On Your Own: The Buddy System Rebutted By Bob Halstead

[Sam Miller III]

@Bob DBF (and others)
post deleted too much historical data for modern diver
sdm
.

 

[drbill]

I bet one will see a lot more trouble and incidents when diving with buddies, particularly instant buddies, than diving solo. However we always must distinguish between minor incidents and fatalities...

Certainly a valid point to consider. Since I currently have terminal cancer, I will only dive with a well-experienced dive buddy that I've dived with in the past.

 

[EFX]

I bet one will see a lot more trouble and incidents when diving with buddies, particularly instant buddies, than diving solo.

ya think! If you dive with a buddy and something happens to the buddy you can see it (and hopefully deal with it). If you are solo diving there's no incident to see because you're diving solo. Amazing insight!

 

[Charles Graves]

Your post is spot on about everything EXCEPT when you claim that diving in a group doesn't make you safer from marine attacks, such as great white sharks or tiger sharks for example.

There's a ton of evidence which shows that sharks are less likely to attack people in groups than they are to attack a solo diver. Obviously, sharks do not want to get injured, so they will be less bold to attack a group of divers.

But you're completely right about the buddy system often being a joke; I have found it's much safer when recreational diving, to just have either sidemount gear and 2 tanks, or at least have a pony bottle with enough air to get to the surface and do a 3 minute safety stop. (Or at the very least, go up slowly and get as close to a 3 minute safety stop as possible without running out of air.) The pony bottle turns "I will die if my buddy doesnt respond" type of emergency, into an "I will be able to survive, definitely, and the worst that'll happen is I might get mild DCS if I have to come up slightly faster than normal or shorten my safety stop" mild problem.

Having a second thing of air, with it's own independent regulator, is invaluable. And so is having a dive knife, dive scissors, a compass, and an SMB.

 

[chillyinCanada]

On behalf of Scubaboard
May I draw your attention (and the attention of other nay sayers) in this thread to a portion of the subforum rules 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 andstrategies involved. *DO NOT PARTICIPATE if you have already decided that solo diving is not for you!* Thanks in advance."

 

[Hickdive]

Hey H...

If the fin fits...

Some times when you're accused of not playing well with others...is it the fault of the accuser...or the accused...

Best...

W...

Ah so not a troll then, this is genuinely your position - that people who dive alone are anti-social, to the point of being the kind of person that "does not play well with others".

That's a fairly broad brush but I'm sure it's borne of your experience when such people don't wish to associate with you. The unkind might wonder if the common denominator is solo diving, or something else...

 

[NAM001]

Let's be realistic no business on the planet would receive legal advice to promote or encourage solo anything - and if they did their Public liability would be unsustainable. Call me cynical but id speculate that liability and costs are behind most/many training models that are reproduced in the public arena

Solo and buddy both have their place they can coexist without trying to prove that other is better or not. For me solo diving has psychological dimensions that buddy diving doesnt - that fact that you are alone and that if you get into trouble theres none to help you unmasks any hidden bravado that a buddy dive can hide. That personal inward struggle to overcome is very liberating
Some of my most enjoyable dives are with buddies -from me taking a beginner on a visually spectacular dive to doing a trimix wreck penetration with an equal.

I dont want to be exclusive - I want to embrace all facets of diving because at the end of the day its about enjoying the experience whether its solo or not. I love talking with my buddy about the dive at tea time over a red wine and then planning the next days adventure - Dive lodges and LOB are a wonderful extension to the day, turning a 2 hour dive experience into a 10 hour one.

But to get back the the original post the buddy system if operating correctly is like trainer wheels -at some point you should have enough skill and experience to take them off and go out and enjoy the ride without worrying if the other person is going to fall off. Theres a timeline .... most of the frustration seems to be brought about by one person who has not yet reached 'competent diver' while the other has.

The training system already has the infrastructure in place to supposedly measure competency - it just doesnt correlate to real life situations because everyone is on the learning curve whether it be at the start middle or towards the top of the curve.

Good point about the training wheels. IMO we all should look at the buddy system as a survival necessity for beginners until they get the experience and mastering of the skills. After that buddy system should be a mutual aspect of enjoying the dive with others.

I remember in a military is a leadership class discussion about oversitght. They say you job as a leader of the pack is to babysit them and train them so that one day you no longer have a functon in their groth. Once there you have no purpose and they are on their own. At that time you should move on to higher responsibility jobs and start over training more to again replace you. So is the job of a buddy, of at least making a buddy.

Its funny how solo divers are probably the best buddies

 

[Schwob]

What I am comparing is what I see of the divers that come down, in mass, to South Florida/Keys from all over the world, get on cattle boats and dive. Why I rarely dive on cattle boats. Bad buddy skills, poor buoyancy, kicking the reef. You see it all.

Which, of course, as implicit by definition, will never be observed with a true solo diver... (asides of the fact that actual solo divers really should be well past these issues)

 

[NAM001]

Which, of course, as implicit by definition, will never be observed with a true solo diver... (asides of the fact that actual solo divers really should be well past these issues)

Let me ask you ...... you say by implicit definition. I assume you mean solo is a proximity issue and you are by your self, rather than say my view of solo being a level of preparedness or skill with out the associated obligation to dive with a buddy for survival.

 

[NAM001]

A properly equipped and extremely experienced diver may well be better of alone, than buddied with a new diver who has 0-5 dives in the local environment.

However,’the “average” recreational diver is not equipped for solo and is often not that well trained or practiced. It probably makes more sense to promote better buddy diving skills rather than throwing out the whole buddy diving mindset- for most casual, recreational divers.

I truely hope no one is suggesting throwing out buddy diving. I think it is very important for a number of reasons. level of skills is one reason. What I would hope many would take home from this is to take the time with your buddy who ever it is in the right environments and be the leader to better the buddy adn their skills. one trait at a time and over time the avg diver with 50 dives will drastically improve. to tech folks hoover is no biggy. adn yet as a rec folok it is probably the most problematic aspect of the dive. If ou are on a boat tell the buddy that they looked a bit heavy or light or out of trim and to try something onthe next dive. I take my so called trainee buddies ( Im not an instructor) and work with them on not just basic things but more advanced skills. Tech guys think nothing about shootiing a buoy. find a rec guy that can shoot one or use a lift bag. I deliver the embarrassment of of failure and then follow up with the skills to finally do it. Whether it is hovering bag shoots moving buckets of rocks with a lift bag. air share and surfacing. All in shallow water of course, And at the end of the day we all feel like we acomplished something and are now better than we were in the morning. My view has always been to make others non dependant of me and visa versa. If all divers were skilled we would not have tanks falling out on the boats's 80 ft dives and bicycle riders at 50 ft The fact that these things happen should define the skills refresher list we all have.