I have read many times on this board of stories where a buddy leaves another. Sometimes a diver wants to ascend and tells his buddy he's going up and the buddy continues diving, usually because there are others below with them. Sometimes it's at the surface. There have been numerous stories.
I was a Staff Sergeant in the Army and I remember the sense of obligation I had to my team. It was my responsibility to make sure all were trained, prepared, and taken care of. In turn, their preparedness and training would be the key to them taking care of me.
I take this same approach to the buddy system in the diving. During my O/W dives, I was probably hyper-focused on my buddies, always concerned when I saw them ascend to rapidly or drop too fast. I remember the emptiness in my gut when one time my buddy and I were swimming and I started going to high - air trapped in my BCD would not vent. The instructor grabbed my BCD and jerked me back down and I was slightly disoriented, as I had no idea where he came from. I lost track of my buddy. This did not feel well.
I stayed calm and did my one-minute search in place and was about to ascend when my buddy showed up.
So, why do people find it ok to leave their buddy behind? As divers do we get so caught up in the dive that we think it's ok? Do we justify it because we traveled so far to dive this beautiful spot and paid so much money?
I realize there are all sorts of answers and each is a personal decision. Just something I think we all need to ask ourselves.
What value we put on the dive itself versus our buddy?
I ride a motorcycle and wear a helmet and ride in a safety conscious manner. I do this because I want to ride safe today so I can ride again tomorrow.
Can't we dive tomorrow?
I was a Staff Sergeant in the Army and I remember the sense of obligation I had to my team. It was my responsibility to make sure all were trained, prepared, and taken care of. In turn, their preparedness and training would be the key to them taking care of me.
I take this same approach to the buddy system in the diving. During my O/W dives, I was probably hyper-focused on my buddies, always concerned when I saw them ascend to rapidly or drop too fast. I remember the emptiness in my gut when one time my buddy and I were swimming and I started going to high - air trapped in my BCD would not vent. The instructor grabbed my BCD and jerked me back down and I was slightly disoriented, as I had no idea where he came from. I lost track of my buddy. This did not feel well.
I stayed calm and did my one-minute search in place and was about to ascend when my buddy showed up.
So, why do people find it ok to leave their buddy behind? As divers do we get so caught up in the dive that we think it's ok? Do we justify it because we traveled so far to dive this beautiful spot and paid so much money?
I realize there are all sorts of answers and each is a personal decision. Just something I think we all need to ask ourselves.
What value we put on the dive itself versus our buddy?
I ride a motorcycle and wear a helmet and ride in a safety conscious manner. I do this because I want to ride safe today so I can ride again tomorrow.
Can't we dive tomorrow?