Mixed gear buddy diving.

[northernone]

Mixed teams, differing mindsets towards gear.

Roughly I have noticed two styles of experienced diver when it comes to equipment. (Perhaps this observation will welcome critique or modification)

1. Refined configuration and passionately committed to their equipment. The right tool for the job. Train how you dive.

2. Broad range of gear configurations and will dive pretty much anything that provides a breathable gas consistently. Hookah, rebreather, monkey dive... Whatever tool is handy.

How has it worked out when diving to be with someone with different gear philosophies?

I first noticed this diving with a pair of new friends. He and his regular long time buddy had radically different equipment configurations and from different training brands. Confirmed alternative air locations. Agreed a plan and had a delightful dive together with both of them.

The other end of the spectrum was a newly met guy who asked me to take off my bungee necklace so I could put my alternative air source in the same place as his. (Reg keeper on the shoulder webbing) He wanting his muscle memory utilized if he needed to find my reg in an emergency.

I'm hoping to avoid UTD/GUE vs the world bloodbath threads of yesteryear. Also avoiding advocating unsafe diving practices vs all sane divers. Rather, how do you handle competent divers with varying approaches to gear when voluntarily in the water with them.

I'm interested in compared experiences with how to work with mixed philosophies of diving. Or is segregation the answer?

Regards,
Cameron

 

[KevinNM]

Your necklace is for YOU. Not for him. So no, not going to do that.

 

[RainPilot]

Muscle memory for taking someone else’s reg? That’s....interesting. I definitely have preferences toward streamlined and minimal dive gear but not enough to miss a dive. If I need to I’ll grab any config that’s going and move on. Always have a bungee though. Once I move up to bigger dives this will probably change.

This is where the buddy check comes in with familiarisation with where the important bits are.

 

[tbone1004]

what @KevinNM said

Depending on what I'm doing, I fall into either 1 or 2. In a cave, I'm usually pretty strict about what I dive in terms of configuration. It's not rigid by any means and I have no problem making small changes which is the nature of sidemount. Those of us that actually dive sidemount for what it was intended for are constantly making tweaks to try to improve it since we don't have the longevity of backmount.

If I'm in OW doing fun dives, I frankly couldn't care less what I'm breathing from.
Backmount doubles, indy, isolatable, straight bar, don't care
Regs in strange configs, doesn't matter
Double hose? bring it on, love my Kraken, octo optional
BCD when diving in a bathing suit with a lp72 or al80? Not needed

That said, when I am diving with a pair of single hose regulators *get's a bit complicated with primary donate on a double hose*, that reg around my neck is mine and I will NOT move it to my shoulder for someone elses benefit. You do not get to "take" my gas under any circumstances. You get to ask for it nicely and then I will kindly give it to you. If you have a problem with that, then we don't dive.
Don't want to be a jerk, but I firmly believe that primary donate is significantly safer than secondary take and refuse to dive like that if I can help it. Obviously on CCR and double hose it gets a bit weird, but in either of those circumstances, you still have to ask for it