On Your Own: The Buddy System Rebutted By Bob Halstead

[markmud]

I believe that all divers should be trained primarily as self-sufficient - solo - divers. They must learn to take personal responsibility for their actions in the water. If they are not capable of this, then they should still be in the care of an instructor. Once they are capable divers, if they then wish to share their dive with another independent diver that they trust, that is excellent. But the present hypocrisy that states that solo diving is unsafe while paying lip service to a buddy system that is so obviously failing is retarding the development of diving and increasing its danger needlessly.

Hi happy-diver,

Above is my money quote. The author is right-on and I have worked to be self-sufficient, self-reliant, or a solo diver even when diving in a buddy pair. I will strive to be your best wing-man, but if you don't reciprocate, I will rely on my redundant gear and training to save myself.

thanks for the thread,
m

 

[markmud]

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.

Hey Mac 64,

I agree with everything you wrote above. I would add that I see more stuff while solo diving. It is 100% diving and nothing else.

Sometimes I am spontaneous. On the spur of the moment, I am packing my dive gear and heading for something divable.

Funny thing about my solo diving...in many cases I ended the day talking with people that I saw u/w. I solo dive and then socialized with people I saw u/w or met on the beach or boat.

I am not anti-social. I like solitude and I also enjoy being part of a large group or team. There is nothing better than a big party, on the surface or in the water.

...if you're anti social and being alone suits you...dive alone...

Hi Warren,

I think "anti social" is a little harsh. In many situations, I choose to dive when no one else wants too, and I prefer diving solo to crying in my beer over how no one wants to dive. Whether I am shoreside or on a boat.

"Hey, anyone up for a dive?" No...are you sure...OK, I am going solo.

"See ya!"

markm

 

[Bob DBF]

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.

My view is solo is diving by oneself on purpose. There is a level of preparedness involved, however sometimes I believe some people's view of that has an element of overkill. So when I hear Solo with a buddy I view that as diving with someone with no commitment to them. When I dive with a buddy with a solo mindset, it's called Same Ocean Buddy, and we have little or no contact after we splash.

Self reliant would be the same knowledge and skill set, however it is directed at being a better buddy rather than the solo mindset of no buddy. At that point you are buddy diving, and with any luck one is working on their buddy skills as well as diving skills.



Bob

 

[Schwob]

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.

To answer your question:
I dive solo in two ways:
Mostly so far with someone but always counting on my own self reliance more than my buddy. But I also sometimes dive solo in the tru sense of the word as in nobody is with me.

About my post so:
Yes, I was playing (hence ) on the term "solo" implying being alone.

That should answer your question.

To be clear, I was not at all stating that that indeed is the only way to solo-dive - not joining that endless argument.
But to me, with English as a second language, "solo" would be one thing (diving alone) and "self reliant" would be the other. Yes I do know that defacto they can and are used interchangeably. I still stand to my pun and it was just that, no more, no less: a pun.

 

[Celt]

Hey Mac 64,

I agree with everything you wrote above. I would add that I see more stuff while solo diving. It is 100% diving and nothing else.

Sometimes I am spontaneous. On the spur of the moment, I am packing my dive gear and heading for something divable.

Funny thing about my solo diving...in many cases I ended the day talking with people that I saw u/w. I solo dive and then socialized with people I saw u/w or met on the beach or boat.

I am not anti-social. I like solitude and I also enjoy being part of a large group or team. There is nothing better than a big party, on the surface or in the water.



Hi Warren,

I think "anti social" is a little harsh. In many situations, I choose to dive when no one else wants too, and I prefer diving solo to crying in my beer over how no one wants to dive. Whether I am shoreside or on a boat.

"Hey, anyone up for a dive?" No...are you sure...OK, I am going solo.

"See ya!"

markm

Absolutely Mark their is no them or us, for me I just found myself wanting to dive more than others, and theirs nothing worse than a half hearted buddy looking up at the sky asking is the weather going to change? But when you think about it, you have a great buddy when your with a solo diver

 

[caruso]

Absolutely Mark their is no them or us, for me I just found myself wanting to dive more than others, and theirs nothing worse than a half hearted buddy looking up at the sky asking is the weather going to change? But when you think about it, you have a great buddy when your with a solo diver

@mac64 you are absolutely correct, there is no them or us, and there is nothing worse than a half hearted buddy, and you have a great buddy when you're with a solo diver.

 

[Celt]

@mac64 you are absolutely correct, there is no them or us, and there is nothing worse than a half hearted buddy, and you have a great buddy when you're with a solo diver.

Gabhaim leithsceal as mo ghramadai Bearla

 

[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!

Leadduck, all joking aside your point is well taken. But the comparison between insta-buddies and solo divers is like comparing apples and oranges. Insta-buddies, at least the ones I've dove with had less than 50 dives. Solo divers have far more experience (>= 100 dives with PADI, SSI maybe the same). So, sure there will probably be more incidents with those type of buddies. Another issue is one of trust. You don't know what an insta-buddy is going to do in any given situation but that can be mitigated somewhat by a pre-dive briefing. I am solo certified. In order of preference I would dive with: (1) a trusted buddy, (2) solo (with the right equipment), (3) insta-buddy. When I'm on vacation I don't bring a pony bottle so when I dive charters I put myself at the mercy of whoever I'm assigned as a buddy. In those cases I do a pre-dive check/discussion with my new buddy however brief it may be.

 

[beester]

I follow all of you in that solo diving can be quite liberating in some ways. You don't need to consider someone else, constantly look over your shoulder, make sure everything is ok with your buddy, etc.. you don't need to adjust your plan because someone else is feeling cold, uncomfortable, whatnot. Maybe you want to do a dive that nobody in his right mind want so participate in (I once wanted to do a life burn test of my suex XK1 scooter.. so I dived it solo in a lake, took me close to 4 hours before the battery finaly ran out... nobody in his right mind wanted to participate in that... so a solo dive it was).

But then I discovered real team diving, and a lot of the hassles that could push you towards solo diving (the bad communication, the bad positioning, the looking over your shoulder all the time, etc) disappeared. So I got the benefits of solo diving (in a way) plus the safety of buddies. Win.. Win!

Finally something KWS pointed out that is valid. Sometimes diving with buddies of a different level, transfers knowledge... like in a non instructing but mentoring kind of way which you lose when diving solo or always with the same level of divers. I was doing a dive with 3 recreational divers of various experience this weekend. Since I don't know the lake we were diving very well one of the rec divers took the lead, doing navigation, etc. (ie I was in the lazy seat). After the dive the leading diver asked me why I kept the point of my light (flare) always close to where his light was shining in front of him. He told me he really liked it because he always knew where I was without having to look around. TADAAAA... instant eureka moment for him, while I explained him the concept of passive light communication

 

[NAUI Wowie]

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 TheChairman):


"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."

then you had best eliminate the very first post on this thread by the O.P.

its saying you should never buddy dive as its dangerous......... he or she who lives in glass houses and chilly your talking about a glass house. you cant have a one way discussion with frothing at the mouth solo divers saying all people are at risk of dying by buddy diving and let them rant nonsense and then try to chastise people for making logical sense rebutting such nonsense.

And again....I am getting my solo and will....with redundant air of course....