On Your Own: The Buddy System Rebutted By Bob Halstead

[lermontov]

. I would not make a 200 ft trimix dive solo. .

because?

 

[W W Meixner]

**** Halstead...

Scuba diving is like so many other sports/hobbies/pastimes...it's social...with options...advantages...as well as disadvantages...

For those who like to be in charge...dependant divers may be to your liking...if your partner is not suitable for what ever reason...find a new partner...if you're anti social and being alone suits you...dive alone...

This subject has been discussed many times...and there is no answer...

You can dive with a partner...and enjoy the pre and post experience together...or you can dive alone...throw your gear in the car post dive...and sit alone at the corner bar stool and enjoy your beer/wings...satisfied with the company of your own mind...

I just returned from a week in Tobermory...dove every day with an experienced OC diver who I had never met before this week...we had a great time together...pre and post dive included...I may never see him again...but we enjoyed the time we shared...swapped lots of stories...laughed our asses off...shook hands yesterday...thanked each other...and parted...nothing I'd want to change...

You can't share the enjoyment of anything...if you're alone...

In diving as well as everything else...if you don't like your current circumstances...make some changes...if you're a complainer...you're going to complain regardless of what you do...

Make your choice...

W...

 

[Celt]

For me there is nothing more enjoyable than sharing the experience of a memorable dive with a close friend, it’s a moment never forgotten. But when I’m alone in the water I’m totally focused on every little thing around me, I’m sharper ,I’ll plan the dive meticulously and go over it in my head down to the last detail. I don’t know which is safer but there is a degree of complacency with more people in the water. I think it is down to the individual divers.

 

[chillyinCanada]

No, all active threads show on the right side of the forum. Thats how I and most people find these threads. I never look in solo diving. I read whats currently being talked about. EVERY new diver or person thinking of becoming a diver can and may read this thread.

do you know about that facet of this website? Its called " Latest Discussions" and is the first thing many people visit on scubaboard.

also to your second point, you say that this thread and im paraphrasing....is to help people that want to solo dive do so ....

I am saying THAT is not true. This thread has a couple of die hard people on a soapbox saying IT IS VERY DANGEROUS TO SOLO DIVE.

thats the reason this thread is so active. which again makes it visible to every person visiting this site btw.....the thread is active because a couple people are saying buddy diving is dangerous. others are saying hogwash. that includes me. If you are agreeing that anyone is better off diving without a buddy then im saying thats false.

like i said earlier in this thread, if every scuba diver solo dived there would be a lot of dead bodies in wetsuits floating all over this planet right now. and some of them will be people we know

May I draw your attention (and the attention of other nay sayers in this thread to a portion of the stickie attached to this subforum, written by The Chairman):


"This is a no-troll zone! The discussion is not to be centered around whether to do a solo dive, but in the techniques and strategies involved. *Do not participate if you have already decided that solo diving is not for you!* Thanks in advance."

 

[NAM001]

because?

whether safe or not it is just what I would limit my own solo diving to. Depth amplifies the effects of problems. When I dive solo i do it for pleasure and in that light i have set my own set of limits to include ding it in shallow waters. I suppose that I dont for see anything that would be that interesitng to go to that depth that I would explore on my own and still remain in a minimize hazzard environment. I personally no more do a deep dive as i would a drift dive solo. Just personal choice.

 

[NAM001]

No you have a civic duty as a diver to help and assist this non functional person not die. As long as it doesnt put you at risk. Im not saying wrestle with a panicked diver at 100ft deep. But if you are saying just watch em die when you can help then......wow....wheres the humanity.

p.s. would it make a difference if it was a non functional female diver? would you feel a paternal or human instinct to help if you knew it wasnt just some average jerk male diver that deserves what he gets for being stupid?

just sayin man. come on. I hope to one day be able to save someones life somewhere somehow. I thought that feeling was in every mans heart. Forget being Captain Solo, how about embracing being the Lone Ranger? Heck even the Lone Ranger had a buddy sidekick

no and i was not looking at the post as to my obligation to others but rather as my expaectation of others to me. My point was no matter why you cant find your buddy it makes no difference the end result is that the buddy is not in sight and you are at that point alone. no one to assist you if you need it. whether distraction or jaws came and ate the buddy the end result is you are now alone and no longer can depend on others until you can find them and reunite with them.

 

[NAM001]

Totally agree. But that is not a flaw in the System, it is a flaw in the diver.

Rule Number 1.

I agree and it does link to training because it is not really emphasized in training and that is where org's olie GUE ant UDT type training differs

IMO regular training teaches diving with others attending the five and the for mentioned teaches............. diving with ,,,,, others being an functional component of the dive. 2 different out looks 2 different views of the value of the buddy and the end of training.

 

[caruso]

just sayin man. come on. I hope to one day be able to save someones life somewhere somehow. I thought that feeling was in every mans heart.

I don't walk or swim around thinking "I hope to come across a diver in serious trouble so I can save their life". In fact the thought never occurred to me. I think it's rather odd.

 

[Kharon]

I've purchased pony bottles for both of us and the only thing that holds me back from adding them to our gear set, permanently, is the added cost of air transport and issues with getting them filled at all dive shops where we vacation.

I've never paid more for carrying a pony - either in checked bags or carry-on. As far as filling, I fill mine with an adapter. Simply connect to a full tank and equalize. My H2Odyssey valve/1st stage has adapters for both filling from the station or from another tank. I find it far easier to just do my fills myself.

Bob Halstead sadly passed away 18 December 2018... he and his wife Dinah were pioneers in the PNG liveaboard dive scene with MV Telita, and an often outspoken critic of overly bureaucratic nonsense in the dive industry.

Thanks for the links. I'll be reading them front to back till I get to the end. Both entertaining and profound.

 

[caruso]

I've never paid more for carrying a pony - either in checked bags or carry-on. As far as filling, I fill mine with an adapter.

I'll second this, in my experience there's never been an additional cost to carrying a pony bottle on an airline, either in checked or carry-on, although it makes it a bit more difficult to keep the bags under the maximum weight limit.

As far as fills go, there's pretty much always a fill station at whatever Dive Op I'll be using on my trip and they're always happy to oblige me on a fill although sometimes it's not possible to get it done prior to the first dive depending on schedule and logistics. When I fly to Florida, I almost always land in Fort Lauderdale whether I'm diving locally, or headed south to the Keys, or north to West Palm, and Divers Direct is right by the airport so it's a regular stop for me to get the pony filled. I don't typically need to fill it again during the trip, as I don't typically breathe from it.