chrpai
Contributor
I don't mid once or twice.
Checking your buddy's gas
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Not insulted at all. It seems to me to be a pointless question. Suppose I tell you a number and you don't like it. Will you thumb the dive? Suppose I don't tell you a number. Will you thumb the dive? What does knowing my gas status tell you? It strikes me as a pointless exchange of information to no end. If I need to end the dive for gas reasons, I'll let you know; I assume you'll do the same. Any other exchange of that info is just busy-work.
Dr. Lecter
Contributor
Depends on the dive. If it's an instabuddy and we're diving one tank/set of doubles each, I'll happily answer them several times before I indicate a single vertical finger's worth of remaining gas.
If someone's being inquisitive on a more serious dive, I'm forced to worry they have no clue what the dive plan is and can at best give them a flurry of gestures to specific tanks combined with pressure signals for each. So "Ok"s followed by a "SOD OFF" sign just makes more sense.
In any event, it's not so much insulting as it is annoying. I'd feel the same way about someone who was constantly silting or scaring away interesting marine life. I'm not there to constantly feed them gas pressure data, and they don't need it regardless of what they think. A reasonable amount of inquiry is fine, but beyond that you're detracting from my dive for no good reason and will be treated accordingly.
OP
I don't mind answering someone who asks. About the third time they ask, they SHOULD have figured out that nothing is changing very fast . . . But if that's what my buddy needs to feel comfortable and confident in the dive, far be it from me to refuse them that. Being a dive buddy means some give and take so that BOTH divers get what they require to enjoy being there.
koozemani
Contributor
Regardless if its my usual buddy(wife) or someone else, I'll check about 20-30 minutes in(depending on the dive) to gauge air usage. After that, I may check once more until the end of the dive. My wife will usually follow this same formula, it just depends who asks first. Our air usage is similar and we're usually no more than 1-2 hundred psi off.
In most cases we're under the boat at about 50-60 minutes regardless of air.
In most cases we're under the boat at about 50-60 minutes regardless of air.
Depends on the number
1: Is the dive plan still valid
2: Are you following the dive plan as intended
3: It can also be used as a gauge for a number of things, e.g are you currently affected by narcosis, cold etc
Well, no.
If you dive in buddy team a silent contract is agreed to that each will provide the other with enough air to get to the surface in case of an OOA situation. If one buddy chooses to really make sure that never happens, then he/she is the better diver. Not the buddy who gets uptight about sharing information.
Well you know what they say about people who 'assume'
I have to agree with Kombiguy on this. First it appears that Kombi is commenting from a recreational aspect and Ste Walt is responding from a technical aspect.
There is no reason for anyone to not like my number as long as it is with in the plan. If i am diving a lp120 and you a al80 i have more air at 1/4 tank than the al80 has at 1/3. so why would you enforce the 1000psi turn presure on me as if i violated the plan having 900 psi in my tank. To make it more comlicated say a third diver is diving a hp 100. now going home psi is what 1250. heck that is 1/2 tank for the lp. These issues should have been worked out in the planning phase and each tank with an agreed psi for that tank. If the al80 is going to turn at 1/3 then that is what 26 cuft in the tank. i will turn at the same volumn and find the psi for that on my tank. The silent contract that is refered to also implies that you follow the plan and not cheat it. so when the plan calls for surfacing at x psi or what ever all comply with that. in the case with the al 80 being the smallest tank and turn is at 1/3 for them the 100 can turn at a bit below 1/3 and the 120 can call turn at about 1/4. It seems like Ste Wart's assumption is that all are using the same equipment. In the real recreational world that assumption can not be depended on. If you cant trust the buddy to be honest in their respinsibiity to report when turn psi is reached then the dive should have never started.
There is no reason for anyone to not like my number as long as it is with in the plan. If i am diving a lp120 and you a al80 i have more air at 1/4 tank than the al80 has at 1/3. so why would you enforce the 1000psi turn presure on me as if i violated the plan having 900 psi in my tank. To make it more comlicated say a third diver is diving a hp 100. now going home psi is what 1250. heck that is 1/2 tank for the lp. These issues should have been worked out in the planning phase and each tank with an agreed psi for that tank. If the al80 is going to turn at 1/3 then that is what 26 cuft in the tank. i will turn at the same volumn and find the psi for that on my tank. The silent contract that is refered to also implies that you follow the plan and not cheat it. so when the plan calls for surfacing at x psi or what ever all comply with that. in the case with the al 80 being the smallest tank and turn is at 1/3 for them the 100 can turn at a bit below 1/3 and the 120 can call turn at about 1/4. It seems like Ste Wart's assumption is that all are using the same equipment. In the real recreational world that assumption can not be depended on. If you cant trust the buddy to be honest in their respinsibiity to report when turn psi is reached then the dive should have never started.
As I am a human pony bottle (according to my husband), I tend to check his air towards the end of a dive, as I know that I am usually 20 bar ahead of him, but if I'm guiding then I check a new guest after 20 minutes, compare their air to mine, and mentally note the difference so I can gauge when I should be turning to return to the boat.
I have found with guiding holiday divers, that they seem to forget (even after a nudge in the pre-dive briefing) that their air management is up to them and not me, and it's only when they swim up with wide eyes giving the 'low on air' signal that the penny drops.
PS I also found a lot of Asian divers think that the answer to 'how much air do you have?' is the OK sign, which always makes me laugh.
I have found with guiding holiday divers, that they seem to forget (even after a nudge in the pre-dive briefing) that their air management is up to them and not me, and it's only when they swim up with wide eyes giving the 'low on air' signal that the penny drops.
PS I also found a lot of Asian divers think that the answer to 'how much air do you have?' is the OK sign, which always makes me laugh.
Ayisha
Contributor
PS I also found a lot of Asian divers think that the answer to 'how much air do you have?' is the OK sign, which always makes me laugh.
I gave the OK sign to the DM in Egypt a few years ago because I had plenty of gas and couldn't remember the different numbering system she told me just before we splashed. I use PSI but was using metric there, and she showed me her signal for half a tank (100 bar) and low on gas, which I understood, and a numbering system I had never seen before. Another diver was getting low on air and she pointed at her gauge and looked at me. I signalled ok because I couldn't remember how to signal 150 bar in her numbering and my pressure WAS ok. She pointed at her gauge again, and I signalled ok again. The third time, I shrugged my shoulders and handed it to her. She looked at it, laughed and threw it back at me.
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