Basics for Recreational Team diving

[bowlofpetunias]

Solo Diving and Buddy diving have been pretty active topics of late but what about "Team diving". I know DIR, GUE and Cave Divers train how to "Team Dive" but I am talking about the Basic Recreational Divers here. Our regular diving "Group" have an approach to "Team Diving" that has evolved over the years and many dives together.

Most dives we stay together in a fairly spread out pattern. This way we can share finds and keep an eye out for each other. We do normally still declare buddy pairs or threesomes depending on numbers.

In some situations we declare "tight buddies". In these conditions if a buddy pair or 3some get separated it is accepted they are together. If an individual gets separated the group will send a couple people up while the rest search for a specified time. When found someone will surface for the ones on surface to come down. Not everyone "bounces" this way. If the "lost diver" surfaces those on the surface can bring them back down to the group. Someone below will be keeping an eye on both the surfaced divers and the searchers as much as possible.

We have only ever had to initiate longer searches for people who did not respect the buddy process to reunite on the surface. In these cases.. the person was "new" to the group was advised that they were no longer welcome to dive with the Group.

Does anyone do Basic Recreational Team diving. I would love to have some advice on how to fine tune our system.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Gonna keep an eye on this thread. I have some thoughts but at the airport now and typing on the droid is not optimal to express them.

Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2

 

[fjpatrum]

I don't have any advice and I've only done a couple "team" dives, that I think went quite well. These were "training" dives for my first couple dry dives and there were four of us. Two more experienced divers (~80 dives at the time) and two newbs (18 and 20+ dives). As it turns out we were all quite well matched, skill wise and the other newb (18 dives) had done a lot of reading and practicing in his short experience and really had his buoyancy dialed in. We nominally paired up one newb to one experienced buddy but still dove as a team. We planned the dive as a team and coordinated who was going to do what task, navigation, depth, etc.

We were in a quarry so we didn't have to carry a flag or shoot a bag or anything like that, and we only went to 60 feet so we didn't need to stress too much about gas management for a "large" group. Our only definition of turn pressure was "ascend when someone reaches 500 psi/35 bar" (mix of Europeans and US folks).

The discussion of how fast each of us used gas (and the fact that the three of them had 108s or 120s and I was on AL80s) took a reasonable amount of time, though.

I think other than buddy checks, those are the things I would focus on in future team dives:

1) Dive goal for the dive
2) Designation of buddy pairs/trios within the team as appropriate (preferably 1 experienced diver with 1 newb--either to site or diving in general)
3) Gas planning for the group
4) Emergency procedures and responsibilities (what tasks need to be handled in the event of an emergency)
5) Responsibilities, if they are to be broken down (navigation, depth management, marker handling etc)
6) Exit procedure/plan/expectations
7) Final gear checks
8) Get wet

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Good question. I think first you have to define what you mean by "team diving".

For some this means adherence to a strict set of protocols put forth by one or two particular agencies. But what does it mean at a more fundamental level?

I maintain that it means buy-in to a generalized set of concepts ...

- We do this dive together ... from when we enter the water till when we exit the water
- We commit to a plan, and we stick to the plan ... or if for some reason we decide to deviate from the plan, we communicate that to the team before we act
- Each of us reserves adequate air as a "team resource" ... that is not my air to use, it belongs to the buddy or buddies I'm diving with
- Our behavior is predictable ... our buddy or buddies know what to expect from us, and we self-impose the discipline to maintain that behavior during the dive
- We make a conscious effort to position ourselves in such a way that our buddy doesn't have to look around to find us
- We communicate ... especially when we want to stop or change direction
- We think, plan, and act as a unit ... this isn't "my" dive, it's "our" dive

Those concepts can be implemented in any number of ways, but like any other team activity it relies on each team member being able to count on the other(s) to perform as they have planned, practiced, and agreed to do.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[victorzamora]

This might not be what you're looking for, but one thing newer Rec divers don't get is buddy position in the water. I always thought you were supposed to be "in line" but that bothered me as the diver in front was safe but the diver in back was alone. I think teams of two should swim side-by-side, and teams of three should dive in a V-shape (like geese, leader centered in front). I think teams much bigger than that start needing to get broken up.

Another thing I learned recently that I should've picked up a while ago is a GOOD pre-dive briefing. In the past, it had always been "signal when you hit 700psi (for deeper dives, 500psi for shallower)....I'll see you down there!" Once I started cave diving, I realized how crucial it is to go over all of your gear (what and where) with buddies.

 

[bowlofpetunias]

This might not be what you're looking for, but one thing newer Rec divers don't get is buddy position in the water. I always thought you were supposed to be "in line" but that bothered me as the diver in front was safe but the diver in back was alone. I think teams of two should swim side-by-side, and teams of three should dive in a V-shape (like geese, leader centered in front). I think teams much bigger than that start needing to get broken up.

Another thing I learned recently that I should've picked up a while ago is a GOOD pre-dive briefing. In the past, it had always been "signal when you hit 700psi (for deeper dives, 500psi for shallower)....I'll see you down there!" Once I started cave diving, I realized how crucial it is to go over all of your gear (what and where) with buddies.

What I am actually looking for is to trigger a discussion about the topic so we can all learn and fine tune the process.

I agree with most of your post and I really like your description of the V shape. What I don't agree with is that the leader in the single file formation is safe! They are not.. they have no way of knowing if the gaggle of geese following them has stopped They could be moving along thinking they are "safe" because someone is behind them but is not! I found that lesson out the hard way.. MANY years and MANY dives ago!

Bob you have some great points I don't think you can not stress enough the importance of communication. If you see something or want to stop.. you must let the rest of the team know! A good team does work together not fly off in all directions!

 

[victorzamora]

Actually, that's a good point. The guy in front is being watched....but only if the guy behind him is following.

Still, side-by-side is my preference for a two-man team.

 

[tkdgodess]

Why not adopt light signals especially for single file? It works, plus the trailing diver needs to stay slightly left or right for easy shoulder checks. The rest i would say, bob wrote. As long as it is all discussed and done by each team member. Recently on a dive with a newer diver, he gave me the wrong hand signal, (he had seen some of us use in dry runs and assumed wrong)i knew it was wrong, had a chuckle and ended the dive together. Yes it cut my deepish destroyer escort wreck dive sooner, but we were a team. So much is attitude too.

 

[TSandM]

Lights work great if the water is dark or murky. Lights are pretty useless in clear, sunlit water.

I think we define our teams a little more closely. No team more than three; if there are more than three divers, they are broken up into teams. Teams can plan to do the dive together, but the basic idea is that, if two TEAMS get separated, no one worries about it or does anything to repair the situation. If a member gets separated from his team, though, that's a situation that has to be remedied. If someone needs to abort a dive, the team aborts with him in whatever fashion that needs to be done.

One of the things that people don't think about, I believe, is that team diving in warm, clear water is actually MORE DIFFICULT than team diving in dark or cloudy water. The temptation is to spread out more, which makes communication more difficult, since lights are of much diminished usefulness. In addition, although you can see further, the distance you can swim without gas doesn't increase any . . . In my mind, because communication is harder, you should make MORE of an effort to stay close together in clear water.

 

[victorzamora]

In OW, in decent visibility, light signals do NOT work. My wife and I have stolen them from my cave training, but they do not work well under all conditions.

If you're doing "same day, same ocean" on a wreck in the Caribbean and you can see your buddy 180ft away but can't make out a hand signal, lights work well. But if your buddy is single-file behind you following at a moderately close clip in gin-clear water on a sunny day, there is no WAY you'll see your buddy's light. Plus, what if their light dies? Light dies, they have an issue, you swim off. Having to constantly check on them is a hassle. If my buddy is within my peripherals on-and-off, I'm a lot more comfortable and confident in my diving and can dive much more freely with a lot less worry, as "buddy awareness" is taken care of.