What is your pre-dive accident-prevention check-list when diving with a new buddy ?

[EireDiver606]

1) I kind of like diving with insta-buddies who are relatively new. As long as they don't have an attitude and are willing to learn, I find mentoring fun. Yeah, it might cut my dive short a bit, and I might have to pay more attention to them than to another more experienced buddy. But people did that for me, so it's nice to pay it forward.

2) In an OOG situation, the victim gets my primary reg. Nothing will reliably get them plugged into gas and defuse the situation faster than that. I don't think that it's a good idea to initially deploy a pony bottle. It's fine to do that after they have a breath or too, but those few seconds can make the difference between a successful recovery and a disaster.

You’d love mentoring me as I love to dive with the experienced guys and enjoy learning small nuances and techniques.