Buddy Breathing

[Tortuga68]

Maybe we need a new user title category - "extreme person"

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

I’m sure many others have their own experiences that make them fit for “extreme” endeavors” (crazy stuff like continuing their journey of learning to be better divers). I think you can, and should, always try to continue learning. How else do you learn to “grasp a larger suite of responses”?

Is this thread about what you think or what the human race thinks? In general, I contend that the vast majority of recreational divers in the current training entry requirement situation (all no medical answers) are not in need of BB training in the OW class. Becoming a better diver is accomplished by diving more, IMHO.

I would rather see a Standards requirement to make it mandatory to have beginning OW training dives not end before someone in the group gets to 500 psi (with a class of 100 lb girls that might be me). Every training dive my students dive until we have to end the dive; every student signals half a tank and those that get to the required ascent pressure (600-800) signal that as well. If I have a "big" hoover and a 100 lb girl, hoover has a 100 cft and the girl has a 63. 4 dives in the 30-60' max depth range with this duration is better for todays OW diver in my book than spending all that time perfecting BB.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

You see, your breath-hold ability, that covers a plethora of possible errors and problems, would make you just slightly above average in our entry level programs.

I never said how much over 3 minutes I can hold my breath.

 

[ROMO DIVER]

I believe that it is an instructors responsibility to put as many "tools" in a students "dive belt" as possible. This is why I still teach BB as well as free flowing reg to all my students even though these are no longer "required" skills. Yes, I do believe that the majority of the emphasis should be on required skills and those that are the most commonly used in OW but I also believe that you are doing your student a disservice but not exposing them to as much instruction as possible. I put these skills in the same catagory as the backwards roll. Is there ever a time that it HAS to be used? Probably not, but it is good to know and gives the student confidence which is my primary goal as an instructor.

 

[Nylorac]

I believe that it is an instructors responsibility to put as many "tools" in a students "dive belt" as possible....it is good to know and gives the student confidence which is my primary goal as an instructor.

Thanks! I'm on board (no pun intended) – an instructor that wants to provide as many tools as possible and help foster confidence is just about as good as it gets.

 

[ajduplessis]

Your buddy and equipment are your backup. Why would you not want to learn how to utilise these items. I have seem events where divers run into physical issues (not even covering equipment failure) and needs a knowledgeable buddy to assist in getting them to the surface safely. Diving is about knowledge and education.

 

[Herk_Man]

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.

Amen. Anyone that gets to the point in an emergency where buddy breathing becomes necessary is going to figure it out pretty quickly. In fact, I'd say that the majority of people, even if they were not taught it in a class, would intuitively consider the possibility and ask a question about it or at least run through the scenario in their mind enough to be able to do it if the unlikely need arose.

I'm sure this will now turn into a furball along the lines of: well if we don't need to practice BB, then we don't need to practice any skill. But if it does, then I'm whipping out the exploding dog theory. Trust me, you do NOT want that to happen.

 

[Diver0001]

Buddy breathing is, given current gear, a "skill of the past." But I feel that it is still an important skill to keep in the curriculum, if for no other reason than to assure that new divers realize it is possible, it can be difficult, and as a result they need to make sure that their auxiliary is well squared away.

I'm not sure why anyone would find it overly difficult but I agree that students should be exposed to it because in an OOA situation things can get very messy.

I'll spare you the long story but in my second year of diving I made a BB ascent and knowing that skill may be the reason I'm here today.

Like I said it's a long story but although my buddy had an octopus ..... floating around somewhere behind him .... I couldn't find it when I was in the s&hit and really needed a reg.... so I took his primary from him, took a breath and handed it back.

As soon as I did that my buddy knew something was very wrong so he grabbed me and continued buddy breathing while we made the ascent.

So that's at least one clear example that I know of, of a situation involving two divers with an octopus where one of them may have died if they hadn't been taught buddy breathing.

Admittedly, it would take a very unusual set of circumstances to put you in that position but know what I know, I prepare my students for OOA situations to get very messy... or at least to start very messy until you get it under control. Part of that is to consider a scenario like I just described.

Like a lot of emergency skills, it's not important at all... until it is.

Keep your options open.

R..

 

[Thalassamania]

As I said, ''as a result they need to make sure that their auxiliary is well squared away."

 

[Diver0001]

As I said, ''as a result they need to make sure that their auxiliary is well squared away."

I agree with that but I'm also utterly convinced that all divers... and perhaps beginners more than anyone else... should be exposed to a number of air sharing strategies so if an OOA "emergency" doesn't develop exactly according to protocol that they can think on their feet and know what their options are.

R..