Buddy check

[Dody]

Just curious how many threads you are going to start on basically the same question.

Not sure I get your point. I have never posted a thread on buddy check unless I have an homonym.

 

[tursiops]

Not sure I get your point. I have never posted a thread on buddy check unless I have an homonym.

That is what most of the posts in Do not ever say you are a rescue diver are about. What new information do you expect in this second thread?

 

[Searcaigh]

Personally in some situations I don't like three-person buddy teams, especially if one is a complete stranger.

Sometimes we have a "third wheel" when I dive with one of my regular buddies, and usually they are another photographer. We explain to them that we may be down longer due to different gas mixes and the possibility that the dive could turn into a deco dive depending on what we see, and, we carry additional gas in a stage / pony in case this happens. Therefore be prepared to ascend on your own.

 

[Wibble]

We all know since OW that Buddy check should be mandatory and that failure to do it is recipe for disaster.

Why?

OK, this is the basic forum thus there will be new divers around.

Most of diving is about taking responsibility for yourself; doing your own checks and being able to resolve issues in the water.

Your check starts before you even get on the boat/to the site. You would have checked and packed your kit -- like a parachutist would. You would have planned the dive for the depth and circumstances and made sure you have the right gas.

On the boat you would have correctly assembled and tested the kit with the additional weighting, gas pressures, etc. You'd then secure it so it doesn't fall over.

When you arrive at the dive site (on a boat), you'd be checking your kit again and ensuring the gas and buoyancy is OK. Then you get into the kit and check again.

Before you jump you do the 15 second run through the checks: mask, fins, buoyancy, gas, pressure.

Reliance upon others should be regarded as a last resort. If someone distracts you, start again.

 

[Dody]

That is what most of the posts in Do not ever say you are a rescue diver are about. What new information do you expect in this second thread?

MY first thread was about how one introduce her/ himself to a new DS. Someone asked me if I had done a buddy check. And to avoid polluting MY thread, I asked a question on another one. Those are two different threads and two different subjects. Guess that your point is not shared by all.

 

[tursiops]

MY first thread was about how one introduce her/ himself to a new DS. Someone asked me if I had done a buddy check. And to avoid polluting MY thread, I asked a question on another one. Those are two different threads and two different subjects. Guess that your point is not shared by all.

As my Grandpa used to say, "If you and I agree on everything, then one of us is unnecessary."

 

[BlueTrin]

If you need a buddy and wants one that pay attention, ask a different buddy or bring your own buddy and refuse a third guy.

 

[TMHeimer]

It is kinda tricky, but your attitude should probably be that the third party is a DANGER to you or your wife. Rather than just think, I won't need their help, because us two got this. You might be tempted to help some dumb azz and therefore neglect your other buddy, you only have so much attention to provide at one time.

I dive alone 95% of the time, so I view any buddy I am not familiar with as a potential source of problem. Last week, I dove with two guys, checked the position of their tank valves (without their permission or knowledge) and glanced over their gear, asked the guy where he stores his octopus, the other guy was diving with his inflator not hooked up (due to borrowing a BC with an incompatible inflator mechanism). I also tell them to take the regulator from my mouth if they need air, because I have an Air 2. Not a big deal, any of it but I take notice from a quick check/glance and these guys have many hundreds of dives in similar conditions. Nobody did a buddy check.

Asking them to check if YOUR gear looks "right" is a good ploy to get a good look at their sh!t.

Yeah, some good stuff here. It's always OK for someone to say to ask for a new buddy if you're unhappy. That doesn't always work when you arrive at a boat by yourself 2,000 miles from your home where you can bring your own buddy. My biggest thing was to discuss for sure where each other's weights are and how to release them, and of course where octos are, etc. No way to assess that a buddy knows the exact procedure for air share/ascend, and stuff like that. Not sure what I'd do with that group of 3 with one who is distant. Never done that and also haven't had a buddy since 2015.

 

[happy-diver]

No threat to the campers

Did you expect them to light a fire and BBQ the children

 

[drrich2]

We all know since OW that Buddy check should be mandatory and that failure to do it is recipe for disaster.

I'll agree it is probably a risk factor. Since I solo dive some, obviously I don't think it's a death wish.

In fact, I think that the buddy system is flawed because it implies that two or more people will collaborate for a common objective which is safety while diving. It does not take into account the human factor.

Agreed. People differ widely in what they think 'buddy diving' entails. Judging from what I've seen in some forum posts, some consider it side-by-side, fairly frequently glancing at each other, sometimes fairly extensive pre-splash discussion, if one diver aborts the dive the other must exit with him (not just see him to his safety stop, or to the surface, then proceed with his own dive), etc... What I consider enmeshed.

At the opposite end of the spectrum we have the 'same day, same ocean' pair, who might separate after splashing and meet back up at the exit.

In between are those guide-led group dives where everyone more or less follows the guide, hopefully I'm not assigned a buddy but if I am we might be 10 feet apart and glance at each other once in awhile, diving benign conditions.

For whatever reason (I don’t like you, I don’t know, I don’t like your face, I believe that you are not qualified so don’t mess up with my preparation or equipment, I trust my solo abilities more than your cooperation…), many people don’t do buddy check.

Some may do more than you. I can look at you and see you've got mask, BCD, fins, gauges and/or a computer, and if you're air's not turned on, that'll show real fast when we hit the water. I might discern whether you dive integrated weights of a weight belt. I don't need to ask you if your tank is sagging way down.

A diver used to diving solo doesn't rely on a buddy to look him over, because often there is no buddy. When solo shore diving at a remote site in Bonaire where you're the only one around, you do your own self-checks.

We were three and the third did not seem friendly, I did not make any effort to include him in the buddy check.

I suspect you felt secure that your other buddy had looked you over, and that same buddy you'd looked over (who had the backup gas you'd turn to in an emergency) was okay, so on some level, you felt secure to dive.

The other reason you might care about checking (or regret not checking) with the 3rd person is if you perceive a 'duty of care' toward him, because he's technically been assigned to the 2 of you. When you don't need that other buddy, but he potentially might need you, what is your 'duty of care?'

So, the question is? How do you deal with that? No good interpersonal feeling before a buddy check.

First, I don't like being assigned a buddy by boat staff, or told to find one. Second, the only way I'm likely to desire to dive with a buddy (assuming I'm not traveling with one) is if another diver invites me to dive with him; this happened on my one trip to dive in California, where I was on the boat with seasoned California divers and we didn't have a guide. I appreciated that.

I'd probably glance at the person, maybe ask if he has integrated weights or a weight belt, an Air 2 or any other unusual gear setup, and mention what I have. Maybe say hello, just out of pleasant civility.

P.S.: You will see discussions on buddy checks come up from time to time. It's like the 'Normalization of Deviance/Complacency kills!' crowd vs. the 'What are we, in Kindergarten? Do you need a nanny?' crowd, and shades of gray in-between.

P.S. #2: My frame of reference here is benign mainstream Caribbean dive conditions with divers who aren't fresh out of open water training, where there's a boat-provided dive guide we're going to follow as part of a group. A non-guide led buddy pair only dive in more demanding conditions would be a different kettle of fish.