Buddy Breathing

[DCBC]

Recently, a large certification organization will soon discontinue the teaching of buddy breathing. I was wondering what divers thought of this. Do you feel that this skill is a valuable one, or archaic considering that redundant air sources are available to the diver?

 

[Kevin Carlisle]

I think its a bad decision.. True there is redundancy, at least until something major happens. Then where are you at if you dont have the basics for buddy breathing?

 

[redacted]

It is mostly an unnecessary skill but.... It is another good indicator of comfort in our UW environment. I'd put it in the same category as doffing and donning your gear UW. I don't object to dropping it from required OW skills.

 

[gypsyjim]

As one of the skills that can mean the difference between life and death in many situations, I can see no reason NOT to require learning buddy breathing. Most divers may never need to use it, but if they should find themselves in trouble someday, and not be familiar with this simple lifesaving procedure? Why take the risk?

There is way too much dumbing down in this sport already!

 

[TSandM]

What need to happen for you to have to buddy breathe? You have to be out of gas, and your buddy has to have one regulator fail. The likelihood of those things both occurring on one dive is extraordinarily low. For the "active" diver (who dives ten times a year) I think it's vanishingly unlikely, and I have no problem with BB not being taught.

In addition, for someone who dives enough to develop some in-water skill, BB is actually pretty easy to figure out for oneself. My husband had me try it with him a while back, and it was pretty trivial.

On the other hand, for folks who are going where the surface is not an option, the composure it requires is probably a reasonable thing to practice.

 

[JonBath]

Personally I'm glad PADI have decided to drop it from the basic skills. I think it was always a complex and stressful skill for a new diver to learn, and an unnecessary one at that, especially when it seems everybody carries an alternate these days.

Having said that, I'm glad I know it, and would gladly teach it to anyone who asks is or is curious as I think is was a good test of composure and communication underwater. I remember doing the 'stress test' for my DM where we were made to exchange kit midwater whilst buddy breathing, all the while being subjected to various stressors like having our air turned off, mask flooded or regulators being purged in our faces. It was a good excersise for examining confident and able divers for their comfort underwater.

 

[BishopSA]

Buddy breathing is not exactly a hard skill to learn. Despite the low probability of it being used, I think teaching it makes divers more comfortable in the water and prepares them for potentially stressful situations in which they may be closely working with and synchronizing buoyancy with their buddy.

 

[rstofer]

I don't think BB is a required skill at any level but I would be willing to bet that most advanced divers (not AOW but really advanced) already know how to do it. This from the POV of a REC diver. I have no idea what might be required of cave divers but I get the sense that they have more tanks of air laying around the dive path than I have in my garage.

I was taught BB in '88 because octos were just coming into vogue. Sure, they had been around for a while but they weren't quite as common back then. It's a pretty simple skill to master: the donator keeps his hand on the regulator in case the victim is reluctant to return it and remember to keep blowing bubbles. There 'might' be a tendency to hold your breath while BB'ing during an ascent. This potential for injury plus modern reg configurations is probably the reason the skill will no longer be taught.

One of the nice things about the Oceanic Omega II reg is that the diaphragm isn't under where I would keep my hand when I donate the reg. This allows the victim to use the purge feature if they really must while I get to keep control of MY reg.

It's sad to see techniques go by the wayside but considering the current configurations, this one probably won't be missed. There's an awful lot of redundancy with 2 first stages and 4 seconds.

Maybe 'not required at any level' is a bit short sighted but up through the REC levels, this skill would seem redundant. And, in any event, it isn't brain surgery.

Richard

 

[JonBath]

One of the nice things about the Oceanic Omega II reg is that the diaphragm isn't under where I would keep my hand when I donate the reg. This allows the victim to use the purge feature if they really must while I get to keep control of MY reg.

I think it's good to get into the habit of holding the reg by the end of the hose as opposed to the second stage itself. This always allows access to the purge button on any regulator design. If you ever teach, doing this all the time builds a good example for students and buddies. After all, one day you might need access to the purge button when they're donating you a reg.

Whilst buddy breathing, have your buddy hold your wrist whilst you hold the hose, signalling with your fingers each time you take a breath. 2 breaths works well. This not only assures your buddy you haven't forgotten about them but provides a visual indicator of how long it will be before they get the reg back themselves all whilst leaving the purge button free to be used by either of you.

 

[ScubaRich]

I believe it is very necessary. The possibility of redundancies failing still exists. Dropped ball IMHO!