checking up on your buddy...

[blackvans1234]

I was debating on making this a poll, but i'll relax with the polls for a while.

I'm beginning to notice that I try to be very aware of my buddy's whereabouts. If I havent glanced over to see them, I start feeling paranoid. This paranoia is not for my own safety, but for theirs. Is anyone else like that or am I just a weirdo? :talkingfish:

 

[aaronjweese]

While it may feel like paranoia to you is actually outstanding dive awareness skills being developed. However, it could be that particular buddy making you feel paranoid. In my opinion a bad buddy is worse than going solo. Hence the reason I got solo certified in case one of the few people on the planet that I will dive with(even less for cave diving) are not available. I just don't do instabuddies.

 

[koozemani]

I regularly glance over at my buddy. If I can't locate her in the first few seconds I too feel slight paranoia that shes wandered off......or I have.

 

[davetowz]

I have a few dudes that I love to dive with because they have great situational awareness! Most buddies are actually same ocean, same time kinda buds. Good reason to carry redundant air and hone own skills to where you feel comfy without the buddy. I am not an advocate of solo diving, however I do believe all divers should be self sufficient.

 

[Hatul]

It can be tiring to keep track of your buddy especially if one swims ahead of the other. And in a deep dive in poor vis if you get separated it's a big problem because you have to surface, find each other and go down again.

 

[Dirty-Dog]

Since we're warm water wussies, visibility isn't really an issue for us. As a result, we don't always stay in arm lengths reach as people in cold dark water do. Our rule is 'no further away than you can get without needing more air". So 10-15 feet is common for us.
If I looked (which I do constantly, since I scan all around all the time) and didn't see her, I'd get paranoid immediately.
When either of us sees something, we do signal the other to come look too.

 

[TSandM]

My Fundamentals instructor taught me a mantra, "What's my depth? Where's my buddy? Look at the fish . . . " I run a constant low-level check to be sure I still know where my teammates are and more importantly, HOW they are. It's so built in that, now that I'm taking pictures, if I stay focused on a subject for very long, I feel quite uneasy that I haven't looked up. It's a great habit to ingrain.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I was debating on making this a poll, but i'll relax with the polls for a while.

I'm beginning to notice that I try to be very aware of my buddy's whereabouts. If I havent glanced over to see them, I start feeling paranoid. This paranoia is not for my own safety, but for theirs. Is anyone else like that or am I just a weirdo? :talkingfish:

It's not paranoia ... it's what you're supposed to be doing. When you put a scuba mask on your face, you remove something you've been accustomed to having (and taking for granted) your entire life ... your peripheral vision. So you have to teach yourself a new habit ... turning your head to see what's going on beside of you. This often feels like "paranoia" to the person who's not used to doing it, but it is proper scuba diving behavior.

Good on you for learning it so early ... soon it will be so automatic you won't even notice you're doing it.

Oh, and FWIW ... it is indeed for your safety as well as your buddy's. A significant percentage of diving accidents can trace their beginnings to buddy separation. Another transition that can improve your diving skills is to start thinking of you and your buddy as a team ... think in terms of "our" rather than "my" and "my buddy". Just that simple mental transition makes diving with a buddy easier in a lot of ways ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Garrobo]

I seldom dive with a "buddy" since I usually dive with shops which provide a DM on their dives. On those rare occassions when I am paired up with someone I am usually 50 years older than them and I explain to them that I don't know what the heck I am doing and to keep a sharp eye out for me. This solves the buddy problem.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I seldom dive with a "buddy" since I usually dive with shops which provide a DM on their dives. On those rare occassions when I am paired up with someone I am usually 50 years older than them and I explain to them that I don't know what the heck I am doing and to keep a sharp eye out for me. This solves the buddy problem.

... actually it doesn't solve anything, it just creates a dependent relationship. It would be better for both of you if you just told them you'd prefer not to dive with a buddy ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)