No formal safety check

[Happyladydiver]

So I did my first dove since becoming certified and it went well enough. However, it wasn’t what I thought. I didn’t get to set up my own gear as the instructor who was on the dive rushed in and took over for me as he wanted to get going. He was my buddy at first as I was new and had no buddy.

Once out there, it was just a flurry of activity in the boat and I didn’t see any safety checks. He set mine up so he knew it was ok but I could only verbally ask him about his as he was frankly too eager to get going to wish to deal with it. I don’t know if other people did theirs on land or what have you. I eventually was also paired with a different diver as the instructor had to help a refresher student. No checks happened. Everyone sort of had their gear placed on them quickly and off they went. It wasn’t deep, say 6 metres so I didn’t feel not safe.

Is this normal? Do I really have to be the annoying newbie pushing the issue as obviously being new I was a bit intimidated and that’s not usually who I am. Lol.

 

[flyboy08]

You need to SPEAK up and tell that DM to step back! Your certified now, you take responsibility to your surroundings. I have seen less and less SC on dive ops, but if you want to perform one on yourself, take all the time you need before splashing!

 

[David Novo]

The rushing (and lack of gear checks) happens often in my experience but I do not consider it normal. You should be the annoying wise person pushing the issue.

I would not let anyone else set up my gear.

 

[rick00001967]

what the hell is wrong with you ??!! you wanna check your gear and try to do what you were taught ??!! how dare you !!

haha just kidding of course.

i agree with the above posters. yes it happens. no it shouldn't. but as a certified diver, you are responsible for yourself. period. and if anyone ever tries to put you in a situation you are not comfortable with, either speak up and correct the situation, or walk away.

to me there is nothing worse then being on a dive (or golf haha) when people are rushing to get geared up, hurrying to get in the water, and obviously skipping the routine they were taught. don't be one of those divers !! do your thing. take your time. and dive when you are ready.

now all that said......there is still a responsibility on you to be on time and to start prepping your gear etc well before the boat reaches the dive site. that doesn't mean rushing. it means being prepared so you don't have to rush.

 

[kelemvor]

Is this normal? Do I really have to be the annoying newbie pushing the issue as obviously being new I was a bit intimidated and that’s not usually who I am. Lol.

Unfortunately, it's pretty standard. What I learned to do was to start setting up immediately upon boarding the boat. Then I've got plenty of time to do everything during the ride out while others are just sitting around bored. Carving out extra time like that helps me get the stuff I want to do done without making others wait on me.

It helps to bring a buddy with you who is of the same mindset as you with regards to setup and checklists and whatnot. Even better if you can go with a like-minded group that has the whole boat.

In short, your safety is mostly up to you.

 

[tursiops]

Yes, OP, you are responsible for yourself, but you also have a buddy with some potential responsibility for you and you for them. So check yourself over (typically, go head-to-toe, methodically, taking nothing for granted) and then TELL your buddy anything you think they need to know about your gear (weird buckles, odd octo placement, whatever) "just in case" and ASK them what do you need to know about their gear, "just in case"?

One problem with buddy checks is each agency teaches it differently (different acronyms, different sequencing) and if you are given an insta-buddy, they might not even know how to interpret YOUR buddy check.

With experience, you'll find that you can kinda just check visually over your buddy, and say gentle things like, "do you always dive with your regulator backwards?"

 

[boulderjohn]

I agree with those above who said that safety checks are very often ignored, and I agree that is not good. On the other hand, it may be happening more often than you think.

On a recreational dive with buddies I know well, you may think no safety check was done, but it was. We just do it inconspicuously, scanning each other as we finish gearing up and waiting for the beginning of the water entry. We always breathe off of each regulator and check inflators on our own as a part of the gearing up process.

Technical dives are a bit more complicated, and that will be more conspicuous.

 

[Zef]

First...I am a believer in doing a buddy check every dive even if doing multiple dives the same day with the same buddy. But I dive with folks who routinely dive with each other using the same configuration each dive and they do not always do a buddy check when diving with each other. Most of the diving here is quarry/lake diving and the mentality is that if an issue occurs it will usually occur at the beginning of the dive and worst case scenario it will result in surfacing temporarily and/or calling an end to the dive early.

I personally will go through a buddy check as I want my partner to know/be reminded where my dumps are, that I am using a long hose/primary donate and the 2nd stage under my chin is for me, I also personally want to ensure my pony bottle valve is open(on one occasion that I skipped the buddy check I forgot to open the valve on my pony bottle and had to do some preventative maintenance on my 1st stage to ensure it did not have any residual water in it after the dive). As a DM, I dive with a lot of new divers and mostly do the buddy check because it sets the right example, slows things down when the tendency is to rush, and psychologically provides confidence and calmness.

I personally don't care if my partner(s) reciprocate as I will usually eyeball their configuration and ask any questions if I have any long before we hit the water. I have been diving long enough in crappy visibility that I have confidence that I can figure things out underwater....and the only time I really need to be messing with my partner's gear unless I am diving with a student/client is if they are incapacitated such as becoming unconscious.

Your safety is ultimately your responsibility....and so is your comfort....if your partner is doing something like rushing you to the point that you feel uncomfortable/unsafe then you need to assert yourself....you also need to be willing to abort the dive plan before getting in the water....I have, on occasion, become overwhelmed with inexplicable sickness such as clogged sinuses or migraine like headache due to things I have heard divers in my group say/do before hitting the water, and refrained from splashing. I have also bumped into other folks that I knew at the dive site, not long after, and miraculously recovered.

I have been diving long enough that I am more than happy to sit one out if I feel the people I am with are not safe enough, for me, in their approach to diving....and I am also ok with those folks being pissed off and not wanting to dive with me again, as I wouldn't be venturing out with them again either.

If you stay in diving long enough you will see some weird, crazy, and stupid stuff. You will often ponder how some people survive some of the things they do...what is worse is that some them will be instructors and DMs.

Good luck with your diving. Dive smart and dive safe.

-Z

 

[drrich2]

There's a lot to unpack here. As a newly certified diver, I imagine you were taught you and your dive buddy were to execute a formal buddy check of each other, likely aided by a mnemonic, prior to every dive. This was obvious, detailed and took some time. Then you got on an actual dive boat and didn't see any of that, and you're wondering what's 'normal,' what to expect and how to deal with it. Good questions!

I didn’t get to set up my own gear as the instructor who was on the dive rushed in and took over for me as he wanted to get going.

It's a good idea to go over the setup of your own gear; pay attention to whether the regulator is attached to the tank and the air turned on, is the low pressure inflator hose hooked to your BCD so you can inflate, what's the starting tank pressure, etc... Sometimes watching someone else set your gear up (a service often offered and sometimes the default on dive boats; many people appreciate it, but you'll see plenty of posts on the forum deriding it) is okay, but it's your gear, your life, take that second look.

Once out there, it was just a flurry of activity in the boat and I didn’t see any safety checks.

Yes, and don't hold your breath expecting them. Over time some people get complacent, but also more independent and able to 'run the check' in their minds without pointing, saying things, etc...

If you watch me pre-dive, you see me pointing at each main piece of gear in turn while muttering, make an 'OK' sign, then do it again. I may do something similar before exiting the boat with gear...since I once left an expensive set of fins on a dive boat.

He set mine up so he knew it was ok but I could only verbally ask him about his

It's good to take mental note of others' setups, but don't expect everyone you meet to be 'drilled' by you. There are some less common gear configurations you would be aware of as you may encounter them. And Air2 ditches the standard octopus and builds one into the power inflator coming off the BCD. Some people use a 'long hose,' and in out-of-air situations donate their primary reg. and breath off their secondary, if I understand correctly. And a backplate/wing looks a little different from a standard BCD.

I don’t know if other people did theirs on land or what have you.

Unless you are diving with someone really new who you fear will get into trouble (and drag you into it with him), you may be best served with the old adage 'Live and let life.' Some people do it in their heads. Some may not do it at all.

I eventually was also paired with a different diver as the instructor had to help a refresher student. No checks happened.

It's worth noting you can quickly relay and ask about a couple of things without the whole checklist. I might mention I've got an octopus, and gesture at it, and my weights are integrated (I usually don't wear a weight belt, but may). I look at the other diver's rig to see if he's got an Air 2 or uses a weight belt.

Is this normal?

For a new diver to be rushed like you were probably isn't rare, but it's not ideal.

Another issue; modern mainstream OW coursework tends to indoctrinate an interdependent 'buddy system' style of diving. The farther out people get from that training, the more independent some grow. Many people don't have a consistent 'travel buddy,' and don't like relying on the inherent unknown of an instabuddy. Some of us have taken a solo diver course (or other coursework instilling independence), and we approach dives feeling responsible to monitor ourselves. That's why I sit there pointing and muttering like I'm nuts. I have a ritualized internal checklist.

You're facing one of the first 'challenges' of certified diving from boats; the boat milieu often appears much different from what you learned in class. But this is cause to be more mindful and more careful...not complacent and sloppy.

 

[TMHeimer]

This subject has been discussed a few times. I can't recall ever seeing a "formal" check on any boat. The only time I actually saw the routine was at the end of the Rescue course I took. Two buddies were facing each other at the shore doing the routine we all learned. Our instructor said it was a good lesson for us to keep an eye on them because they were probably newbies doing that. I know experienced buddies who often buddy up do slimmed down versions of it. Just the way it is.