aquacat8
Contributor
I wonder what is the most common problem a buddy helps with? We focus so much on out of air, but what else have you experienced a buddy doing for you?
What is your pre-dive accident-prevention check-list when diving with a new buddy ?
- Thread starter Roger Hobden
- Start date
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Here's a seemingly silly, but potentially lifesaving one:
In my jacket bcd days, my dongle for the right shoulder pull dump always kept getting caught under my shoulder strap as I donned the jacket, until I eventually trimmed the pull cord an inch shorter. More than once, my buddy would see it trapped, and untuck it in the final check. Sometimes I'd hear the air leak with my test inflate and ask him/her to look, but sometimes I'd forget to check.
Imagine hitting the inflate button just before you jump in. You don't notice that the air you thought you put in went right out the open pull dump from the tug on the trapped dongle. You're five pounds heavy from the air you're carrying for your dive (assuming that you're not also overweighted like SO MANY beginning divers). You immediately start to descend due to an empty bcd. You add more air, and can't understand why you're still descending. You start finning, and maybe you can reverse your descent, maybe you can't.
Without opening the buoyancy can of worms again about what your buoyancy should be at dive start, let's just say that that's one buddy assist that happened enough times that I added it to my pre-dive check.
In my jacket bcd days, my dongle for the right shoulder pull dump always kept getting caught under my shoulder strap as I donned the jacket, until I eventually trimmed the pull cord an inch shorter. More than once, my buddy would see it trapped, and untuck it in the final check. Sometimes I'd hear the air leak with my test inflate and ask him/her to look, but sometimes I'd forget to check.
Imagine hitting the inflate button just before you jump in. You don't notice that the air you thought you put in went right out the open pull dump from the tug on the trapped dongle. You're five pounds heavy from the air you're carrying for your dive (assuming that you're not also overweighted like SO MANY beginning divers). You immediately start to descend due to an empty bcd. You add more air, and can't understand why you're still descending. You start finning, and maybe you can reverse your descent, maybe you can't.
Without opening the buoyancy can of worms again about what your buoyancy should be at dive start, let's just say that that's one buddy assist that happened enough times that I added it to my pre-dive check.
aquacat8
Contributor
PADI teaches a pre-dive check where you touch the other person’s gear, but with the buddies I dive with you just don’t touch their gear. I do a visual check and ask them if they’ve checked, but no touchy. I would not like it if an Insta buddy was touching my gear!
OP
Roger Hobden
Contributor
The recent death of experienced rebreather diver Brian Bugge which took place near Hawaii this Spring shows that crucial omissions (not opening the oxygen tank and not setting the rebreather to dive mode) can cost someone his life, even when the dive takes place in a the setting of an educational course, in calm seas, and with other experienced divers (including an instructor) in the water or on the surface.
I think there's a little misconception about what PADI is teaching these days. Of course I want my buddy handling my gear! But what are we talking about? When we're looking each other over just before we splash, I want him/her to give my tank a shake to make sure my tank strap is tight. I want him/her to touch my shoulder buckle assembly if necessary to know how my particular brand disassembles if they have to get me out of my gear. I feel a lot better about my buddy checking my tank valve than I do the unknown Divemaster doing the same thing on the rail before I splash.
But no. I don't have my buddy check my weight pockets. The last thing I need is for someone to unclip a pocket and have me lose it unexpectedly.
I think the visual that is being commented on is of some instabuddy sneaking around poking at your gear when you're not looking. What we're really looking at is having your dive partner make sure you didn't forget anything. If that weren't necessary; if we always remembered everything, there would only be equipment failure to cause dive problems.
But of course we all do forget things, and I'm happy to have my buddy touch, to make sure something I fastened is indeed tight. I'm happy to have them untangle my octo hose from my main where it got looped as I put my rig on. Etc., etc.
And that's what I teach.
Many divers won't let others touch their gear, give it a look over, sure, but don't touch it. There are social norms you don't violate, kind of like reaching for another man's fries [a capital offense in some parts].
I'd much rather engage an insta-buddy in conversation about their gear, I can direct it towards each piece, how long they've had it, when was it last serviced, etc. No need to grab and shake their booty. When we splash, just do a couple of things at the surface: mask removal and replace, weight check, then a nice slow decent and a relaxing dive.
Rebreathers are a whole other thang. A few love them, but many more of us loath them. Just wait until one of your friends dies an untimely death on one of the damned things, and see what your opinion of them becomes.
I'd much rather engage an insta-buddy in conversation about their gear, I can direct it towards each piece, how long they've had it, when was it last serviced, etc. No need to grab and shake their booty. When we splash, just do a couple of things at the surface: mask removal and replace, weight check, then a nice slow decent and a relaxing dive.
Rebreathers are a whole other thang. A few love them, but many more of us loath them. Just wait until one of your friends dies an untimely death on one of the damned things, and see what your opinion of them becomes.
The PADI standards/performance requirements do not say a diver needs to touch the other divers gear -- Its just how most BWRAF safety checks seem to be taught. The "PADI way" is really misleading -- Its really up to the individual instructor on how to meet the performance requirements. -- There isn't a PADI way.
I also agree -- I don't want an insta buddy messing with my gear when I am not looking at it or doing a check.
That is a whole other issue ... Its not a safety check
I also agree -- I don't want an insta buddy messing with my gear when I am not looking at it or doing a check.
That is a whole other issue ... Its not a safety check
electric_diver
Contributor
This is what I do (assuming I'm the experienced diver and they are not)
1) ascertain their training and recent experience level through a series of questions like:
Get much diving in this year? How long have you been diving or When did you get certified?
Whats the best dive you did this year? I've never done that dive, what is it like?
or I did that dive last month, did you see ... some feature...
2) talk about the site we are doing with questions like what do you want to see and where do you want to go?
3) with that info develop a plan for the dive and propose it.
4) review signals (especially how much PSI in your tank and response, "T" signal for 1/2 tank)
5) review gear and why mine is different from what they've likely seen before
However if it turns out that they are the most experienced diver or have more local dives I'll ask:
What's cool to see here? Where do you want to go? etc etc
1) ascertain their training and recent experience level through a series of questions like:
Get much diving in this year? How long have you been diving or When did you get certified?
Whats the best dive you did this year? I've never done that dive, what is it like?
or I did that dive last month, did you see ... some feature...
2) talk about the site we are doing with questions like what do you want to see and where do you want to go?
3) with that info develop a plan for the dive and propose it.
4) review signals (especially how much PSI in your tank and response, "T" signal for 1/2 tank)
5) review gear and why mine is different from what they've likely seen before
However if it turns out that they are the most experienced diver or have more local dives I'll ask:
What's cool to see here? Where do you want to go? etc etc
EireDiver606
Contributor
Pre dive.
1.Your aims for the dive. Photographer? Skills? What’s happening?
2. Unified team. Similar mindset to diving? Tasks to be done? Primary donate? Hand signals?
3. Equipment checks. Flow check. Bubble check. Head to toe check - everything. Can long hose primary be donated (mod s drill)
4. Environment. Dangers? Hazards? Cold?
5. Deco stop? 5m 3min? 3m 1min?
6. gas planning. Gas. Minimum Gas. Turn pressure. Rule of all usable, halves, thirds, quearters
7. How long at what depth? Where?
In general.
Ask him what he does for a living, just conversation to gauge him up and down. Reaction times? Hungover? Healthy? Look at his gear very briefly WITHOUT touching to see before you do your buddy checks. How many dives? Where? Cold? Warm? Trained by who?
1.Your aims for the dive. Photographer? Skills? What’s happening?
2. Unified team. Similar mindset to diving? Tasks to be done? Primary donate? Hand signals?
3. Equipment checks. Flow check. Bubble check. Head to toe check - everything. Can long hose primary be donated (mod s drill)
4. Environment. Dangers? Hazards? Cold?
5. Deco stop? 5m 3min? 3m 1min?
6. gas planning. Gas. Minimum Gas. Turn pressure. Rule of all usable, halves, thirds, quearters
7. How long at what depth? Where?
In general.
Ask him what he does for a living, just conversation to gauge him up and down. Reaction times? Hungover? Healthy? Look at his gear very briefly WITHOUT touching to see before you do your buddy checks. How many dives? Where? Cold? Warm? Trained by who?
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