Do you physically release your buddy's weights during the buddy check?

[Storker]

just a lowly freshly minted OW stroke here... but am the only one who this raises a big red flag with?

in OW, we were taught to do any drills involving buoyancy at the start of the dive, when tissue gas loading is at its lowest.

In principle, yes. And involving buoyancy, definitely. Mask, regulator or airsharing drills, perhaps not so much. And inflating buddy's BCD and dropping weights on the surface is usually best done... on the surface

the risk factors involved are lower when you're only working with a few minutes worth of shallow ongassing, rather than when you're riding the NDL at the end.

When or if you're riding the NDL? Everybody isn't riding the NDL at the end of every dive, you know. Just for the record, we (deliberately) had a very good margin. From eyeballing my multilevel profile, I'd guesstimate that I was in the O to R pressure group myself.

 

[AlexL]

In principle, yes. And involving buoyancy, definitely. Mask, regulator or airsharing drills, perhaps not so much. And inflating buddy's BCD and dropping weights on the surface is usually best done... on the surface

yup, wife and i will drill mask/reg fetch/air share multiple times during a dive as a matter of rote. as for the weights on the surface, then you have to deal with a bounce if someone drops something. thats getting very nit picky though.

When or if you're riding the NDL? Everybody isn't riding the NDL at the end of every dive, you know. Just for the record, we (deliberately) had a very good margin. From eyeballing my multilevel profile, I'd guesstimate that I was in the O to R pressure group myself.

well.. either i guess; stated that risks were 'lower', not how much lower. obviously if you're riding closer to NDL the difference in risk levels will be greater than if you're only up a few groups. sliding scale of sorts.

haven't been trained to run tables on a multi level, but still track on u-profile tables in case of 'puter failure; so... normally we do tend run closer to table NDL on the first dive, and run shallow after to keep a margin on said tables. even with the computer claiming our NDL depth/time is much much higher

 

[tracydr]

I can see your point but I feel in more control of the ascent and the other diver when I use just my BCD to raise either type of diver. There certainly are plenty of things to think about even in a thread like this. I guess you are right though. No reason to make two oneself another victim. It would be just as easy to just use the other diver's BC.

As for weights, I couldn't use a weight belt (cold water diver) as all the weight slipped over my hips. I like to use the DUI harness. I guess I should think about spreading out my weight but it seems easy to take a couple weights out of the harness instead of pulling the whole pocket. That's assuming I'm the one pulling my weights though.

My favorite is the overweighted BP/W diver. I had one congratulating his wife because she didn't need any extra weight (he was an odd arrogant type). She couldn't ditch any weight and started trying to get to the surface. She was flailing and maybe could have got to the top once more. Buddy somehow turned her air off with doubles???????? I'm assuming not all the air was on when they entered. Her husband had a heart attack trying to help her. Pulled two arrogant overly trained out of the water that day. Both got ambulance rides but both survived. Was pretty intense given I only had my wetsuit on.

I hope your instructor in Rescue Class didn't teach you to use your BC to control the ascent when bringing the distressed or unconscious diver to the surface. If that's what you learned, please, go back and ask for another teacher and a new class. As TSandM says, that would be a very dangerous method and not the recommended method. Did somebody actually teach you this?

 

[Crass3000]

I hope your instructor in Rescue Class didn't teach you to use your BC to control the ascent when bringing the distressed or unconscious diver to the surface. If that's what you learned, please, go back and ask for another teacher and a new class. As TSandM says, that would be a very dangerous method and not the recommended method. Did somebody actually teach you this?

In my class they really didn't even talk about how to bring the person up physically except the rate of ascent and position of the victim and you. I guess at the time I knew that it would REALLY complicate things if I used both BCDs. At the time it just seemed easier to use mine since I was more familiar with how much buoyancy a bump of air would give me with it. I can see why you would want to use the victims BCD for lift instead of mine. Don't want to create another victim. Honestly I didn't feel like I had the best instructor and my class was quite hurried in timing due to them renting pool time. I guess I feel as though I got the main ideas out of the class though.

Edit: I don't really think this was my instructors fault. Just another case of a dive shop scheduling things too tight. We were supposed to get lunch between class and pool. With traffic and road construction nobody made it to pool on time including the instructor. I'm sure we were all speeding and definitely all skipped lunch.

 

[Tigerman]

Scary..

 

[fjpatrum]

With the last few buddies I've had, I helped put the weight pockets in or weight belt on so I knew for sure how the mechanism worked. It seems like a really good way to verify things, in my limited experience. If I were in an emergency though, I wouldn't hesitate to destroy someone's bcd to save their life. That's what knives and shears are for, in my opinion. Mechanism doesn't work? Cut the damn pockets off.

 

[Tigerman]

With the last few buddies I've had, I helped put the weight pockets in or weight belt on so I knew for sure how the mechanism worked. It seems like a really good way to verify things, in my limited experience. If I were in an emergency though, I wouldn't hesitate to destroy someone's bcd to save their life. That's what knives and shears are for, in my opinion. Mechanism doesn't work? Cut the damn pockets off.

Or clip the entire bcd off.. Worst case its too deep to retrieve it later and theill be pissed at you, but still breathing..

 

[fjpatrum]

Or clip the entire bcd off.. Worst case its too deep to retrieve it later and theill be pissed at you, but still breathing..

Yes, but I would try the pockets first, just in case the BCD might be needed for floatation on the surface, for whatever reason. Also, with the tank available for air (assuming no OOA) that might be useful as well. Worst case the whole BCD goes, but I'd definitely try cutting just the weights first.

 

[scubamama]

My thoughts on this topic are yes, always check what config your buddy's equipment is in before the dive. Plan together how you intend to drop the weights whether from the sides, front or back. Once you think you can do it, repeat the same task but close your eyes while doing it. This simulates all the visual obstructions the equipment causes underwater. It will give you an advantage in ditching the weights quickly. May I suggest if you dive with a regular buddy it is the buddy's responsibility to let you know he has changed configurations and yours to check it. Divers go to different depths. The deeper your planned depth, the more vigorous and determined you should be to plan your actions in the event of a problem. Just my thoughts....

 

[oldschoolto]

A diver should be able to remove and replace his/her weights on the surface and underwater...
In fact a diver should be able to ditch and don " ALL THEIR GEAR " But I'm just oldschool....

Jim....