Best buddy check mnemonic device?

[formula1mb@aol.com]

One I learned is SEA BAG, works for me:

Survey of dive area, make sure conditions are good
Emergency procecudres
Activities for the dive

Buoyancy: check bc and weight belt
Air: check regulators, make sure tank is full and turned on
Gear: double check you have everything else, fins, mask, bc knife, etc.

 

[Thalassamania]

Head on down, me too.

 

[Mike Boswell]

Burgers With Relish And Fries.

Having our own boat means we don't have a DM checking our gear before we jump in. This in turn means we occasionally make mistakes.

The mistakes teach us lessons and reinforce the value of the pre-dive checks.

The mistakes also teach us to deal with problems, which makes us more calm, comfortable and confident in the water.

Which in turn makes us blase, overconfident and sloppy.

On another thread I posted a story about how I once flopped off the boat with my air turned off, no fins, and a deflated BCD. Many new divers would be in deep kim chee, but it is surprising how well you can recover from this if you keep your head.

 

[Brandon]

Head to Toe, no mnemonic needed =)

-B

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Blonds
With
Reputations
Are
Fun

 

[Scubagolf]

+1 for this. My OW instructor gave me this one many years ago, and I have never had a problem remembering it.

Big
Women
Really
Are
Fun

 

[knowone]

Head to Toe, no mnemonic needed =)

-B

Fins first can't see my head, only for packing. Have you got the ebay T shirt with Bill Murray on front?

 

[jonathon50]

this is mine, B.acon W.ith R.elish A.nd F.ries! TA DA!

 

[laurin]

The problem with mnemonics is that they support the "going through the motions"-mentality instead of actually consciously doing the checks and understanding why they're done.

Personally, I teach the "head to toes" and make sure the students understand why everything is done and why it's important. Since all our club rigs are identical (BP/W) and almost everybody else dive identical rigs and most of the diving is done from a boat, we tend to emphasize that you need to check your own kit first when kitting up and then make sure your buddy has checked theirs, asking each other for help when necessary. Obviously we do mention that things are a bit different with instabuddies on holiday trips.

When you've made sure the tank is open with the correct gas and working primary and secondary, suit is closed and you've got buoyancy, very few things can go really badly wrong when entering water; forgetting to plug in the canister light or leaving your gauges on the boat are just learning experiences.

BTW, watching really experienced cave divers do their checks pre-dive is enlightening - the guys with 100-or-so dives tend to hurry and skip things, the guys with thousands of dives have the experience to know why things need to be checked and go on without hurry and efficiently checking everything - and in the end are ready to enter water the same time as the guys in hurry.

//LN

 

[dwhthediver]

The problem with mnemonics is that they support the "going through the motions"-mentality instead of actually consciously doing the checks and understanding why they're done.
generalization that doesn't apply to all who use mnemonics.

Since all our club rigs are identical (BP/W) and almost everybody else dive identical rigs and most of the diving is done from a boat, we tend to emphasize that you need to check your own kit first when kitting up and then make sure your buddy has checked theirs, asking each other for help when necessary. Obviously we do mention that things are a bit different with instabuddies on holiday trips.
including the proper derisive sneer because they don't wear the identical"only way to dive" gear you do?

Get off your high horse and let people enjoy the thread