"Same Ocean Buddies"

[pilot fish]

Just heard this term - read it in Scuba Diving magazine. Two experienced divers agree to look out for each other prior to dive and after but will dive solo in the water. How widespread is this concept? Do you agree with it? I guess my first question would be, why prior to and after dive but not during the dive? :06:

 

[fmw625]

I would hope my dive buddy and I were in sync and truely watch out for each other. Otherwise you are right. Two solo divers in the same ocean. One of my dive buddies sorta seems to be zoned out when we are diving, even though I always try to stay close. The other day though, I got into minor trouble with an old trotline. Guess what? He had his shears out and was cutting even before I got my shears out. He was being more of a buddy than I thought.

 

[OE2X]

Do you agree with it?

It's not my personal preference, but to each their own.

I guess my first question would be, why prior to and after dive but not during the dive?

A few ideas come to mind:
My guess is that each diver has their own dive agenda and it may not agree with the other buddy. It may also be that they are not wanting to have to be responsible for the other diver during the dive. It's far less intrusive to have to look over your buddy at the surface and then hook up with them back at the boat than it is to be constantly monitoring them during the dive.

 

[Don Burke]

Just heard this term - read it in Scuba Diving magazine. Two experienced divers agree to look out for each other prior to dive and after but will dive solo in the water. How widespread is this concept?

It is fairly widespread and not talked about much. There may not even be a stated agreement.

Do you agree with it?

No. I have done it, but no more.

I guess my first question would be, why prior to and after dive but not during the dive?

The short answer is that they want to do different things in the water.

 

[SDAnderson]

At the risk of opening the solo diver can of worms, let me say this about SOB's: they're more common than many people think and include lots of divers who think they are buddy diving. Being a good buddy requires some level of competence as a diver and more than a two minute planning session.

• Can you always reach your buddy in two kicks?
• Do you always have a way to instantly get your buddies attention?
• Have you practiced donating air within the past few dives? A CESA?
• Are you Rescue (or equivalent) certified?

There isn't a training agency definition of SOB, but I'd say that a "No" answer to any of these questions means you are, at least from time to time, a member of that fraternity. If you're going to solo dive, it's always better to choose (and plan) to do so than to find yourself alone unexpectedly. Oh, and if either you or your buddy are a photographer, you're SOB's.

 

[alcina]

Oh, and if either you or your buddy are a photographer, you're SOB's.

That would be me

If you are going to consider solo or SOB - head over the solo section and read up a little. Then ask questions of those who do it. All the while become the perfect buddy as you need to have those skills before even contemplating the other. Then get training and practice in "controlled" circumstances.

It's not for everyone, but it is an option in most people's diving lives.

 

[pilot fish]

I would hope my dive buddy and I were in sync and truely watch out for each other. Otherwise you are right. Two solo divers in the same ocean. One of my dive buddies sorta seems to be zoned out when we are diving, even though I always try to stay close. The other day though, I got into minor trouble with an old trotline. Guess what? He had his shears out and was cutting even before I got my shears out. He was being more of a buddy than I thought.

You know each other so that is more than half teh battle. Sounds like you just have lapses but are intuned most of the time

 

[pilot fish]

It's not my personal preference, but to each their own.



A few ideas come to mind:
My guess is that each diver has their own dive agenda and it may not agree with the other buddy. It may also be that they are not wanting to have to be responsible for the other diver during the dive. It's far less intrusive to have to look over your buddy at the surface and then hook up with them back at the boat than it is to be constantly monitoring them during the dive.

The main reason given is they dont want to be responsible. Then do a differnt sport?

 

[MaxBottomtime]

It's also a shorter acronym of the old Same Ocean, Same Day buddy. Unless I'm making a team dive or a planned deco dive with a buddy most of the people I dive with use this system. We meet at the dive site and discuss the dive, but usually it's whoever gets suited up first is first in the water. I made a dive two weeks ago with a buddy in less than one foot of visibility. We went down together, but while I was setting the anchor we lost contact. We never saw each other underwater, but amazingly enough we surfaced within ten feet and within a few seconds of each other. We both laughed and said it was a great buddy dive.

 

[pilot fish]

It is fairly widespread and not talked about much. There may not even be a stated agreement.No. I have done it, but no more.The short answer is that they want to do different things in the water.

I think you're right, it is more widespread than we realize. I got teamed up with one of these "free thinker" divers while diving the Spiegel Grove. I had a puter problem, told him about it, then had him drift away from me by 40ft every minute or so. He then left me at 85 ft and went down below 100 ft without telling me . At that point I left to go back to the boat alone. Later when I mentioned it to him he said some malarky about solo diving. Yeah, well, tell me that on the damn boat PRIOR to the dive.