What to do when your buddy gets away

[tstormdiver]

Just to clarify, in my example, my buddy wasn't out of control. From his vantage point, he didn't have a good reference, and I don't think he even realized he was ascending.

Where's his computer? Depth gauge & Timing device? A look at either one of those should tell him whether he's ascending too quickly with or without any visual reference. The ears should also tell you as they automatically clear as you ascend. I can feel it in my ears when I change even 1 ft of depth up or down, if I'm paying attention to it.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I just spent a weekend teaching an AOW class where I required the divers to maintain eye contact on all ascents and descents. What that involves first of all is good communication between the divers. Not just up and down but before they even get in the water. Next it involves proper weighting. OW divers should not need a DM or Instructor to check their weights or tell them how to check their weights once they have that card in their hands. The buddy teams should be checking and verifying each others weights before they get in the water. If you are buddied up with an instabuddy somewhere you should ask them how much weight they are carrying, how it is distributed, how do you release it, and how did they determine they needed that much. IF they don't know - I would not dive with them.

Next when you do your final check before stepping off the boat, unless it's a hot drop (which a new diver should not be doing anyway), make sure your buddy puts some air their BC. Then drop and descend together. Eye contact and touch if needed to stay within arms reach. My rule is the slowest diver sets the pace of every phase of the dive. Descents, swims, ascents. Screw the DM, Guide, and everybody else. If one diver has trouble equalizing their buddy does not drop to 30 feet and wait for them to get down.

That kind of stuff will occur when doing hot drops, tech dives, and when surface conditions are such that staying on the surface is not as safe as descending 10 or 15 feet. But then you still need to ask how much do I care about my buddy, what will I do if the panic, or what will they do if I have a problem and need them. Sometimes its better to not do the dive if you have to think of those things because of conditions.

Your buddy is your buddy or they are not. You are theirs or you are not. There is no middle ground from my perspective. I am either someone's dive buddy or I am alone.

 

[Jaydubya]

In the case of a recreational diver, if properly weighted, that should never happen.

Very unlikely, yes. But never is a strong word. What if the recreational diver is wearing a drysuit and cold water thermals?

 

[tstormdiver]

Very unlikely, yes. But never is a strong word. What if the recreational diver is wearing a drysuit and cold water thermals?

A proper weight check will prevent it, no matter the exposure protection or configuration. If they are dropping like a rock from the surface,... They are Overweighted!!!

 

[Bubbletrubble]

What if your buddy dropped quickly after doing a giant stride? Should you assume his air was off, and kick down after him to assist equalizing as best you can?

If we could, I would like to de-emphasize prevention in this thread. I know that virtually all of the situations we will talk about are preventable, but I am hoping that this discussion leads to more decisive thinking when and if these situations ever happen.

OK. If the scenario unfolded in the way you described (giant stride, buddy dropped quickly out of sight), I'd know that something was wrong because it would have been a departure from how we normally descend (excluding the scenario of a hot drop). I'd descend as quickly as possible under control to assist. It should be rather straightforward to follow his bubble stream down.

I wouldn't automatically assume that his tank valve was in the "off" position. We do our buddy checks carefully and, when entering the water, we already have enough air in our BCDs (plus the positive buoyancy of our wetsuits/drysuits) to easily remain on the surface. The first thought in my mind would be that his BCD failed for some reason -- puncture, OPV dislodged, corrugated hose detached from BCD, etc.

 

[Jaydubya]

A proper weight check will prevent it, no matter the exposure protection or configuration. If they are dropping like a rock from the surface,... They are Overweighted!!!

Really? How much buoyancy does a completely flooded trilam drysuit have?

 

[tstormdiver]

OK I concede the point of a mechanical failure of BC or Drysuit. In that case, what ever happened to their basic OW skill of ditching ones weight?

I have had my drysuit fully flood (neck seal rolled) in the Galapagos Where I had to be overweighted (almost 40lbs) in order to get down very quickly after a back roll entry. I had to have enough weight to off set the air that would go to my feet, Once on the bottom, I could right myself to get the excess air out. Because of the currents, we had to drop immediately to the bottom to grab rocks & hang on. Even when my suit was fully flooded, I did not have any major problems getting back to the surface.

 

[Jaydubya]

OK I concede the point of a mechanical failure of BC or Drysuit. In that case, what ever happened to their basic OW skill of ditching ones weight?

Hopefully they've practiced that skill recently and don't go into passive panic mode or they are a dirt dart.

 

[tstormdiver]

don't go into passive panic mode or they are a dirt dart.

If that is the case, They need to go back through OW again or at least a serious review of skills.

To be honest, weight ditching is sometimes not emphasized enough in OW. Yes, it should be a last resort, but it should be practiced enough that the diver knows it is an option.

 

[cloudflint]

Ive had people runaway going up and going down. Generally I keep within arms length of whoever im with with so i can grab them in a hurry if anything goes wrong, though if im diving in a threesome it can be difficult.

For a diver dropping down, i just go head down and swim like the blazes till I can grab them and do a buoyant life to the surface. For a diver shooting upwards I do the same, swim upwards as fast as possible, grab them and lift them to the surface. This is one of the big reasons why I always dive a wetsuit even in water that's near freezing, I can react very quickly to anything that happens.