat. My students are told this from day one. ANd it is repeated throughout the course. Complacency kills.

Until we all start to let them know this is not a game, it is not like riding a bike, and that you cannot forget how unforgiving a sport it can be there will continue to be things happening that make the accidents forum.

When I hear of someone dying who went out alone for lobster season after not being in the water since last season or longer I do not feel sorry for them. THeir family yes, to a point. Where was someone insisiting they practice first or get a refresher or take somone with them. When someone dies like this it should be no surprise. If it were drilled into them that this is what happens from day one to those who take unneccessary risks then maybe it would not have occurred. But to instill that takes too long in today's world of weekend courses. I had my last group of students for 6 weeks twice a week. I had time to get it into their heads why you do certain things and why you don't do others. I refuse to rush people through. I don't like to teach that way. I teach as if they were one of my own family. I want them to have as much info as possible.

Getting back to the pony. I bought one early on. Carried it quite a bit. But agin if you are going to teach it you need to add at least one lecture on it's use and one pool session for familiarization. Good luck doing that. THen you need to have the shop willing to invest in them and the mounts that will be used along with the regs. Many are not able to and alot of instructors will say they are just ow. They don't need it. I agree that redundant air is a good idea. I dive solo alot when not with students and when doing so wear doubles. But I'm not just ow. It is better to instill PROPER buddy/team skills. I prefer the term teammate. Buddy sounds so cutesy. Teammate denotes that each memeber needs to do their part for the team to be successful. That includes being responsible for themself. If one fails in an area it means that the whole team suffers. So if one does not do his/her job and gets LOA the whole team is now put at risk. Kinda reinforces the self sufficiency aspect. I also make it clear that if one does go LOA or OOA once back on the surface it's ok for the other to slap them upside the head for being so stupid!

I'd agree 100% with the pony if we were allowed the time, equipment, and dives to teach it's use. But it is still IMO better to reinforce PROPER team skills.

For instance your teammate in openwater should never be above, below, or behind you. I make my students swim side by side with the slower one setting the pace. I want them to get used to swimming so that if they raise their elbows out they can touch each other. That all it takes is a glance to the side to see the other. And that they are frequently communicating. Not just air pressure, but time, things like did you see that fish? ANd any other little thing they can think of. WHy? Again if they get lax all it takes is the say 3-5 minutes between pressure checks or whatever for the other to have an issue that could lead to an accident. Or just be swimming along and hit a silt could and get seperated. Constant communication allows them to react quicker to unforseen events and makes the dive more enjoyable. Good thread, Thank you for it.

 

[tomboyy]

You can OOA for other reasons other than crap gas management too - regs can free, freeflow and occasionally even fall apart.

My view is every diver should go into the water equipped to go solo. That means whatever happens they are capable of self-rescue without having to blindly rely on a 3rd party to get them out of trouble.

If you are sure you can safely perform bolt 'n' pray from 20m depth then for no stop, no overhead 20m dives leave the pony. If you aren't sure you can then take one and so on.

Id like to see training moved on from over-reliance on a buddy (who is an unpredictable human who might or might not react sensible in all situations) to self-rescue.

Even with my few dives I can see the buddy part as a big gamble. I almost always have insta buddies, it stinks. My irregular buddy at 70-80 dives, is so blase about things he sometimes worries me as much as the insta buddies.

This post got me to thinking. Even though I have no plans to dive solo, wouldn't it be a good thing to take the solo course along with resuce diver course?

I've seen the other post about carrying a pony sling and never using it.but....

Tom

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Rescue would be a good course for anyone. As to the Solo course it really depends on what it contains and who is teaching it. THere is one instructor who suppoosedly teaches it in my area but he's never around and wants at least two students to do it? I'd be willing to pay extra for private but from what I've heard of his course it pretty much follows VonMaier's book which in IMO is severely lacking and out of date.

 

[String]

They don't need it. I agree that redundant air is a good idea. I dive solo alot when not with students and when doing so wear doubles. But I'm not just ow.

One thing with the over-regulation of scuba here is EVERY instructor teaching diving commercially (so making even 1p on it) amongst many other things MUST have a redundant air source, be that a pony or twinset. Also their support diver (also a legal requirement - you aren't allowed to teach anything without an in-water support diver) must have redundant air sources. Its one of the saner parts of the massive HSE legislation.

This post got me to thinking. Even though I have no plans to dive solo, wouldn't it be a good thing to take the solo course along with resuce diver course?

I've not seen the course content of a solo course but if it does prepare a diver for diving on their own i can't see it being a bad thing. My view is that 2 divers both of which are 100% capable of self-rescue if needed are FAR safer than a buddy pair that has one or more persons relying on the other. Yes they can still help each other if needed but it shouldn't be needed.
Lots of technical/introduction to technical courses get people thinking about self sufficiency (not GUE though who like 3 people) too so that's another potential branch.

I've seen the other post about carrying a pony sling and never using it.

When teaching commercially i legally have to carry twins or a pony so for basic shallow courses i side sling my pony. Never needed to use it but its there on my side for immediate use if it ever is.

 

[spectrum]

Lastly it seems that many agencies push their instructors to not communicate the facts about diving. The biggest one being that even though it is fun, exciting, and relaxing, the truth is if you get lax and dive outside of your training and experience there's a good chance that it will hurt or kill you in a heartbeat. My students are told this from day one. ANd it is repeated throughout the course. Complacency kills.

Until we all start to let them know this is not a game, it is not like riding a bike, and that you cannot forget how unforgiving a sport it can be there will continue to be things happening that make the accidents forum.

I agree that these are important points.

Many of the risks that a pony can mitigate can be handled with the right attitude. Diving within ones training, comfort zone and equipment capability.

If a diver is not ready to keep track of their air supply and have back-up air available be it the surface or buddy then stay close, stay shallow and stay out of poor visibility. A weekend wonder is not equipped to make any dive anywhere, anytime.

Outright equipment failures are rare but not unheard of. In many cases there are warning signs that can head off catastrophe if diver and buddy are on the ball.

I think JimLap made good points about the economics of making it OW content.

For the many traveling divers it would be a logistical nightmare unless the whole world gets on board. For divers accustomed to counting on a pony at home to do without while away sets them up for a loss of skill continuity.

Don't get me wrong, a pony is a great item. I got one in the past year and take it along under certain circumstances. If someone wants to carry one then it's all good.

What needs to be avoided is allowing the buddy system to breakdown and then use the pony as a crutch. You can get into a good number of problems in the water that a pony will not be of any help with. I do appreciate the adage that as long "as you have air anything else is an inconvenience". Of course if you are entangled and alone you still have a finite air supply, some of which you may not be able to reach and if you start dropping cutting tools.........

Pete

 

[Dub5ire]

On my very first ocean dive I got seperated from my instructor. I've carried a pony ever since. For the guy who stopped carrying a pony cos he never had to use it, I've never been it a car crash but I still wear a seatbelt.

 

[TSandM]

Well, you can solve the problem of sudden, unexpected gas loss by having a redundant gas source or having a reliable buddy. If you're fated to permanent instabuddies, I don't think redundancy is a bad idea. When I dive with strangers or new divers, I almost always dive doubles for this reason. But solving the problem by training divers to be good, attentive buddies is a viable alternative, and one I wish the training agencies paid more attention to. And it does work -- In the last 400 or so dives, I have had two buddy separation events. One of them was in strong current and execrable viz. It was resolved fairly quickly, as both of us began executing the lost buddy protocol, and we reunited about twenty feet above where we got separated. The other was scootering in kelp and getting tangled in about 10 feet of water. This was resolved by surfacing and regrouping. I also learned some important lessons from it.

The likelihood of a buddy separation event AND a catastrophic gas loss is low enough that I'm willing to chance it.