Is a buddy in a cave considered to be liability ?

[palmm]

first off, since i am no one when it comes to diving. i always consider it safer to dive with a buddy. secondly, what fun is it to dive alone unless you are hunting. nothing to talk about the dive, how crazy it was, or what you saw. just a thought, if i sound like a retard just let me know.

 

[TSandM]

palmm, you actually have a very good point. Unlike in open water diving, where one often calls ones buddy's attention to things of interesting (so there can be a lot of interaction DURING the dive), in cave diving, you often swim the entire dive with no communication other than what is necessary to execute the dive. The sharing of the beauty and the wonder and the magic is all done afterwards.

I honestly couldn't imagine doing something like the Blue Abyss dive by myself, and coming out and going back to the condo and trying to explain it. It was far better to have had friends with me.

 

[palmm]

there is a ton of things that could happen while underwater, and the best thing is to have a buddy that can help you out. if you want to take it to the extreme, a buddy is like family, you would die for them, go to places that you normally would not go to, and do it again cause in life it is not the quanity of life, it is the quality of life.

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

there is a ton of things that could happen while underwater, and the best thing is to have a buddy that can help you out. if you want to take it to the extreme, a buddy is like family, you would die for them, go to places that you normally would not go to, and do it again cause in life it is not the quanity of life, it is the quality of life.

I'll do everything I can to help a buddy.... short of dying for them.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

there is a ton of things that could happen while underwater, and the best thing is to have a buddy that can help you out. if you want to take it to the extreme, a buddy is like family, you would die for them, go to places that you normally would not go to, and do it again cause in life it is not the quanity of life, it is the quality of life.

Last week while down in Florida I had a conversation with someone about people solo diving in caves. I said I didn't get it. His response was something along the lines of "just wait till the exploration bug bites you". His meaning, of course, was that in cases where very experienced cavers are not following established lines, but are going off down passageways where they have to lay their own lines ... places where, perhaps, having a second diver along may actually make the dive more complicated, going it alone may present a better option.

Of course, this assumes that the diver is sufficiently skilled and experienced to have anticipated what difficulties may arise, and has taken steps to prepare for dealing with them if they do.

The same thing applies to open water dives ... there are some circumstances where a diver may be better off alone than with a buddy ... WITH THE PROPER EXPERIENCE, PREPARATION AND MINDSET. The main reason why I solo dive is for photography ... it frees me up to concentrate on finding my subjects and spending more of my available mental bandwidth setting up and taking the the picture I want. But I will tell you that the decision to go solo impacts how I plan, prepare for, and execute the dive.

Buddies can be anything from your best asset to your worst nightmare ... depending on the circumstances of the dive and how well you interact with them. And going solo can be an asset or a liability, depending on the reasons why you do it and the mindset with which you approach it.

For someone to simply decide to go solo because they perceive buddy diving to be a liability doesn't suggest to me that they are doing it for the right reasons ... and all it really tells me about that diver is that they suck at choosing the right dive buddy.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[tasdiver]

ok, terri, cough up the story...

I'll tell it to you next time I see you. It had Tony and Lee laughing pretty hard

 

[Scott L]

Last week while down in Florida I had a conversation with someone about people solo diving in caves. I said I didn't get it. His response was something along the lines of "just wait till the exploration bug bites you". His meaning, of course, was that in cases where very experienced cavers are not following established lines, but are going off down passageways where they have to lay their own lines ... places where, perhaps, having a second diver along may actually make the dive more complicated, going it alone may present a better option.

Are there lobsters back in those passageways?

 

[tasdiver]

Buddies can be anything from your best asset to your worst nightmare ... depending on the circumstances of the dive and how well you interact with them

True . . .

and all it really tells me about that diver is that they suck at choosing the right dive buddy.

Partially true . . . it has happened to me and others I know.

But, anyone can have a bad day. I have had some of the best dive buddies anyone could ask for. I've made it a point to dive with people who were more experienced than I am. I received lots of great mentoring but even these buddies have "off" days.

 

[ucfdiver]

I've actually found the opposite. The people I know who solo dive regularly are much more stringent in doing checks and things, and also seem to be more situationally aware when I am diving with them. Actually my cave buddy prefers solo diving (though we buddy dive in the caves) and he's tied in equal place for best buddy I have ever had. Maybe I've been lucky... but these days I rarely have bad buddies.

I love solo diving myself, much more so than buddy diving in nearly all situations but I don't do it because I feel it is safer (given I have good buddies I would say my solo diving is more risky) but because I like being alone in the water. I wouldn't set up my gear in a way that made air sharing difficult even when diving alone because I've gained buddies underwater before... (in OW).

Maybe you guys are good with buddy skills after not practicing them. I would venture a guess that you're in the minority however.

 

[Kevin Carlisle]

Are there lobsters back in those passageways?

We dont reveal those secrets in public forums