People embarrassed to do pre dive buddy check?

[Tracy]

Yeah...... Good point. I guess I just always figured that if PADI gave a 5 Star designation to a shop, along with all the promotions and fees, memberships, con-ed, etc.....that they were somehow involved...

The five star rating mostly just means that they don't teach for any other agencies. PADI is their go-to training organization. It isn't a rating of quality.

 

[pauldw]

The five star rating mostly just means that they don't teach for any other agencies. PADI is their go-to training organization. It isn't a rating of quality.

I think that nuance misses the point, probably deliberately on PADI’s part.

 

[faze]

Been diving independently with my wife for years, hundreds of dives, know each other’s configuration inside out. Still always perform a pre dive check, even after switching tanks.

For me part of the enjoyment is knowing everything is squared away before we descend.

 

[NothingClever]

I think the simplest approach to increasing safety is to set a good example topside in one’s own methodical preparation for the dive and then be a good problem-solver underwater.

On boats where an insta-buddy may be assigned, just assume and accept there WILL be problems underwater such as miscommunication, misorientation, accelerated consumption, failure to monitor, failure to communicate, etc. Thinking this way gets your mind past the surprise and frustration and pre-sets it for problem-solving (if your assistance is needed).

I tend to look at divers on board to evaluate for susceptibility and who potential rescue / recovery teammates may be.

 

[hedonist222]

I have rarely had an insta-buddy in the last three or four hundred dives.
Moreso since becoming a self-reliant diver.

But on occasion I'll help out the dive center or willingly ask someone if they'd like to join me. I'll then mention the dive plan (time at depth, pace, return to starting or ascend with DSMB, where my DSMB is, my second stage) etc etc.

 

[sea_ledford]

I went to a UHMS workshop a few months ago. One of the goals was to figure out why diver fatalities were so high in the past few years and what can be done about it. I don't remember the exact statistic off the top of my head, but a significant number of non-medical incidents would have been prevented by a pre-dive buddy check (I want to say it was around 70%, but not at all sure about that).

I think all of the certification agencies should have a universally standardized pre-dive buddy check procedure rather than the alphabet soup of acronyms and marketing opportunities.

A few of the ones I know:
SEABAG (old NAUI)
GUE EDGE (GUE)
BWRAF (horrible acronym. Why bother? But not the worst) (PADI)
ABCD (E? don't remember if E is part of it. Maybe there are multiple Ds) (SDI and maybe current NAUI?)
One of the UDT directors was there and he was talking about their awesome version that was something like... AABBBBCDDEEEEE
Add Traces PLAN SAFE

I'm sure BSAC has a few, SSI has to have one.

The ABC style ones aren't bad, but there are so many for different things, it's almost useless.

Can't we all just pick one and have everyone teach it? About the only other standardized thing in scuba is a right hand release weight belt, so there is precedent for safety aspects. But given the number of people here saying they never do a buddy check, I suppose it wouldn't matter.

As an aside, the world's worst diving acronym award goes to SDI for their descent procedure: ORCESDD

 

[drrich2]

The ABC style ones aren't bad, but there are so many for different things, it's almost useless.

Can't we all just pick one and have everyone teach it?

I don’t think so. People would not agree on how nitpicky to make it. Even if they did this, what % of seasoned divers would use it, I wonder?

 

[Baker_Dive]

Master Diver doesn’t indicate a thing about a diver’s competence or experience.

Ahh the ole master diver who has an altitude specialty, boat diver, project aware, equipment specialist and underwater pumpkin carving specialty , what could go wrong?

 

[Baker_Dive]

Just need to rant/ talk about some failures of mine.

I believe every rec training agency teaches some sort of pre dive buddy check. Valves open, pressure gauge reading full, regs breathe, inflator inflates, holds hair, deflates, etc.

It seems that almost every dive location I go to, whether it’s a chartered boat, dive at quarry with locals, etc, people don’t do this buddy check.

I dove with new buddies yesterday and explained to them my long hose config and how I would donate in an ooa emergency. The response I got was, “If I run out of air, I did something wrong” I’m thinking yeah, that’s the point of reviewing this stuff. Prepare and have a plan for an emergency, but it’s like they think it’s never going to happen to them so they brush it off.

During that same dive, I’m on air, others are on 32%. I get to 5m NDL and swim over to communicate this. I tried to talk about a dive plan before the dive, should we communicate half tank, what will we consider low on air for this dive, etc but was met with a laxidasical response that ended up discussing how good at conserving air they are… We did not discuss NDL. So I tap on my watch and signal the number 5 and pointed to the watch for more clarity. They think I’m saying I have 500 psi and try to turn the dive for air. I catch back up and show them by pressure gauge with ok symbol and repoint to my watch with number 5. Finally it clicks, and we agree to go to 40ft. Rest of the dive was uneventful. Post dive debrief I ask how I can better communicate ndl. No one knows. One person said make a D with your hands then the minutes. Okay, great, I’ll do that next time with this group but why isn’t this a standard hand signal?

On another dive with a new buddy, I take responsibility to do a pre dive check and everything’s good. This is where I make a mistake, second dive, I don’t check his gear and he giant strides with tank valve closed… his bc had air, so I simply opened his valve when he said his reg didn’t breathe but that could’ve easily ended in drowning if he didn’t fill his bc. I take full responsibility for this. I should’ve checked his gear.

Long story short, I don’t like the mentality in the various communities I’ve dove with. From now on, even when diving with master divers, I’m going to take a leadership role in the pre dive planning and safety of others. It’s not worth the risk.

I’d love to dive with you. Most divers I’ve seen don’t have the planning or concepts you discuss above. Safety should be the root. The one thing I always do before I EVER get into water, is take three HUGE breaths while staring at my gauge. I am obsessed over that safety pre dive check. I also turn my air on immediately when putting reg on and do not turn it off, even if I have hours on a boat before I get into water. My mindset is I want to know if I have a leak before I’m in water, a functioning reg system should not leak, so why worry about leakage?

My buddy is an odd one and will not leave his air on. No matter how many times I explain that turning it off for fifteen minutes before a shore dive does nothing, he still insists on turning it off. So he does the three breath check with me before we get into water, or I won’t go.

I add a punch of air from inflator make sure it’s good and connected and blow the rest with my mouth.

I’ve noticed no one does pre checks, and I’m guilty of this as well. Worst I’ve done is wear sunglasses in water for shore dive and only realized it when I tried to put mask on while in water. Luckily I had pockets and good to go.

 

[rx7diver]

Well, here is my old rant about teaching mnemonics, FWIW: Dive Planning Mnemonics.

rx7diver