Responsibility to insta-buddy

[Bazooka Joe]

It was in the boat


How many people are trained in deploying an SMB at depth? I would dare say none, even after achieving DM or instructor status. I do not think it is an agency requirement at OW, AOW, DM or even higher levels.

It doesn't matter to what level you are trained too, it is your responsability to yourself and YOUR BUDDY to be properly equipted. I am in the ocean drift or otherwise, I have a SMB and a reel on me, My wife didn't want to carry hers....she carries it because I ask her to, she knows how to deploy it...we have practiced in springs near or home. My son dives with us, he has a SMB also. It is the same theory that every dive should have a alt air source. You don't need till you need it....or your buddy needs it.

I can't tell you how may tiffs we have had on the boat after the first tank...

I am a photographer and a buddy, I was a poor buddy when I first took up the camera, but my wife called me on it and now I am a much better buddy. She is my "Spare Air" and I am hers if she needs.

Yes, your Insta-buddy lied to you and you bailed on him and set up some parameters that he could or would not adhere to.... Try looking at from the camera point of view, look for things that move the camera along.

You hit the water in the ocean and it is your responsability to come out alive and to make sure your buddy does too. THATS WHAT BUDDYS DO!

Yeah we all know about Cozumel diving, on a good day it is great, but I have seen bad days really bad days too.

Think it through I am sure you will come to a decision that perhaps you could have handled things differently, if you feel you did everything you could and everyone surfaced alive it was a good day.

But if you ever see me on a boat and I pull out my camera, ask to switch buddys, I wont mind at all. :cool2:

Be a good buddy to a photog and you might get some really cool shots of yourself..

 

[rcs9250]

How does "an older overweight American" translate into a slob?

I think you assigned the notion that age and weight makes them a slob. I didn't.

 

[KeysCuda]

When you agree to be an insta-buddy (and I usually board boats by my lonesome, with camera), there is a responsibility to bring the buddy back, no question. That means watching them.
I've been diving with scores of people I never saw before. Nearly all were competent, and some were great.
A few were air hogs (brought a couple up buddy-breathing before octos were standard issue) or otherwise inept, but, oh well. Doesn't make them a bad person, just someone I don't want to dive with.

But for someone to say they never had a good insta-buddy strikes me as absurd.
If you have a string of bad personal or professional or diving relationships, maybe it's time to consider the one constant factor: you.

Also absurd: Dismissing other divers as incompetent because they do not swim shoulder-to-
shoulder with their buddy. Seriously? Who does that? Hey, if that's the way you want to dive, good on you, but don't expect other people in the real world to do it.

 

[diverrex]

Some buddies may be jerks underwater and do what they want to do and not act as a team. Maybe it is the photographer swimming painfully slow and stopping for 10+ minutes on one subject (that might be me). But it could also be the guy who thinks it's an olympic swim meet underwater and the ony way to dive is to cover as much ground as possible. Or the buddy that loves to hang right behind and above you where it's the hardest to see them. Or as others mentioned it's the air hog who turns 60 minute dives into 30 minute dives. It may not be fair but I figure if you went down with them you stick with them until you both come back up. Then if you want to you can decide you're not going to dive with that person again.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Also absurd: Dismissing other divers as incompetent because they do not swim shoulder-to-shoulder with their buddy.

OK ... I'm followin' you up to this point ...

Seriously? Who does that?

Virtually everybody I dive with, conditions permitting ...

Hey, if that's the way you want to dive, good on you, but don't expect other people in the real world to do it.

Depends on which "real world" you're diving in. If it's the same one I dive in, diving shoulder-to-shoulder just makes good sense ... unless you're into stressing out on half your dives because you don't know where your dive buddy went.

Different diving styles are a general indication of different predominant diving conditions. One of the biggest reasons we have differences of opinion on such things is because of the diving conditions we're typically exposed to ... and the techniques we've adapted to deal with 'em ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Some buddies may be jerks underwater and do what they want to do and not act as a team. Maybe it is the photographer swimming painfully slow and stopping for 10+ minutes on one subject (that might be me). But it could also be the guy who thinks it's an olympic swim meet underwater and the ony way to dive is to cover as much ground as possible. Or the buddy that loves to hang right behind and above you where it's the hardest to see them. Or as others mentioned it's the air hog who turns 60 minute dives into 30 minute dives. It may not be fair but I figure if you went down with them you stick with them until you both come back up. Then if you want to you can decide you're not going to dive with that person again.

Generally speaking, yes ... but not always. As with most things scuba this one comes with conditions. An example ... a few years ago in Bonaire I decided to head off without my usual dive buddy for an extra boat dive. Not having a buddy I sought one on the boat. We discussed the dive and I told him that since I'd already done three dives this day I didn't want to go below 60 feet. He agreed. I'd been to this dive site before and assured him that most of the stuff worth seeing was shallower than that anyway, and again he agreed. We got in the water and he headed straight down the reef. I followed him down to 80 feet, at which point I got his attention ... pointed to my gauge ... and signaled let's go up to 60. He looked at me, turned, and proceeded deeper. I followed him to 100 feet. I got his attention again and repeated the previous signal. He turned and proceeded deeper. At this point I figured this fellow was on his own, and headed back up the reef to do the dive we'd agreed to. About 10 minutes later he joined me. Back on the boat I found out he had gone down to over 120. I asked him if he had understood the dive plan was to stay above 60. He said yes, but he decided that he wanted to go deeper. OK ... no point in pursuing that logic.

Next day this fellow asked me and my buddy if he could dive with us ... I said no.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[TMHeimer]

I think all responsible divers do their best to be good buddies regardless of what the buddy is like. I was on one charter where the DM/crew didn't seem to be concerned if we dived solo, so I joined a buddy team. But all the other charters I've done insisted on having a buddy. There are several other threads that address the legalities for DMs who are on vacation and not acting as DMs. As far as legalities go, it has been discussed regarding what legal responsibilities one has once agreeing to buddy up. Also, what legal responsibilites the dive OP has for insisting on it. It would seem that all divers and the OP itself should sign written statements that nobody can be sued for anything buddy-related regarding dive accidents (not such stuff like the crewman mistakenly hit you on the head with a bucket of water and killed you, or your buddy got mad on deck and kicked you in the %$#^s). This would leave us back to what we as responsible divers do anyway, which is do the best we can with our buddies. Without fear of being sued. If one is not going to be morally responsible regarding this, one will have a tough time living with it.

 

[KeysCuda]

...Depends on which "real world" you're diving in. If it's the same one I dive in, diving shoulder-to-shoulder just makes good sense ... unless you're into stressing out on half your dives because you don't know where your dive buddy went...

Fair enough!

Within visual is a given; within a few kicks' reach is good practice, even in good viz.

 

[diverrex]

Generally speaking, yes ... but not always. As with most things scuba this one comes with conditions. An example ... a few years ago in Bonaire I decided to head off without my usual dive buddy for an extra boat dive. Not having a buddy I sought one on the boat. We discussed the dive and I told him that since I'd already done three dives this day I didn't want to go below 60 feet. He agreed. I'd been to this dive site before and assured him that most of the stuff worth seeing was shallower than that anyway, and again he agreed. We got in the water and he headed straight down the reef. I followed him down to 80 feet, at which point I got his attention ... pointed to my gauge ... and signaled let's go up to 60. He looked at me, turned, and proceeded deeper. I followed him to 100 feet. I got his attention again and repeated the previous signal. He turned and proceeded deeper. At this point I figured this fellow was on his own, and headed back up the reef to do the dive we'd agreed to. About 10 minutes later he joined me. Back on the boat I found out he had gone down to over 120. I asked him if he had understood the dive plan was to stay above 60. He said yes, but he decided that he wanted to go deeper. OK ... no point in pursuing that logic.

Next day this fellow asked me and my buddy if he could dive with us ... I said no.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

I'd say what you did was exactly proper under the circumstances. You stick with your buddy, but not to the point they become dangerous to you. And just like you did there is no way I would have dived with this guy again.

 

[diverrex]

Different diving styles are a general indication of different predominant diving conditions. One of the biggest reasons we have differences of opinion on such things is because of the diving conditions we're typically exposed to ... and the techniques we've adapted to deal with 'em ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

I think this is a big point that often gets missed during many "best diving practices" disagreements. What works in 80' viz warm water might not be such a good practice in 5' viz cold water.