How to dive in three's

[Hatul]

Any practical advice on diving in a three buddy system. I'm often faced with joining a buddy duo or diving solo off a boat.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

You need to have defined rolls. I dive with 3 often, this is 10X more critical than a buddy pair. I use one diver designated as the lead. The other 2 are pair as buddies and swim in a delta formation.

The idea is the pair work like a normal buddy team, looking to the side to make sure they remain in sight of each other. They can assist each other and of course since they are following the leader, he can see if he needs help. The leader has the responsibility of navigation, but does not have to worry much about the other 2 since the have each other. My advise to the leader is go slow, less chance of separation and they is almost always more to see the slower you go.

 

[SailNaked]

three is no harder than two as long as everyone agrees to stay in short swim distance from someone in group. if you are OOA how far are you willing to swim? how far would you expect your buddy to swim? Ps. never run out of air, check your guage.

real problem is if you dont take buddy team seriously, then is also does not matter if 2 3 or 6.

 

[nimoh]

You need to have defined rolls. I dive with 3 often, this is 10X more critical than a buddy pair. I use one diver designated as the lead. The other 2 are pair as buddies and swim in a delta formation.

The idea is the pair work like a normal buddy team, looking to the side to make sure they remain in sight of each other. They can assist each other and of course since they are following the leader, he can see if he needs help. The leader has the responsibility of navigation, but does not have to worry much about the other 2 since the have each other. My advise to the leader is go slow, less chance of separation and they is almost always more to see the slower you go.

I disagree a bit. The leader needs to have sight of the other two, otherwise if the other two stop to resolve an issue, the leader stops too.

I would recommend swimming three wide with the leader in the middle and only slightly ahead of the other two. If the diver on the right has an issue, they signal the leader and the leader signals the diver on the left. If visibility is good, it may be possible for each diver to monitor the other two at the same time.

 

[TMHeimer]

I disagree a bit. The leader needs to have sight of the other two, otherwise if the other two stop to resolve an issue, the leader stops too.

I would recommend swimming three wide with the leader in the middle and only slightly ahead of the other two. If the diver on the right has an issue, they signal the leader and the leader signals the diver on the left. If visibility is good, it may be possible for each diver to monitor the other two at the same time.

I like this one the best. But regardless of formation and duties, the big thing is stay very close.

 

[tphelps]

Any practical advice on diving in a three buddy system. I'm often faced with joining a buddy duo or diving solo off a boat.

Hi Adam, (sorry I stalked your profile lol)
Couple ways you could do this: 1) do the "triangle" formation and have 1 person lead with the other 2 buddy-ing up. The person leading should have the most experience with the dive site or the highest amount of diving experience. I was going to recommend you lead but as a Rescue Diver, it might be a good idea for you to be in the back pair so you can see everyone. Ive dove in a, heehee, "threesome" before and if we all have the same experience in the area, I lead and navigate because I'm an instructor.

2) You guys can stick together and dive side by side with alternating buddies. Let me explain: theres a group of 3 divers named Adam, Tyler and Cat. During the dive, Tyler will check on Adam, Adam will check on Cat and Cat will check on Tyler. Of course this would be madness if you were trying to ask each other's air...you would do it all at the same time. But during the dive, just look around for your "buddy" and see if he is okay. Everyone should take a compass heading if they have them with 2 as "back-up" navigators but 1 primarily navigating.

Hope this helps, happy safe diving!

 

[Hatul]

Thanks, those are all good ideas. Here's the problem I often face.

I come on a boat and everyone is buddied up. They're friends or couples and I join a pair, and they reluctantly accept me as the third person. We jump in the water and the two take off like a usual buddy team and I'm left to tag along, but I know if something goes wrong I'm on my own. I'm essentially diving solo, with all the disadvantages of having no control of where I go. Also the onus is on me to stay with them or I'll get left behind and it may be a while before they notice I'm gone. And while the best plans call for one person to be the leader, surely they're not going to let the stranger be the leader and interfere with their plans. So one of the two leads, the other of the couple follows and as above I'm stuck on my own.

So I must say the preferable thing on my last boat dive was to take my trusty pony tank and just dive solo and had a much better dive than forcing a reluctant 3 buddy team.

 

[chrpai]

+1 to solo diving

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

I disagree a bit. The leader needs to have sight of the other two, otherwise if the other two stop to resolve an issue, the leader stops too.

I would recommend swimming three wide with the leader in the middle and only slightly ahead of the other two. If the diver on the right has an issue, they signal the leader and the leader signals the diver on the left. If visibility is good, it may be possible for each diver to monitor the other two at the same time.

Disagreement never happens on Scuba Board

I tried this and did not like it. I prefer solo diving, one buddy is tolerable. I found as the middle person of the 3 I was having to spend so much time looking left and right at the others I did not enjoy the dive and swam right past the critters plus the person on the far left could not always see the person on the far right consistently. With a group of 3 well disciplined divers (DIRish), I suppose its possible, but my diving style is a bit more relaxed. Keeping one diver in front reinforces the leader/follower rolls and can be switched mid dive as needed. I am sure there are many ways to solve the issue, this just happens to work well for me when diving with my 2 sons.

 

[DevonDiver]

I found as the middle person of the 3 I was having to spend so much time looking left and right at the others...

That'd be a good incentive for light communications. The other thing I teach is to retain the team in your field of vision. I call it 'passive observation/contact'. You don't need to actively observe the buddy/ies, just ensure they remain at the edge of your FOV. If they signal clearly (lights or wave their arms), they should be able to attract your attention immediately.

This permits a line-abreast or shallow arrow-head type formation.... good for covering a wide area and critter spotting.

It does require practice though...and some discipline (as team divers) from those you accompany. Not really suitable for jumping on a cattle boat and diving with 2+ insta-buddies.... but then, what solution is??