Buddy checks - formal v. informal

[FinnMom]

I'm happy with my routine but obviously none of us would be hurt by a more formal system. Basically I would do it if you wished, otherwise I've made my choice.

I do an informal check for most ordinary, relatively shallow dive and a genuine face-to-face check with an unknown buddy, less than simple circumstances (the sea or other big water, an unfamilar place, deep, under the ice, any place or situation otherwise in any way intimidating) OR any time my buddy wishes to do so.
If your buddy wants to do a check together it's immediately hugely important and interesting for you too => You need a buddy who feels happy and calm about the dive - you don't want to rattle your buddy, no matter how much fun it would be, until you are back on the boat. Unhappy people can do too many wierd and unfortunate things and happy people are a much better company.

I'm also happy to repeat the checks at 6m or so any time my buddy wishes or any time the dive is more than a shallow, familar "bimble" type of a dive. This too can make some buddies feel more calm and confident about the dive.

But to get to the heart of your question: I always, always, always at least do my own check and I've taught the kids (and anyone else willing to listen) to do the same.

I check the tank valve positions, tank pressure and isolation valve position when I put on the regs, well before actually getting in the water. You want to make sure the regs seem to be sealing (no missing o-rings) and the tank has an appropriate amt. of gas in it. The earlier you notice these problems the better, preferably before dragging a low/empty tank anywhere!

I do this check either on my own or going through the items out loud with a buddy:
Reg 1 works? (See above about how that is done: 3 breaths while looking at air gauge etc.)
Reg 2 works?
Air goes into BCD/Wing?
Air comes out of BCD/Wing?
Air goes into suit?
Air comes out of suit?
Light(s) works?
Lets go!

I don't wear weights. If the kids get fins on and get started down before noting they forgot their weights that's just an inconvience. Inconvience isn't dangerous and actually it's a great teacher: they will remember a whole lot better next time.

I've never had anyone forget an an obvious item like mask, computer, left fin, etc. Actually a computer could be easy to forget but I always store and pack my computer & compass around my mask's strap. They have to be removed to put on the mask, and when I remove them from the mask strap I put them on my wrist. Yep => taught the kids to do the same thing.
My memory isn't so great but rituals are my salvation!

 

[Storker]

If the kids get fins on and get started down before noting they forget their weights that's just an inconvience. Inconvience isn't dangerous and actually it's a great teacher: they will remember a whole lot better next time.

I agree, forgetting the weights is just an embarrassing inconvenience. OTOH, insufficiently secured weight pockets or release mechanisms that your buddy isn't familiar with is a potential incident or even fatality. That's why I do the "W": Weights secured, and released like *this*


--
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[boulderjohn]

I agree, forgetting the weights is just an embarrassing inconvenience. OTOH, insufficiently secured weight pockets or release mechanisms that your buddy isn't familiar with is a potential incident or even fatality. That's why I do the "W": Weights secured, and released like *this*

There was an incident in which two people drowned a couple of years ago. I was reminded of it when an old thread on the resulting lawsuit was revived today.

One diver ran OOA. He managed to get to the surface, but he was evidently significantly overweighted and could not stay there. He had a new weight integrated BCD and could not figure out how to release the weights. Neither could his buddy. The buddy only shared air briefly before also going out of air, at which point another diver--not his buddy--attempted to share air and release his weights--unsuccessfully. Clearly there was a problem with the pre-dive safety check if even the diver who had put the weights in the BCD could not figure out how to release them.

So what happened with the second air share attempt? Information is sketchy. We were told that the second diver, using a rental regulator, did not have an alternate air source and was attempting to share air by buddy breathing. We were also told that the second diver was not highly experienced, suggesting that buddy breathing was not a well-practiced skill for her. Some participants in the thread thought she might have had an Air II-type of alternate on the inflator hose, but if so, that was not published information, and the fact that the renter was sued for supplying inadequate equipment suggests otherwise. If that were that case, she either did not realize it was there or did not know how to use it. She was not this person's buddy, but she was somebody's buddy, and the fact that she did not know how to share air with the equipment she had should have come up during her buddy check.

So, two people died in one incident, and neither should have died if decent pre-dive checks had been completed.

 

[drrich2]

First Rescue Diver training, and then SDI Solo Diver training even more so, emphasized to me the importance of me doing methodical pre-dive checks on my gear. Experience shore diving in Bonaire taught me areas I tend to forget (e.g.: hooking up the inflator hose) and I've jumped off a boat with my air off, which was educational. I got off a boat on a cruise ship stop & left behind a set of split fins that were expensive to replace, so now I'm more methodical about post-dive checks before I get off the boat.

I don't expect you to check my gear for me.

But, I am happy to exchange info. about what kind of weight releases are in use, that I'm diving with a computer, that I use an Air2 so in the event of an OOA by you I'll jerk my primary out of my necklace & hand it to you, but my hose isn't long so we'll be nose-to-nose on the way up, and I'll be breathing off the Air2. I'm decent but not great on gas consumption.

I'm mainly a warm water with good viz. diver, and not doing deco. or cave diving with bail out bottles, bottom gas, a rebreather, etc… For some types of diving, I think 2-person thorough gear checks are good. And for newer divers, yes, even the basic excellent condition rec. dives. But there comes a time when, for the easy dives, I think I can check my own, and that you can, too. But if you want help with yours, that's fine, too. I try to go with the flow.

Richard.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I use an AIR 2 usually, as well. I think it is important (at a minimum) to tell your buddy that if he needs air to simply take the reg from my mouth. I would not want them looking around for an octopus that is not there.

 

[bergersau]

Informal
During gear up I keep an eye on my buddy for any observed issues.
When fully geared up:
I always confirm my air is on (deep breath check whilst watching gauge for fluctuation) and confirm with buddy "Air on?" and want a positive response to this.
If I'm with a new buddy who has anything other than a standard weight belt I'll make sure I know their releases.
These for me are the big issues when diving with experienced, regular buddies - most of my buddies are club members and dwarf my experience and need little assistance.
No air and not being able to release weights have the potential for a fatality. A lost fin due to a poorly clipped strap, a poorly zipped drysuit or wrist computer left in the dive bag is not really a life threatening issue on the dive I do.

With new buddies I do like to go through air share procedure as I dive a 7" hose and necklaced backup, some have never seen this before.

During decent at 5m or so I like to confirm my long hose is not snagged on anything and that my backup reg is working. Often my buddies don't even notice me doing this as it only takes a 30 seconds or so usually.

 

[Bob DBF]

Since I solo most of the time, I have a very rigid routine before I get in the water from decades of practice. With regular buddies who also solo, we have gone over, and used, each other's gear so it may not look like a formal buddy check. If we change any of our gear (I'm the culprit and regularly try out something I pick up) , we make sure the other knows the change.

If it is a new buddy, I go over my routine and ask about theirs, ask how their gear works, and thereby work up a more formal buddy check. If they are not forthcoming, I have enough experience to figure most rigs out, run a more restrained dive, and look for another buddy who is more interested in diving.



Bob
----------------
I may be old, but I'm not dead yet.

 

[TMHeimer]

There have been many versions of quicker, less formal checks than BWRAF while facing each other like in class. Mostly by experienced folks having familiar buddies. Some have veered away from the basic check--to include site/conditions/dive planning (these things are not part of the check and should be done anyway). As I posted way back, I have not noticed much of any kind of checks on the boats I've patronized (probably missed a lot of subtle ones). Maybe it would be a good idea for PADI and other agencies to point this out to OW students as reality--Rather than doing BWRAF and pretending that every diver does this formally all the time. Similar to my point about ignoring that some divers do dive solo, with or without Solo/Self Reliant Certification. Saying that a snorkel is a basic piece of scuba equipment implies that everyone always does or should use one--and one attached to the mask strap, not in a pocket. Formal BWRAF just rarely happens like in OW class. Students aren't stupid. I like realism.

 

[TSandM]

A friend of mine who watched us get ready said to me later in the day, "that woman sweats something that would kill Murphy [from Murphy's law] if he got too close".

You never told me that!

There is a reason I ended up where I did in diving. I like standardization, whether it's in equipment, or procedures and protocols. I like predictability, and I used to work in a field where being unprepared or careless could result in someone's death.

Buddy checks . . . ONLY laziness or complacency, in my opinion, causes people to stop doing them. (Either that or you just plain don't care, which is Dale's point.)

 

[Cosimo_Zaretti]

There was an incident in which two people drowned a couple of years ago. I was reminded of it when an old thread on the resulting lawsuit was revived today.

One diver ran OOA. He managed to get to the surface, but he was evidently significantly overweighted and could not stay there. He had a new weight integrated BCD and could not figure out how to release the weights. Neither could his buddy. The buddy only shared air briefly before also going out of air, at which point another diver--not his buddy--attempted to share air and release his weights--unsuccessfully. Clearly there was a problem with the pre-dive safety check if even the diver who had put the weights in the BCD could not figure out how to release them.

So what happened with the second air share attempt? Information is sketchy. We were told that the second diver, using a rental regulator, did not have an alternate air source and was attempting to share air by buddy breathing. We were also told that the second diver was not highly experienced, suggesting that buddy breathing was not a well-practiced skill for her. Some participants in the thread thought she might have had an Air II-type of alternate on the inflator hose, but if so, that was not published information, and the fact that the renter was sued for supplying inadequate equipment suggests otherwise. If that were that case, she either did not realize it was there or did not know how to use it. She was not this person's buddy, but she was somebody's buddy, and the fact that she did not know how to share air with the equipment she had should have come up during her buddy check.

So, two people died in one incident, and neither should have died if decent pre-dive checks had been completed.

Swiss cheese model - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Swiss Cheese model of accident causation is a model used in risk analysis and risk management, includingaviation, engineering and healthcare. It likens human systems to multiple slices of swiss cheese, stacked side by side. It was originally propounded by Dante Orlandella and James T. Reason of the University of Manchester,^[1] and has since gained widespread acceptance. It is sometimes called the cumulative act effect.

Interesting to see how in the incident described, they didn't just miss one check, they screwed them all up in sequence. BCD, Weights, Releases, Air. Getting just one of those things right would have arrested the slide.