Nicky the Fish
Registered
I have two questions, But I'll ask this one first: How close do you stay to your buddy, and what would you consider a safe limit of distance? Maybe I'll suggest beautiful vis and no current as a scenario.
How close is your Buddy?
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kadleck
Contributor
The question you should ask yourself is "how close do I want my buddy to be?". In the event of an emergency - say out of air - can you get to your buddy before panic sets in?
You should also always be aware of your buddy - swimming side by side, rather than one behind the other will help avoid buddy separation (if you are the one in front, are you sure where your buddy is?). There is much talk of maintaining eye contact. That is not really practical, but you should at the very least be aware of your buddy at all times, and be able to attract his attention if necessary (tank banger?).
Whatever you decide to do, discuss it before you dive. For instance, where do you expect your buddy to be (left or right of you)?
Another thing that is easily forgotten - Regularly communicate your tank pressure to each other, and stick to the planned ascent pressure when the first buddy reaches that pressure.
See also this thread... http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/basic-scuba-discussions/258854-how-buddy.html
You should also always be aware of your buddy - swimming side by side, rather than one behind the other will help avoid buddy separation (if you are the one in front, are you sure where your buddy is?). There is much talk of maintaining eye contact. That is not really practical, but you should at the very least be aware of your buddy at all times, and be able to attract his attention if necessary (tank banger?).
Whatever you decide to do, discuss it before you dive. For instance, where do you expect your buddy to be (left or right of you)?
Another thing that is easily forgotten - Regularly communicate your tank pressure to each other, and stick to the planned ascent pressure when the first buddy reaches that pressure.
See also this thread... http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/basic-scuba-discussions/258854-how-buddy.html
Last edited:
Noboundaries
Guest
Kadleck gave solid advice. We've learned the hard way.
The mistake my wife and I made when diving in Cozumel was basically diving solo even though we were in the water together. We'd both get caught up taking pictures and pretty soon we were separated. Since 30 of our puny 47 dive total is in Cozumel or the Yucatan, we unfortunately developed that bad habit. I'll take the fault for that because basically I've been a solo everything for anything I've ever done. Being a good buddy is something I'm still learning.
In February we were diving Monterey with our daughter in low vis conditions and lost my wife on one occasion when she got focused on taking a picture while I was focused on navigating. We were exercising our bad habits again.
On our last dives in May we were diving off Catalina and swimming single file through the kelp canopy at about 50 fsw. My wife, following me, got all balled up in fishing line that I somehow missed. When I checked on her about a minute later, she was just catching up with me. I didn't hear her banging her tank to get my attention.
After that dive we bought an underwater communication device (Dive Alert Plus); we decided only one of us will have a camera from now on, and we'll stay within arms reach of each other at all times, side by side if possible.
The mistake my wife and I made when diving in Cozumel was basically diving solo even though we were in the water together. We'd both get caught up taking pictures and pretty soon we were separated. Since 30 of our puny 47 dive total is in Cozumel or the Yucatan, we unfortunately developed that bad habit. I'll take the fault for that because basically I've been a solo everything for anything I've ever done. Being a good buddy is something I'm still learning.
In February we were diving Monterey with our daughter in low vis conditions and lost my wife on one occasion when she got focused on taking a picture while I was focused on navigating. We were exercising our bad habits again.
On our last dives in May we were diving off Catalina and swimming single file through the kelp canopy at about 50 fsw. My wife, following me, got all balled up in fishing line that I somehow missed. When I checked on her about a minute later, she was just catching up with me. I didn't hear her banging her tank to get my attention.
After that dive we bought an underwater communication device (Dive Alert Plus); we decided only one of us will have a camera from now on, and we'll stay within arms reach of each other at all times, side by side if possible.
Great post from both noboundaries and Kadleck.
Noboundaries... I also fell into that scenario, I had one of my great friends let me know that my Camera has taken the place of my buddy.
It is a tough lesson to learn, I have just been lucky that I have not had any real incidents.
KADLECK. gave some very good sound advice that a lot of us including myself sometimes need to learn to stick to!
Noboundaries... I also fell into that scenario, I had one of my great friends let me know that my Camera has taken the place of my buddy.
It is a tough lesson to learn, I have just been lucky that I have not had any real incidents.
KADLECK. gave some very good sound advice that a lot of us including myself sometimes need to learn to stick to!
NudeDiver
Contributor
Depends on circumstances. In some cases, we held hands on the dive because visibility was for ****. In other cases, my buddy has left me in the dust and I didn't see him until we were back on the boat (instabuddy...).
But in perfect conditions, I'd say that within 15 feet is reasonable - IF both buddies are constantly on alert and ensuring the other is around. To implement that, I'd say you need to visually locate your buddy every 10 seconds or less, and satisfy yourself with your distance. As others have pointed out, advance planning and communication is very helpful. The more you know what to expect of each when you get in the water, the better your buddiness will tend to be.
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Our qualitative definition is, "close enough to be able to intervene immediately when required to do so by an emergency."
What that means quantitatively is arms' length.
What that means quantitatively is arms' length.
BioLogic
Contributor
My buddy and I are both new divers (so this is simply an answer to a question and not an attempt to advise), and we both trained in really stinky visibility. Our buddy plan is to stay within arm's reach and within each other's visual field.
potato cod
Contributor
My husband and I got separated on our 10th dive ever, which was not at all fun, and have been very diligent about keeping much better tabs on each other and diving much closer (just a bit farther than arms length) ever since. At first we overcompensated and were bumping into each other too much, so we adjusted with a little more distance, practice, and better bouyancy control.
Discussion of the dive plan is always a good thing, then diving the plan. There are many instances where I want my buddy close; I don't want to have to do anything but stretch my hand and touch my buddy. I also have buddies that we plan a dive as if we are solo. This is a contingency in the event one or the other of us did not want to travel the same path once at depth. While this is by no means what you/anyone should do (I am not endorsing this bahavior) it works well for me with this selective group I dive with.
For me the answer to "How Close" is:
1. As close as necessary and
2. As far away as possible.
Many (most? - all?) divers love the freedom of movement that the water gives us and thus I, for one, am loathe to give up that freedom of movement. Yet Thal absolutely nailed it -- your buddy IS your emergency backup and thus must be close enough to be of help when, and if, it is needed.
I dive mostly in Puget Sound which doesn't have "excellent" vis most of the time. In fact, because of that, we tend to have much more freedom of movement because we are able to use our lights (yup, 21 watt can lights) to let us know where our buddy is. Thus we usually don't need either tactile or direct eye contact to be aware that the buddy is just a few feet away.
This does lead to problems when we go South and dive in the "clear, warm and sunny" waters -- out lights become useless as signaling devices. Then we have to "tighten it up" and, sometimes, not do it very well!
Quantitative: One instructor asked me how far I could swim without a breath -- we tried 20 feet. I was to take a breath, take my reg out, clip it to my BC and then swim to him, about 20 feet away, get his attention and signal for air -- I did. 20 feet is my absolute limit!
1. As close as necessary and
2. As far away as possible.
Many (most? - all?) divers love the freedom of movement that the water gives us and thus I, for one, am loathe to give up that freedom of movement. Yet Thal absolutely nailed it -- your buddy IS your emergency backup and thus must be close enough to be of help when, and if, it is needed.
I dive mostly in Puget Sound which doesn't have "excellent" vis most of the time. In fact, because of that, we tend to have much more freedom of movement because we are able to use our lights (yup, 21 watt can lights) to let us know where our buddy is. Thus we usually don't need either tactile or direct eye contact to be aware that the buddy is just a few feet away.
This does lead to problems when we go South and dive in the "clear, warm and sunny" waters -- out lights become useless as signaling devices. Then we have to "tighten it up" and, sometimes, not do it very well!
Quantitative: One instructor asked me how far I could swim without a breath -- we tried 20 feet. I was to take a breath, take my reg out, clip it to my BC and then swim to him, about 20 feet away, get his attention and signal for air -- I did. 20 feet is my absolute limit!
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