Buddy Diving - Can be more Harm than Good

[cdolphin]

Bob, this is one of the best things I've seen written on the board:

Originally posted by NWGratefulDiver:
And if you find yourself having buddy issues, don't just assume that it's because the other person is clueless ... perhaps it's something as simple as putting more effort into addressing the expectations you have of a buddy and making sure that your communication was clearly received.

True for most of life.

 

[ColinB]

Wow, Bob, that was probably the best post I've read on this board. Lots of good stuff to think about and work on. I'm still pretty new at diving, and have only had a couple insta-buddy dives so far, and definitely need to work on the pre-dive communication, and getting comfortable talking through the dive with a stranger, but I think that post will help me work on it.

thanks,
Colin

 

[flots am]

I hate being the newbie-burden on more experienced divers, but I joined a couple dive clubs for that very reason. Those dives are supposed to be dives for all levels of diver, led my a DM, so us whipper-snappers can learn some skills. I just make sure I pay attention and know the the person most looking after me, is me.

New divers are only a burden for people who can't take care of themselves.

A good diver is reasonably certain that he can take care of himself, won't need a buddy and can probably help a buddy who needs it, provided that the buddy doesn't do anything too bizarre.

The world is full of people who would be thrilled to dive with you. Seeing the Underwater World through brand new eyes is a huge treat. Along those lines, anybody who won't dive with you "because you're new" is actually unsure of their own skills and you don't want them as a buddy anyway.

Flots

 

[fnfalman]

Buddy experiences are what YOU make of it.

Everybody complain about getting a "bad" buddy. How about take a look at yourselves? Are you so perfect that the other buddy would have nothing to complain about?

In my mere 180-dives, I've had three bad buddies. I asked them to change some of their behaviors. They didn't want to, so they went their ways and I went my way. No big deal.

 

[SangP]

And for the person who mentioned that bad dive buddies are the reason they got into tech ... I don't get that bit. Tech diving relies more heavily on good buddy skills than regular recreational diving. The most important tenets of tech diving revolve around developing excellent buddy skills, awareness, and communication. And ... odd as it may sound ... the same mindset that goes into the development of those skills makes it much easier for someone to ... when they decide the time is right ... get into doing solo dives ... because the mental process that goes into developing good buddy skills also teaches you the proper things to think about when it's time for you to assume the burden of risk analysis and remediation for going solo.

Great post again ! I completely agree that tech emphasizes buddy skills however, the thing about doing tech for me is learning how to remain calm under difficult conditions, dealing with equipment failures & recognizing my own limit.

I've also learn to have better communication & buddy skills with the skill sets to be much more self sufficient.

SangP

 

[knowone]

"Who, me responsible?"
In the mid seventies I read a magazine article that stringently professed buddy diving to the extent of hand holding.
It also suggested, that post dive whilst walking down muscle beach buddies should stop holding hands. Alfred E. Neuman. "What, me worry?"
I now understand how a cop is too heavy.

 

[bluefabian]

Wow, thanks for all the input.

 

[DCBC]

Even when some people have been taught to dive properly, it doesn't mean that they will adopt this into practice. Some people don't see that the safety rules are something that applies to them, which is unfortunate. Although I believe that there is a depth on air that a properly trained buddy can be more of a danger than an asset, I don't believe that the buddy system is outdated and I teach my students at every level to adopt it.

When evaluating the buddy system, you have to quantify the training that your buddy has received. In other words, if the buddy hasn't been trained in basic rescue skills, how much will s/he really be able to help me if I black-out underwater, for example? So when we evaluate a buddy, we have to quantify their level of skill carefully. Buddies are not created equally.

The current training situation has required divers to evaluate how they want to dive. More and more divers seem to be coming to the conclusion that although they would prefer to dive with a competent buddy, this isn't always something that's guaranteed in today's world. They choose to become independent and as such, carry redundant systems. Although this presents an increase in safety, it's still not as safe as diving a good dive plan with a well trained buddy and ensuring that you possess the right training and level of fitness to safely accomplish the dive imo.

I usually dive with full redundancy of gas, gas delivery & buoyancy and with a buddy within touching distance. I've also on occasion chosen to dive solo under specific conditions.

So much of diving depends upon personal judgment. How deep, how long, with what equipment, in what wave conditions, in what visibility, in what current, with who? We each accept the risks we take. Hopefully our judgment is reliable. Either way, it's our decision.

 

[JohnB47]

Just from my sheer newness, I am an insta-buddy to even my diver friends.

No, you're not. You don't have to be a master diver to be a good buddy. I can tell if someone is a good buddy within about 10-15 minutes into our first dive together. And on the second dive, he is no longer an insta-buddy.

Here are some of the characteristics of a good buddy:
He doesn't swim faster than I do.
If the visibility is low, he is right beside me all the time.
When I don't see him and I look around to see where he is, I find him hovering above me or beside me.
When I am out of his range of vision, he looks around to see where I am.
He frequently shows me his pressure gauge so that I know how much air he has left, and I can judge how fast he is using it.

Note that none of this has anything to do with his experience as a diver. Of course, an experienced diver would like to dive with divers who have developed excellent diving skills. But I would rather dive with a good buddy with limited experience than a master diver who swims so fast that I can't keep up with him.

 

[elmer fudd]

Although I believe that there is a depth on air that a properly trained buddy can be more of a danger than an asset, I don't believe that the buddy system is outdated and I teach my students at every level to adopt it.

Care to elaborate some more? Myself, I've found that the deeper I go the more valuable my buddies seem. Of course I've never gone much deeper than 130' either. I was once part of a dive that could have gone very badly when a diver froze up at 120' and just stopped responding. With a diver on each side of him holding his upper arms we escorted him into shallower water and everything was fine. Even in shallow water though I've had several situations where a buddy was very handy.

I like to dive solo at times, but I've never really encountered a situation where a good buddy would be more of a liability than an asset with the one exception of spearing fish.