Anatomy of a dive buddy

[TSandM]

You know, reading Cam's post made me reflect on something.

It often seems as though people reading threads assume that when we say, "My buddy is my spare gas," we are planning on NEEDING it.

In fact, the team approach to diving BEGINS with a high degree of personal diving skill, and an emphasis on dive and gas planning. That's why the entry level classes, like Essentials and Fundies, are primarily personal skills classes. Everything about team diving is designed to avoid ever having to use the emergency procedures we drill -- but to be extremely sharp with them, if they are ever needed.

Avoiding the need for rescue, and then self-rescue, and finally team rescue . . . that's always going to be the sequence. I think what the OP is saying is that he can't ever trust in the last step, and that's sad.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

It does seem that many divers equate "dive buddy" with a potential source of emergency air. I wonder how realistic that is?

In our recent PADI Rescue class we did an out-of-air scenario in the pool, where Buddy 1 faced the wall and Buddy 2 had to pretend they were OOA, hold their breath, swim 25 feet and get air from Buddy 1. Fortunately we were only 5 feet deep, because in a real situation most of us would not have survived this exercise.

The experience also made me wish I had my old "Calypso J" regulator.... But I'm sure I would get a stern, righteous flaming if I mentioned that on SB.

The purpose of that exercise it two-fold ... which is to teach that ...

1. 25 feet is an awful long way to swim without air, so you might want to consider staying closer to your buddy than that

... and ...

2. You have a much better chance of "surviving" this exercise if you remain calm. Most people can hold their breath much longer than it takes to swim 25 feet ... if you do so in a relaxed, calm manner. The greatest challenge of the exercise is mastering what's going on in your mind when you are faced with that situation. The calm diver will achieve the task easily ... while the excited diver will find it much more difficult, and may not be able to achieve it at all ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Mike Boswell]

The purpose of that exercise it two-fold ... which is to teach that ...

1. 25 feet is an awful long way to swim without air, so you might want to consider staying closer to your buddy than that

... and ...

2. You have a much better chance of "surviving" this exercise if you remain calm. Most people can hold their breath much longer than it takes to swim 25 feet ... if you do so in a relaxed, calm manner. The greatest challenge of the exercise is mastering what's going on in your mind when you are faced with that situation. The calm diver will achieve the task easily ... while the excited diver will find it much more difficult, and may not be able to achieve it at all ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

It was definitely a learning experience: It really drove home the point about staying close to and monitoring your buddy, and I think they should teach it in OW classes.

 

[parkerco]

Bob makes a very good point here which I've noticed doesn't seem adhered to a lot. My gf and I talk about the distance thing frequently ... if you are using your buddy as a source of emergency air, you need to make sure you stay relatively close AND have a way of signalling each other or it really isn't going to help much. Sadly I've watched a lot of buddy teams where if the trailing diver has a problem the other diver in the buddy team not only wouldn't be able to help, they wouldn't even know there was something going on.

 

[TSandM]

Mike B, I did that exact same drill in Maui one day, when I was getting very frustrated at being unable to keep my husband where I wanted him . . . It was 25 or 30 feet, and I exhaled completely (as that's most likely where you'd BE in an OOG situation) and began swimming to him. He had his back to me, and by the time I got to him, got his attention, and got a reg, I was not a happy camper at all. It taught me that not only do you have to stay close together, but you have to maintain some kind of situational awareness. I try not ever to let more than 30 seconds go by without a visual check of my buddy's position.

Clear water is a hazard that is far from obvious. It gives people an inappropriate feeling of confidence and relaxation, and they tend to spread out. It takes just as long to swim 25 feet in clear water as it does in murky, and it's much harder to gain someone's attention when you can't use a dive light to do it.

 

[Water Monkey]

Maybe we need to start with, what is the function of a buddy?

1.To give aide in case of an emergency whether it‘s Medical, OOA, or Entanglement.

2.To provide another set of eyes for checking gear and identifying potential hazards.

3.To provide emotional support and companionship, someone to share the experience with.

If you have the experience, and are physically and emotionally capable of handling these requirements I guess you would be a pretty good buddy.

It sounds easy but its actually a pretty tall order.

Did I miss anything?

 

[ScubaInChicago]

Maybe we need to start with, what is the function of a buddy?

1.To give aide in case of an emergency whether it‘s Medical, OOA, or Entanglement.

2.To provide another set of eyes for checking gear and identifying potential hazards.

[-]3.To provide emotional support and companionship, someone to share the experience with.[/-]

If you have the experience, and are physically and emotionally capable of handling these requirements I guess you would be a pretty good buddy.

It sounds easy but its actually a pretty tall order.

Did I miss anything?

If you can safely assist me in getting back to the surface alive, and can alert someone on the surface if there is still a problem, your good in my book.

 

[TSandM]

Curious, SIC, did you line out someone to share the dive with because that isn't an important quality in a buddy for you? Among the many people with whom I have dived (who have had the skills to be good buddies) my favorites are the people who are the most FUN underwater. People who get visibly excited when we find cool stuff are people I really enjoy being there with.

 

[ScubaInChicago]

Curious, SIC, did you line out someone to share the dive with because that isn't an important quality in a buddy for you? Among the many people with whom I have dived (who have had the skills to be good buddies) my favorites are the people who are the most FUN underwater. People who get visibly excited when we find cool stuff are people I really enjoy being there with.

I agree, my standards are a little lower than most...I'm just saying that at worst, all I need is a safe buddy who can get me to the surface. I perfer ones who share the same sixth sense of each others whereabouts and good communication, but at the minimum, I need a safe buddy as outlined above.

 

[aquaregia]

In our recent PADI Rescue class we did an out-of-air scenario in the pool, where Buddy 1 faced the wall and Buddy 2 had to pretend they were OOA, hold their breath, swim 25 feet and get air from Buddy 1. Fortunately we were only 5 feet deep, because in a real situation most of us would not have survived this exercise.

I did this exercise in my OW class, and accidentally went to the wrong buddy! By the time I found my buddy and made it over to him, I really was OOA. Right before I found him, I was just starting to consider my other options, like joining a different buddy pair for a few breaths (octo + buddy breathing threesome?), but I figured that might have taken more time in explaining than it would have to just swim down the line looking for the one guy that didn't have someone sucking on his octo.