Everyone kinda looks the same underwater...

[M DeM]

I find when I'm diving in a group (and most folks have rented gear) that I absolutely mistake someone else for my buddy and am going along and suddenly -- "oh s**t".

Either that or I find myself SO focused on my buddy that my whole dive was just a view of my buddy's butt.

I guess I'll become better with experience and learn better proprioception.

Do you own fins? Initials top and bottom help a lot. A *Lot*.

If you rent everything, that can be a problem. Not only do many companies rent the same looking gear to multiple people, but you’re not familiar with how it looks anyway.

Unique gloves can be an easy way to travel light and still see the difference. Bright yellow is easy to spot, even at depth. Avoid blue: those are very common. And rarely do people rent gloves!

How about striped leggings?

The tank strobe idea isn’t a bad one. I’m not a fan of the entanglement hazard. Arguably, if you are asking this question, you are not qualified to be anywhere near an entanglement… But I still worry.

In the end, even in a rental situation, you should be able to find some unique combination to identify your buddy. The problem I have had at times is, what I thought was unique on the surface didn’t end up being so once we got to depth. So try to figure out more than one way that your buddy is unique.

I will kind of back up what other people said: if you are diving effectively, it should be easy to keep track of your buddy. And you want to avoid that big ball of divers as much as possible: they frighten everything away and ruin the viz!

But I remember the days as an early diver and looking up and having no idea where my buddy is. Or even worse, thinking someone was my body and only after several minutes realizing that it wasn’t. So I understand the need for some extra assistance. I would just caution you: that should be considered backup for only if the worst happens. It’s a slight crutch that you might need to use as a beginning diver, but your goal should be to get good enough to not need it, rather than try to come up with some foolproof way to avoid improving to that level.

 

[rabe]

I've only dived in groups-- vacation diving. So we're all near each other if not snuggling with everyone.

I go to look for my buddy, and...

Holy crap... we all look the same in wetsuits. Especially the guys (sorry guys, but I can at least look for a girl's ponytail if she's got one.)

So how do you guys recognize your buddy if they don't have something unique like white fins or color on their wetsuit?

Find something that is distinctive and remember it...
I usually start to "study" the new people on the boat: it's easy and simple.
I also usually point out some of mine distinctive features, like "I'm the one with the purple fins" so they can recognise me...

 

[Soloist]

High contrasting duct (duck) tape on your fins will do the trick. Every color imaginable is readily available and it’s very resilient.

 

[TMHeimer]

I find when I'm diving in a group (and most folks have rented gear) that I absolutely mistake someone else for my buddy and am going along and suddenly -- "oh s**t".

Either that or I find myself SO focused on my buddy that my whole dive was just a view of my buddy's butt.

I guess I'll become better with experience and learn better proprioception.

A bit of a tangent, but you're my kind of buddy. Not like a few I've had who don't seem to pay attention to staying within close range or even visible range (low viz dives)--as much as I do. It can be a pain in the neck (sometimes literally) staying with a buddy. Perhaps that's one reason I went to a lot of solo dives. But I would try to improve on the butt-looking thing. Probably not the best positioning, as a better one would be almost side by side with the follower slightly behind. That's my favourite anyway.

 

[rabe]

it’s very resilient.

Is it?
I'm a little bit concerned about using tape (turtles and other creatures find tape really yummy, and then they die in a very painful way) underwater...

 

[tmassey]

Either that or I find myself SO focused on my buddy that my whole dive was just a view of my buddy's butt.

I guess I'll become better with experience and learn better proprioception.

I went years diving like that: where I had looked more at my buddy than anything else. The nice thing is, at least it’s a safe way of diving. I’d rather look at my buddy too much than too little. But you are right: no one dives so they can stare at someone else’s tank the whole time.

And you are also right: with better experience you will have more capacity for keeping your buddy in mind without staring at him. For me, losing my buddy was almost always a matter of being fixated on some other task, and then when I was done having no idea of where my buddy was. When tasks don’t take all of your attention, that tends not to happen.

Of course as your diving becomes more challenging that can change back. I recently finished intro cave. And I realized that I looked at very little of the cave except the cave line the whole time! The lost line drill you have to do really teaches you the importance of keeping an eye on that cave line…

 

[flyboy08]

Sexy Hot Pink Steel Fuzzy Furry Handcuffs Hand Cuffs

 

[uncfnp]

Is it?
I'm a little bit concerned about using tape (turtles and other creatures find tape really yummy, and then they die in a very painful way) underwater...

Actually, yes it is. I have had reflective duct tape on my SMB to help identify me to the boat captain for years. After the last trip I planned to replace it since it had lost some of its reflectivity. Could not even peel a corner off.

 

[Wingy]

Sometimes...you just find yourself with an extra buddy. Years ago diving the king cruiser wreck which is almost if not as crowded as USAT liberty with a ridiculous amount of dive boats all on the wreck at the same time I found myself being shadowed by a large man who I did not descend with. Underwater stalker? No just a guy who forgot to put his contacts in and mistook me for his teenage son...I haven't been a teenager for a very very long time and I've never been a son. On surfacing he realised his mistake and then had to frantically start searching for him - found safe sound and freaking out because his dad was missing....on the wrong boat. Mr Myopic was embarrassed when he realised he was on entirely the wrong boat but relieved when we took him over to the big orange boat.

 

[rabe]

Actually, yes it is. I have had reflective duct tape on my SMB to help identify me to the boat captain for years. After the last trip I planned to replace it since it had lost some of its reflectivity. Could not even peel a corner off.

Good to know!