American recovered - Lombok, Indonesia

[Litefoot]

In my experience, "everybody looks out for everyone else" equals "nobody is looking out for anyone else". I'm new to diving (obviously). It frightens me to think that there wouldn't be a person assigned as my buddy who has an interest in my welfare.

 

[Marie13]

In my experience, "everybody looks out for everyone else" equals "nobody is looking out for anyone else". I'm new to diving (obviously). It frightens me to think that there wouldn't be a person assigned as my buddy who has an interest in my welfare.

Do you really think that an instabuddy is going to put themselves at risk to save you?

 

[Norwegian Cave Diver]

We all experience the “where is my dive buddy” problem. Could easily be behind and slightly above you, then you need to look for him/her. New divers have a tendency to want to follow so they can see the leader or the more experienced buddy. But to suggest that the less experienced diver be in front makes them uncomfortable. In front is where the weaker diver should be. IMO

 

[Centrals]

1. A buddy will be assigned even in group diving.
2. Whether the instabuddy follows the accepted protocol is another story.

 

[DandyDon]

In my experience, "everybody looks out for everyone else" equals "nobody is looking out for anyone else". I'm new to diving (obviously). It frightens me to think that there wouldn't be a person assigned as my buddy who has an interest in my welfare.

I understand. When I had a home dive buddy, we took it seriously. I reminded him to take actions early to clear his ears before we got to the dock, we did our BWRAF checks, we entered together, descended together, stopped at 15 feet together until he cleared his ears, descended together, stayed together, ascended together, safety-stopped together, surfaced together, and left the water together as possible - much of this after realizing the problems when we didn't earlier on. I wouldn't expect an insta-buddy to put up with all of that, nor could I trust one. If I assigned one, I want to know how to release his weights at least and for him to know that my pony is always open and ready to grab, but I'd rather not have the responsibility.

I've flown with my 19 cf pony every trip for 20 years now as he didn't make all of my trips, he used it more than I when he did, and then he stopped going. But I kept my promise to his mom to always bring him back alive. She still outlived him, but he died of natural causes close to home.

 

[Litefoot]

Do you really think that an instabuddy is going to put themselves at risk to save you?

Nope. I'd never ask anyone to do that. Why do these conversations always have to revert to "risking one's life"? Seems to me that if a buddy did nothing else but stay close and "keep track" of the other guy, then many of these incidents wouldn't spiral out of control. Go ahead and call me the naive new guy, but if I'm assigned a buddy, I've got his back. Not sure I could handle the guilt of someone dying because I was negligent.

 

[Marie13]

Nope. I'd never ask anyone to do that. Why do these conversations always have to revert to "risking one's life". Seems to me that if a buddy did nothing else but stay close and "keep track" of the other guy, then many of these incidents wouldn't spiral out of control. Go ahead and call me the naive new guy, but if I'm assigned a buddy, I've got his back. Not sure I could handle the guilt of someone dying because I was negligent.

It’s a question that needs to be asked. Are you willing to risk a bad DCS hit trying to save someone you don’t know? I’m not, and I generally don’t have many instabuddies. Better one victim than two. You’ll learn that in your Rescue class.

 

[DandyDon]

It’s a question that needs to be asked. Are you willing to risk a bad DCS hit trying to save someone you don’t know? I’m not, and I generally don’t have many instabuddies. Better one victim than two. You’ll learn that in your Rescue class.

Yes and no. It's a difficult question to decide in an instant. Forethought may help

 

[ScubaWithTurk]

It’s a question that needs to be asked. Are you willing to risk a bad DCS hit trying to save someone you don’t know? I’m not, and I generally don’t have many instabuddies. Better one victim than two. You’ll learn that in your Rescue class.

You do learn that in rescue but attempting to save someone does not necessarily mean you will become a victim. You have to evaluate the risk vs reward. It also does not mean that you just ignore someone in trouble because "better one victim than two"

I will absolutely put my life on the line to save another and that does not just mean while diving.

 

[Litefoot]

It’s a question that needs to be asked. Are you willing to risk a bad DCS hit trying to save someone you don’t know? I’m not, and I generally don’t have many instabuddies. Better one victim than two. You’ll learn that in your Rescue class.

I have no idea how I'll react in an emergency, but I hope that I wouldn't have a predisposition to do nothing, Do you tell potential dive buddies beforehand that if they get into serious trouble they're SOL? Serious question. To be fair to them, you should. I mean maybe it would encourage them not to wander away.