An objective way to eyeball someone's skill level

[ClayJar]

Perhaps unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any valid objective way to reliably deduce a diver's skill level. Divers and the dives they make are just too varied, and some of the most useful pieces of information are necessarily subjective. (And just because *everyone's* subjective analysis is that the loudmouthed uberdiver is likely a buffoon does not make that generally reliable judgement objective. :biggrin

The general answer is that the more you dive, the more you tend to get a feeling for what someone is likely to be underwater. It becomes rather second nature to have an idea about a diver without having to think about it -- I know *I* don't use a checklist when evaluating divers on our trips. Still, there are *always* surprises, both good and not so good.

My spider-sense (or would that be octo-sense? ) was flashing with sirens and bells on one guy last year. He had been certified many years prior, but he had only about a dozen dives, total. He'd gone on two dives the previous year, but none in the decade before that. When it came up in conversation, I found didn't bother with tables, timers, stops, or any of that. On top of it all, this was a night dive. I wasn't the only one a bit uneasy, apparently, as I was pulled from being an extra observer for our AOW class and reassigned to dive just with him.

Well, he had excellent trim and buoyancy control, and he looked quite comfortable in the water. He was a bit flighty, but not really much more than a standard student, and light signals to get his attention worked nicely. When it came time to ascend, he took off far too quickly and with no stop (I think he just leapt from the water onto the bow), but other than that, he was not nearly so bad as had been suspected. (By the way, the instructors on the boat had a nice not-at-all-condescending talk with him about why we like to do slower ascents and safety stops; he seemed to be interested, at least.)

Anyway, so the "trick" is to do your best to evaluate a diver before the dive, but be prepared for the surprises you'll inevitably encounter during the dive. And of course, if you hit the water with a stranger from the boat and you discover that they are beyond your capabilities or preparation to deal with, *end the dive*. The worst thing that can happen is you "waste" a dive and you get them flaming mad, whereas the worst thing that can happen if you continue a dive with someone that bad is that one or both of you become statistics.

 

[deco_martini]

Mask ring can be used much like using the rings inside a tree to determine its age. The deeper and more painful looking a mask ring is, the worse the diver is.

 

[Darnold9999]

Bottom line - you can only tell by diving with someone. If possible I will dive a simple dive before doing anything challenging, otherwise prepare for the dive as a solo diver - you are responsible for you.

Total number of dives, recent dives, recent dives similar to the proposed dive is pretty much the best set of indicators you are going to get pre dive.

Everything else is noise pre dive. Depth - irrelevant - personally have only been to 130 ft once - nothing down that far I am interested in. Certifications, barely relevant, spent most of my diving with a "scuba diver" card. I now have others as some operators were restricting my diving. Personality - braggarts can be great divers, mice can be incompetent.

 

[jeckyll]

Beware of anyone who brags about how their new fancy colour computer has enhanced their diving ... and of warm water divers switching to diving in cold murky water

 

[Nemrod]

Take a look at their gear. If they are very proud of it.. well you have a problem. If their gear is all new, that is a bad sign: if it is all new AND made by a single manufacturer, that is a big problem (unless they are dive instructors and that is a whole nuther issue).

If their gear is old, and out dated and in perfect condition, that means they never dive or they are cheap bastards and bought a bunch of used gear off someone who doesn't dive. (You can figure out what that means).

If their gear is kinda old, faded, moderately beat up, they are less than 30 pounds overweight and they indicate that they go diving often, those are all good signs.

If they tell you what certification cards they have (in the first 5 minutes of casual conversation) then that is not a good sign.

Seriously, you might just ask them when the last time they dove at THIS site and how many times total at THIS site. If they have survived a bunch of dives recently at the currently proposed dive site, they will probably surive one more if you go with them.

N

 

[RonFrank]

The diver that needs help getting set up, can't find an item, or needs to borrow something is one to avoid.

I'm generally the one lending out talc, defog, and other stuff. However I once did a dive where I was using parts from three different reg setups (including my own), so forgetting something, or having to borrow an item that was left at home by mistake is IMO not a great indication as we all have equipment issues, or forget something now and again.

 

[RonFrank]

I can generally get some sense after just a couple minutes of conversation.

If we are diving local lakes, and the divers have NO experience in cold, low vis waters... lookout. There are some exceptions, but most tropical, high vis divers fall apart in 5'+/- vis. I have to give Kudos to our local instructors taking new divers into those conditions for OW training.

One thing I do when trying to insta-buddy with divers when doing wrecks is that I dive Nitrox (if appropriate). I find that most folks diving Nitrox tend to be experienced.

I do agree that watching gearup is a sign. If they causally start to gear up, and have a routine down it's a good sign. If they have to study their reg to remember how to mount their BC on the tank, not so good. However this may or maynot be a great sign of their dive skills, just the rust that may need to be removed on that first dive for a while.

The ONLY way to see how someone dives is to dive with them.

 

[PlayaCountryBoy]

I concur about using observation to deduce someone's diving ability. Observe them put their equipment together...Do they fumble around with the pieces? Did the forget to attach something? Is the tank strap tight? Attention to detail is the first sign of a good diver. Then Once you give the thumbs down sign on the surface, what does the diver do in the first minute underwater? This will quickly tell you someone's expierence level. Do the descend down, no problems, then add air before getting to the bottom as to not touch the bottom...or do they slam into the bottom wrecking the viz? Do they swim with their hands all floundering around like? Oh here's a good one...do they now how to properly release the air from the BCD properly both in an upright position and inverted? So many time I see people trying to deflate while swimming downward. Uh duh...all you're doing is filling the jacket up with water. So there are observations that can be made to totally deduce someone's capabilty using scuba. With these things in mind...good luck!

 

[RJP]

As my Grandmother used to say "Diver is as Diver does!"

Didn't she also say "Split fins are like a box of chocolates..."?

 

[=C=]

Dive with them... Do they show up at the site and just expect you to get in the water with them or do you have a chat first (signals, check out eachothers setup, these kinds of things).

It also has alot to do with what you expect of a "skilled diver" not all skilled divers are great buddies and vice versa.