Are you monogamous?

[TMHeimer]

My wife has high blood pressure but it has been very treatable, so I guess on that account she could learn to dive. No point in even asking a doctor because she couldn't anyway due to Kaustraphbia (yeah, we did have an odd acquaintance named Klaus). Her fear here is not of being underwater, it's being constructed in a wetsuit and all the other crap we have to wear here. So I remain a soloist and in instabuddyland on those rare charters.

 

[ibj40]

My wife and I met while I was finishing up my Divemaster certification. She did her paperwork and pool dives, and then we went on vacation where I had the privilege of doing her skills (under the observing eye of an Instructor). In the over 15 years that we have been together, I have only done one dive without her (she didn't feel well that morning); and since that one dive, we are in agreement that we will always dive together (or not dive at all).

 

[Colo Hippie]

My wife is my preferred buddy but if she is not going it has never stopped me from being a buddy slut or going solo.

 

[USdiver1]

I've been diving for 39 years, my spouse for 24, and we've been married for 25 years. Our children have been diving for 7 years. We frequently dive as a family, and I commonly buddy with either my wife or one of the kids. I and one son dive vintage equipment, so there are times when the two of us will be diving double hose regulators while my wife and other son will be diving modern single hose, BCD style. I also DM and dive with students, others from my LDS and a group of the best of the best (other vintage divers). No, I'm not monogamous, but I will dive with the wife when she wants me to, even if we are diving completely different styles.

 

[WarrenZ]

While I will dive with anyone I guess that makes me bi-polygamist or is it Poly-Sub-Amorous. My Wife dosnt dive so I am stuck either solo or diving with friends or family.

However last weekend after surfacing with my friends wife she started bragging about my 7' LONG HOSE and how much she liked my hose in her mouth one of the shop owners said that PADI didnt offer a swingers certification. I think I will have to write it up as a distinctive specialty.

 

[Steve_C]

Male, female, young, old, experienced, virgin, transgender, ungendered, kinda gendered, I dive with them all. Wife not interested in diving and now physically couldn't. Twosomes mostly but have done a number of threesomes. Foursomes are complicated and usually turn into twosomes. Some times in foursomes half way through we switch partners. On occasion I take care of myself and go solo but not my preferred way to dive.

 

[drrich2]

An interesting phenomenon shows through in this thread; the 'I dive with my spouse or I don't dive' mentality. Nothing odd about preferring to dive with a specific buddy, spouse or otherwise, and spouses often like to spend time together bonding, sharing the experience and such. But 'I wouldn't dive without my spouse?' When we're talking about a recreational activity richly enjoyed.

That may bear a closer look. A few questions:

1.) Does anyone know of this mentality being common in other sports? Deer hunting, bass fishing, skiing, rock climbing, other outdoor pursuits?

2.) Is the issue one of you doing something the other loves but can't being like eating in front of a hungry person?

3.) Is the issue the rather high cost of dive trips being more than you're willing to spend on 'just you?' If so, what happens if you're on a cruise, or a land-based resort, and the option for a quick 2-tank dive excursion is quickly at hand and not that pricey?

4.) Does this mentality carry over into other activities, like home gardening/flower gardening, fishing, other hobbies?

5.) Is the issue that you think you wouldn't enjoy it enough to make the cost/bother worthwhile, or would you somehow feel guilty if you dove without this person? If the latter, what's the cause of guilt?

It's one thing to say you enjoy an activity more with s specific person; it's another to say you don't enjoy that activity at all without the other person.

Richard.

 

[CatsEye]

I usually dive with my wife but will occasionally dive with friends. Not a fan of insta-buddies though.

 

[Rhone Man]

No matter how many people I dive with, I always feel like I am diving alone.

Suck on that, Sigmund Freud....

 

[Rhone Man]

An interesting phenomenon shows through in this thread; the 'I dive with my spouse or I don't dive' mentality. Nothing odd about preferring to dive with a specific buddy, spouse or otherwise, and spouses often like to spend time together bonding, sharing the experience and such. But 'I wouldn't dive without my spouse?' When we're talking about a recreational activity richly enjoyed.

That may bear a closer look. A few questions:

1.) Does anyone know of this mentality being common in other sports? Deer hunting, bass fishing, skiing, rock climbing, other outdoor pursuits?

Bear in mind that diving is heavily entrenched upon the buddy system. That fosters a sense of "natural fit" in the same way that I imagine police officers feel about their partners. Very few other recreational endeavours do we constantly have it reinforced that you are co-dependent on another person for safety.