People embarrassed to do pre dive buddy check?

[Eric Sedletzky]

I had one guy once check my air valve and actually shut it off thinking he was turning it on. I had another person years later that attempted to do the same thing on a group shore dive but this time it was not asked for, and when I felt someone messing with my tank valve I spun around and asked them what the hell were they doing?!!

 

[NothingClever]

Yeah, totally concur.

I don't like it when people touch my kit unless I know and trust them.

 

[Big Dan K]

I agree with never touching each other’s air supplies, but I like the buddy check with insta buddies. My safety might depend on them and all I know about them is that they have a card with their picture on it. Until you know better, assume they are totally inexperienced short bus people who learned nothing in OW, with defective rental gear that they don’t know how to operate. A buddy check provides some reassurance that they at least know enough to set up their gear, it probably works, and they can actually find their primary, octo, inflator and SPG.

 

[vemura]

On some boat dives, the regular DMs are always tasked to check that everybody's tanks have indeed been turned on. They do this everyday. If anyone has an experience of such people who do the same thing everyday and yet still manage to set someone up for death, do share.

 

[inquis]

If anyone has an experience of such people who do the same thing everyday and yet still manage to set someone up for death, do share.

Yep, exactly that in Cozumel. I saw him "helping" others before me, so knew it was a possibility. He turned it off as I stood up. I just turned it back on before splashing. (I've made it a priority for a long time to be able to reach my own valve.)

 

[Tracy]

On some boat dives, the regular DMs are always tasked to check that everybody's tanks have indeed been turned on. They do this everyday. If anyone has an experience of such people who do the same thing everyday and yet still manage to set someone up for death, do share.

It happens a fair amount when you have a sidemount diver diving single tank on a recreational boat.
They use their normal tanks, one valve is backwards. I have seen it get shut off instead of on many times as it turns the opposite direction. If you deal with L&R valves everyday, it isn't even a thought. If you only deal with standard single tank valves, it is easy to make a mistake. Non-standard equipment is just that. Non-standard. If you are diving it, you should be aware of the possibility.

 

[boulderjohn]

I, too, am unhappy with acronyms. Too few, and each one stands for too many things, any of which can be missed. Too many, and it is too easy to skip one as you go through them all. (Wait a minute--how many E's have I done so far?)

Years ago, I did a week of cave diving in Mexico with a now (not then) well known guide, and she did an exhaustive predive check she had developed for herself. No mnemonic--she had each step down. The problem was she was sidemount and I was backmount, so my gear did not match hers, and I had to adjust her process to my gear, which was OK.

If you were to watch me on a recreational dive boat preparing for a dive, you might assume I have not done a check, but I have. I have an image of myself fully ready to go, and I can adjust that image to whatever gear setup I am using. I then start with my fins and move to my head, comparing that image to my current reality. Most of that is done in my head. You will see me do a couple things, like breathing off the regulator and puffing the inflator, but otherwise you would accuse me of not doing a check. When I have a buddy (which is usually the case), I quietly scan the buddy from toe to head while that buddy is doing the same thing.

When technical diving, it is much more formal. We take turns looking at each other's gear to see if anything is amiss and if any bubbles are seeping out somewhere. But even that comes after the foot to head scan of myself before getting to the water.

 

[boulderjohn]

Having to teach a mnemonic (BWRAF) when I taught OW classes, I told students that my quarrel with it was that it omitted a key piece of equipment--the computer (or watch if using tables). That is the easiest thing to leave behind if it goes on the wrist after the wetsuit/drysuit is donned. Not only do you have to have it, you need to make proper adjustments for nitrox levels. So I added an "I" for instruments, and BWRAF became BWRAIF--Bruce Willis Ruins Another Independent Film.

BTW, when I thought of that 16 years ago, I wrote about it to PADI, and they enthusiastically agreed with the idea. They said they were working on a new mnemonic, and I should be patient while waiting for it to be announced.

I am still waiting, but my patience is wearing thin.

 

[BlueTrin]

I had one guy once check my air valve and actually shut it off thinking he was turning it on. I had another person years later that attempted to do the same thing on a group shore dive but this time it was not asked for, and when I felt someone messing with my tank valve I spun around and asked them what the hell were they doing?!!

A guy closed mine and did enough of a turn so that the needle wouldn’t move when breathing but started being more difficult to breathe at around 25m.

I just check again the valves while I wear the BCD now …

 

[inquis]

If you only deal with standard single tank valves, it is easy to make a mistake.

Perhaps, but that shouldn't be the case, as they're both right-hand threads. It's like they don't know righty-tighty. Sure if they always turn "rearward" (relative to the diver) it'll be wrong for all the uncommon valves. Although, it's still a mystery how they get the single-tank back-mount wrong.

Honestly, simply asking "is your air on?" would be best. It avoids the stealth mistake, and I believe it's more likely to cause the diver to take a few verification breaths.