On Your Own: The Buddy System Rebutted By Bob Halstead

[beester]

If your dive is primarily a site seeing expedition, then a buddy can make little (and maybe big) problems easier to deal with and their presence shouldn't really get in the way.

However, if you are on a "mission" to take a photo, a video, cover a certain considerable distance in an efficient manner, or you are trying to catch lobsters or fish... then coordination with a buddy often is not beneficial and can be a hindrance to your productivity.

If the visibility is really low, it also takes a lot of effort to maintain good buddy contact. I think the type of diving you are doing also is a big factor in how "helpful" a buddy is on a typical dive.

I don't really agree with this. It really depends on the team. I've been involved in project diving were we had to perform complex tasks at depth (from taking measurements, to documenting artifacts to full photogrammetry (3D) of a wreck).

For example photogrammetry would involve 1 team jumping ahead of the recording team to lay a line matrix on the wreck for the photo team to follow, then you have a 3 man team doing the recording where the middle guy is recording following the matrix lines at 30cm above the wreck, 1 light diver diving right on top of the recording diver shining his light in front just before the focus point and a 3rd light diver diving right behind the 2 divers shining under and to the front... this in bad vis, lots of current, situation, with entanglement hazards. This for more than 120 hours underwater involving always at least 4 teams in the water collecting more than 2 Terrabyte of data, to create a 3d model.

 

[loosenit2]

I don't really agree with this. It really depends on the team. I've been involved in project diving were we had to perform complex tasks at depth (from taking measurements, to documenting artifacts to full photogrammetry (3D) of a wreck).

For example photogrammetry would involve 1 team jumping ahead of the recording team to lay a line matrix on the wreck for the photo team to follow, then you have a 3 man team doing the recording where the middle guy is recording following the matrix lines at 30cm above the wreck, 1 light diver diving right on top of the recording diver shining his light in front just before the focus point and a 3rd light diver diving right behind the 2 divers shining under and to the front... this in bad vis, lots of current, situation, with entanglement hazards. This for more than 120 hours underwater involving always at least 4 teams in the water collecting more than 2 Terrabyte of data, to create a 3d model.

I'm not sure I understand your analogy. Are you saying that because you sometimes to complex dives that require well rehearsed and coordinated team members that Solo Diving is bad? There is a significant difference between what you use as an example and what you quoted, a diver doing a sightseeing recreational dive or a photographer working on getting a specific photograph. There would appear to be place for both in the world.

 

[tursiops]

split fins for more power

Huh?

 

[beester]

Heya Loosenit,

Yes i'm all for people deciding on their own what they want to do. I've done solo dives in the past, I understand the rational that insta buddies or maybe even general recreational buddies might not be a real benefit and could potentially be dangerous (depending on context and scenario).

What I refuse is variables like 'I'm on a mission", "I'm a photographer", "visibility is low" means the only solution is solo diving. It just isn't.

You can perfectly do team dives in low vis, while taskloaded and performing missions. I think most photographers could benefit from a good buddy, because (using the cliché) they tend to get a bit task focused looking that perfect pic, and forgetting about minor details like gas consumption, deco, and such.

 

[Hickdive]

Im not a gue diver but I have the basic idea about it. The big dfference in the GUE diving is it is training as a team member in all aspects of the dive. If you have not trained in that training construct then you are at the mercy of all that is lacking in any non dir/gue type of training process. And that is probably well in the upper 90's % region of the OW population. 30 ft dives ,,,clear a mask,, retrieve a reg,, watch some dvd's take a test and sign for your card is not the level needed for most dives. I am not saying that non DIR training is bad, I am saying that for the realities of diving I think it lacks a lot. Especially in the buddy aspects of diving.

I think this highlights an increasingly obvious fact: that there are three (arguably four) types of diving. Team diving, solo diving, and buddy diving, Buddy diving being what all the mainstream agencies teach. I would add "diving alone" i.e. those divers who are only trained or equipped for buddy diving, not team or solo diving, but for whatever reason find themselves alone underwater.

 

[chillyinCanada]

@Hickdive The latter is generally referred to as "same ocean" buddy diving.

 

[Khrissi]

Hmmm, yes , beginner diver I. However I am also a very experienced Tree surgeon, we are not allowed to work alone. All the above pros n cons apply there too ! All the levels of scuba diving hazards apply here too ! ( Instant death, painful injuries, life long injuries )
Just as indicated above, my best work is done with my best man alongside me, the worse work I have done is with a useless or inexperienced twonk.
Thou, in Scuba , you do get a choice. .....make it yr best choice every time... k

 

[loosenit2]

Heya Loosenit,

Yes i'm all for people deciding on their own what they want to do. I've done solo dives in the past, I understand the rational that insta buddies or maybe even general recreational buddies might not be a real benefit and could potentially be dangerous (depending on context and scenario).

What I refuse is variables like 'I'm on a mission", "I'm a photographer", "visibility is low" means the only solution is solo diving. It just isn't.

You can perfectly do team dives in low vis, while taskloaded and performing missions. I think most photographers could benefit from a good buddy, because (using the cliché) they tend to get a bit task focused looking that perfect pic, and forgetting about minor details like gas consumption, deco, and such.

thanks for the clarification, that makes a lot more sense to me and is a reasonable position. I do occasionally solo dive, but mostly because I can't find a buddy. When that happens I keep the dives conservative and use all the appropriate redundancies. A frequent buddy is my recently certified 14 yo daughter, and I have to admit that I approach diving with her not as a buddy dive but as a solo dive as well, I assume she will need my help but won't be able to provide me assistance, until she is a bit more experienced.

 

[jadairiii]

First, other than GUE (Rec 1), no current agency truly prepares a diver to be "good buddy". They swipe your credit card, throw you in the water, then hand you a C-Card. There are exceptions, but it is pretty much the rule. One only needs to go dive a cattle boat in the keys (or vacation destination) to confirm this.

That does not mean the "Buddy System" is a failure. It means that most agencies have failed to provide proper education. No way the "average" person interested in leaning to SCUBA dive would sign up for a 5-7 day, 8 hours a day, class, and pay for that service to become certified. Market is not there, they want instant gratification.

Solo diving is not "safer", it is just the current system of education has failed. And many that condemn the system just dont want to put the time in to train and work with others to be come a cohesive team. Poor training is also why SCUBA diving has such a high drop out rate.

 

[johndiver999]

I don't really agree with this. It really depends on the team. I've been involved in project diving were we had to perform complex tasks at depth (from taking measurements, to documenting artifacts to full photogrammetry (3D) of a wreck).

For example photogrammetry would involve 1 team jumping ahead of the recording team to lay a line matrix on the wreck for the photo team to follow, then you have a 3 man team doing the recording where the middle guy is recording following the matrix lines at 30cm above the wreck, 1 light diver diving right on top of the recording diver shining his light in front just before the focus point and a 3rd light diver diving right behind the 2 divers shining under and to the front... this in bad vis, lots of current, situation, with entanglement hazards. This for more than 120 hours underwater involving always at least 4 teams in the water collecting more than 2 Terrabyte of data, to create a 3d model.

Thanks, I fully agree that a well trained team with a unifying goal can work together and can leverage resources and share duties to make a complex goal a success. But the
Mission you described, is pretty divergent from a typical recreational dive plan.

My comments were intended to help express the idea that for some, relatively simplistic (and potentially selfish) objectives, it is easy to see why some people might gravitate toward solo.