How to stay w your buddy in murky water

[Teamcasa]

If the vis goes to pot, my wife and I just hold hands and start our ascent. If we get separated we go into our fall back (pre-discussed) plan of her staying put flashing her dive light for two minutes while I look for her. If I can not find her, we both begin our ascents and re-group on the surface. Thank goodness, we have never had to do this but the plan still gets discussed.

 

[Diver0001]

Keeping together in poor viz isn't that complicated. Bob already made a good post but here are my three golden rules for turbid water:

1) Get on the same page before the dive. If you don't then you're likely to do something your buddy didn't expect and you'll end up losing them.

2) The worse the viz is, the more important it is to communicate changes of depth, tempo or direction BEFORE you do it.

3) Go slow.

R..

 

[lavachickie]

Thanks for the talk about buddy lines. For new rec divers, I've thought in some conditions it would actually make a borderline dive doable -- but seems there isn't much talk about it as a viable, respectible option.

One of my most productive dives was in almost zero vis at Redondo in WA when we used compass to reach (almost) everything we sought. Really it was large pockets of 1-3' viz with areas of 10'. Lost my husband twice, found each other due to a shared heading and a little luck, and didn't call the dive because it was good at honing the skills we were using. I'd do it again (and more) with just a little more security, and the buddy line would do it.

 

[Diver0001]

Thanks for the talk about buddy lines. For new rec divers, I've thought in some conditions it would actually make a borderline dive doable -- but seems there isn't much talk about it as a viable, respectible option.

Some of that is just bigotry. Using a buddy line CAN be an option but it's not a good substitute for skills.

The local CMAS clubs here all teach buddy line usage as SOP for turbid water so I see people diving with them all the time. Although I personally don't.

What I've noticed about the buddy line is that it takes skill to learn to dive with one. If you can't dive and you want to use the buddy line as a skills crutch then you'll very likely end up making a bad situation worse. I've seen people get their buddy line wrapped around their own tank valves and even around other divers! If you want to use one, you need to practice with it first.

Like everything else in diving, the people with the most negative things to say about it will invariably be people who have never used one.

R..

 

[Rick Inman]

Like everything else in diving, the people with the most negative things to say about it will invariably be people who have never used one.

R..

I may prove your point here. I've seen them used but never used one myself. And from my observations, it's always looked like the people who use them do not have the skills to safely do so, and the people with the skills to use them don't need them. YMMV

 

[Purple Jos]

I live in the MidAtlantic region in the United States, so many of the available dive areas are quite murky. What are some techniques for maintaining contact with your dive buddy in very low visibility conditions? Additionally, what are some recommended contingency plans if you lose visual contact with your buddy in unfamiliar waters?

The only thing I think I can add to this thread is at the start of the dive, if I see that the vis is bad, I descend holding hands with my buddy so we don't lose each other on the way down.

 

[TSandM]

I did a couple of dives with a friend (*dave*) a couple of weeks ago, where the viz was never more than 5' and sometimes well below that. We dove shoulder to shoulder (and frequently kicked one another!) with good lights, and we had no issues at all with separation. (Issues trying to see anything or navigate, now that's another story.)

My cave and tech training has taught me that line is evil. It grabs and wraps around anything it can find, and if it has any slack in it, it's bad news. I'd much prefer just to sacrifice my personal space and put up with bumping along, to avoid using a line in very low viz.

 

[travis99]

We dive in 0 vis (for work). We hold hands, and use guide ropes. We also thoroughly discuss our plan, and have different signals we will use in case of an emergency. It's cool to hold hands underwater. You wont loose any man points. Only in 0 vis though, if you can see like five or six feet you will loose man points if you hold hands.

 

[redacted]

We dive in 0 vis (for work). We hold hands, and use guide ropes. We also thoroughly discuss our plan, and have different signals we will use in case of an emergency. It's cool to hold hands underwater. You wont loose any man points. Only in 0 vis though, if you can see like five or six feet you will loose man points if you hold hands.

What is she is cute?

 

[redacted]

Post #13


I imagine the tether line comes in handy during rescue of a disoriented/panicky diver in low viz as well?

No experience with that.