Buddy Issues, complaints and close calls??

[Fish_Whisperer]

OTOH, I've been diving with lots of insta-buddies where as we wander back and forth it seemed perfectly natural to cross paths with just a few inches of separation. Divers that stay truly neutral don't need to kick or move to stay in position and don't need big distances between them.
It usually only takes a minute or two underwater to get a feel for what sort of buddy someone is. Someone is is smooth in their motions is generally comfortable with occasional close passes.

True. Still, if it's not necessary, I'd prefer that buddies kept their distance. I'd rather look at what's underwater, than constantly have my buddy's fins and tank and booty in my face.

Another good indicator of buddy skills is when I stick my head under a ledge to look at something. If when I spend a few extra seconds looking at something he is suddenly there beside me to check out what I've found, then it's pretty clear that he has good buddy awareness. The opposite extreme is where I stop to look, and for the next 10 seconds can watch him continue to swim away and never look back. As I abandon what I wanted to look at and speed over to close up distance before he disappears, I know that his situational awareness is lacking.

Yep. Again, I agree. Situational awareness is everything.

 

[TSandM]

I'd rather look at what's underwater, than constantly have my buddy's fins and tank and booty in my face

This made me chuckle at the memories. In Rec Triox, if you turned your fins to your buddy, he'd "lose" his mask . . .

 

[Meng_Tze]

This made me chuckle at the memories. In Rec Triox, if you turned your fins to your buddy, he'd "lose" his mask . . .

As a matter of fact, yesterday my buddy 'fell' on top of me, kicked up silt and finned off, kicking my mask off.......I still love him though

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

As a matter of fact, yesterday my buddy 'fell' on top of me, kicked up silt and finned off, kicking my mask off.......I still love him though

 

[Rick Inman]

Oh, man... I've been the kick-ee once, and the kick-er twice. I kicked the reg out of my buddy's mouth once, and he did a runaway ride to the surface (LINK). And then once, while under the ice, I did a quick turn around and kicked both the reg out and the mask off. I also bloody-ed my buddy's lip pretty good in the process, which he said hurt like the dickens in the freezing water. In fact, he had a swollen lip for a week - which he continued to point out every chance he got.

I'm surprised anyone will dive with me at all.

The only person to ever kick my mask off was Uncle Pug, who politely pointed out that it was my fault for getting in the way of his rather broad frog kick.

True that.

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

Going through a swim-through in Cozumel, I was frog-kicking and although I was being careful not to kick anything, I felt my fins contact something a couple of times. Back on the boat, my partner who had been behind me, mentioned that I had kicked her a couple of times. I apologized, but thought, It's my fault that you were sticking your face in my fins??

 

[Charlie99]

Going through a swim-through in Cozumel, I was frog-kicking and although I was being careful not to kick anything, I felt my fins contact something a couple of times. Back on the boat, my partner who had been behind me, mentioned that I had kicked her a couple of times. I apologized, but thought, It's my fault that you were sticking your face in my fins??

[/slight hijack]Buoyancy control affects almost everything in diving. If a diver doesn't stay neutral, then they need to kick to maintain depth, and can't just come to a halt to let the person in front move ahead a bit.

More on topic ---- a lot of divers would consider an airhog that cuts their dive short to be a bad buddy. Fortunately, I get to dive enough that this isn't a real big bummer for me. I have found that simply explaining to my insta-buddy that they should always be able to stop at any point and just hang at the same depth; and then giving them a bit guidance on BC adjustment during the second dive will often result in dramatic improvements in their air consumption. And usually a lot of gushing about "Wow, that dive was a lot easier than my other ones".

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

Agreed, Charlie. I've had to learn all of the tips you've given, the hard way, but my SAC rate is improving dramatically, and hopefully I'll be able to help others that come along.

 

[Meng_Tze]

You laugh.... so did I. He did that stuff on purpose after I 'bombed' (depth charged diver, extremely negative) him in the eye....

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

*snicker* We were doing a dive at Vortex Spring, and the dive master couldn't figure out why she was so popular with all the fish.


(It may have had something to do with the catfood that "someone" slipped into the pocket of her BC) *ahem*