How close is your Buddy?

[bigken462]

In time of emergency, I would not fool clipping anything to anything. In a real emergency your not going to really care about tidiness. Lol. But that's just me.

Kenny

*Edit* you were diving before I was born..........Hat's off to ya!

 

[Rick Inman]

I'm in the , close enough to get there in time, crowd. We also dive dark waters with bright lights, and that does make it easy.

In time of emergency, I would not fool clipping anything to anything. In a real emergency your not going to really care about tidiness.

We train in the same way we expect to respond in a real event, And that includes, at some point, clipping everything off. There is a reason for clipping, and it isn't just looking good. It's so that regs don't drop and things down foul or get hooked or tangled. And it's so that everything stays exactly where you need it to be when and if you need to get to it. In a real emergency this is more vital than in practice, because adding stress through multipal issues is the last thing you want to have happen. Which is why my buddies and I train in the way we wish to actually respond during a real emergency, and that includes clipping off. We want the muscle memory in place so it's automatic when you need it. The reason is safety.

That's how we do it.

 

[bigken462]

Fair enough. Hard to argue to do different than what you practice.

Ok, will have to give one point to Rick – one for not flaming me. Lol.

When I posted I was like..You got to be kidding me right? Who in their right mind would dally around to clip off a non functional regulator prior to, or during a swim to their buddy in a real OOG emergency. Rick’s statement about danglies was something I did not consider since for the most part I’ve never had a reg to go anywhere but below my chin a few inches when I allowed it to rest during drills. I do see the possibility of it becoming entangled in something should it carelessly get tossed. How bad would it be to get snagged on something when your ten feet away from a gas source.

I do agree muscle memory is the best thing to fall back upon during an emergency. To argue it is moot. Thanks Rick for giving me better insight.

Kenny

 

[TSandM]

I'm with everybody else. How far do you want to swim without gas?

I did this as a drill when we were in Maui, a couple of years ago. My husband had gotten about 20 feet or so from me. I waited to the bottom of an exhalation (since when you find out you're out of gas is most likely when you begin to inhale) and spat out my reg. I started swimming to my husband. I could not get his attention, because he was not looking at me, and he did not hear me banging my tank. I first discovered that I had to swim UP as well as over, because, of course, with my lungs empty, I was negative. This increases the workload significantly. By the time I got to him and got his attention and got his reg, I was not very happy. This told me that 20 feet was TOO FAR.

Paradoxically, most people feel more relaxed about opening up buddy separation in excellent visibility, and this is where you need to stay closer, because you have no very effective way of attraction your buddy's attention.

 

[diver 85]

Our qualitative definition is, "close enough to be able to intervene immediately when required to do so by an emergency."

What that means quantitatively is arms' length.

but I like elbow room---a lot of it...........my buddy is on the left(in the middle) and THAT'S CLOSE.....we are always mentally prepared for a solo dive, always.....

 

[woodsandwatertoo]

When we have done some adventure dives, taking others out on our boat, with the noob that like to do nothing but look at the fish and play with the rocks (lake dives), when they are just hanging out there on the bottom, I stick close to them swimming back and forth above them just watching checking etc.

I have noticed that more so with women are more apt to panic if you drop down beside them visit for a sec and leave with out them noticing. and then they panic looking for you like you have vanished and i am right above them hovering at this point. and you have to hey wow wow calm down ok ............. then they are fine.

So with some EYE CONTACT may be important with others not so much.

with that being said,

ALWAYS discuss with your dive buddy. If it has been a while since they have went and you haven't; sure you may or may not be more familiar with your surroundings, comfortable. They may not be.
So discuss this with them so they can stay focused on the task of air and buoyancy and depth.

Makes for a much better and SAFE time diving.

 

[Thalassamania]

Quantitative: One instructor asked me how far I could swim without a breath -- we tried 20 feet. I was to take a breath, take my reg out, clip it to my BC and then swim to him, about 20 feet away, get his attention and signal for air -- I did. 20 feet is my absolute limit!

I find that surprising. We do exactly that exercise, we don't use it do define the distance, which we try to teach as basically arms length, but rather to work on self control at the extreme of air stress. But use a 25 yard pool (at almost full length) and it is rarely an issue. I'll grant they arrive at the shallow end for air sharing with their little eyes buggin' out ... but that is the point of the exercise.

I'm with everybody else. How far do you want to swim without gas?

As I mentioned, everyone in our classes does the exercise at about 65 feet, or so.

I did this as a drill when we were in Maui, a couple of years ago. My husband had gotten about 20 feet or so from me. I waited to the bottom of an exhalation (since when you find out you're out of gas is most likely when you begin to inhale) and spat out my reg. I started swimming to my husband. I could not get his attention, because he was not looking at me, and he did not hear me banging my tank. I first discovered that I had to swim UP as well as over, because, of course, with my lungs empty, I was negative. This increases the workload significantly. By the time I got to him and got his attention and got his reg, I was not very happy. This told me that 20 feet was TOO FAR.

Paradoxically, most people feel more relaxed about opening up buddy separation in excellent visibility, and this is where you need to stay closer, because you have no very effective way of attraction your buddy's attention.

That's a really good point.

 

[BDSC]

My buddy and I refer to each other as SOB's and that's about right for us. We are almost always diving in clear caribbean waters and our general depth is 80 ft. or less. Usually less because I have taken up video and do most of it in 50 ft. range or less. Neither of us can stand to have someone right up next to us when we are diving. We always do a check of our gear and especially both regulators before we dive. In general, we could be anywhere from 15 ft. to 50 ft. Sometimes even farther. But it works for both of us.

BDSC

 

[miketrance84]

To the people who are far away from your buddy, do you carry an alternate air source? I don't think just being aware that your buddy is far away is really enough. Without proper training or at the very least a decent sized pony being out of swimming distance from your buddy is a death sentence. You have to figure that even if you practice an OOA on every dive and dive with the same buddy it will take a few seconds for your buddy to get his octo out and you to take a breath off it as well. Just something to think about.

 

[mpgunner]

These are great comments. I've been wondering about this question for a while.