San Diego accident

[Rick Inman]

Her only possible miss was not monitoring her bud's air closer...

First time I dived with Uncle Pug, he positioned himself on my left side, and every once in a while he
d drop back a foot or so. It didn't mean anything to me. Then some time later, on another dive with him and a new buddy, I watched him do the same thing to the new guy. First time he dropped back, he reached over and twisted the guy's spg around so he could see it - unnoticed by the diver. He kept a pretty good eye on the gas supply until he had and idea at the diver's consumption, and then lead the dive accordingly.

Although I agree with TSandD that it's not necessarily my job to monitor my buddy's gas supply, I do find it prudent to do so - at least for the first few dives with them, until I get a read on their consumption.

Also, a little test I do. If I ask the buddy how much gas they have left, and they obviously have no clue until they look at their spg and study the thing for a bit, I keep a closer watch. It they respond right away because they are staying aware of their gas at all times, I know I can pretty much ignore it because they have a handle on it.

Yeah, on a team dive, my gas is your gas and vise versa. But with a new buddy, this is not an assumption make.

 

[dpbishop]

MY normal buddy is my GF and I always check her air, even though she is an experienced diver (over 100 dives) and uses less air then me. Four eyes are better than two.

 

[stefo2]

Although I agree with TSandD that it's not necessarily my job to monitor my buddy's gas supply, I do find it prudent to do so - at least for the first few dives with them, until I get a read on their consumption.

Also, a little test I do. If I ask the buddy how much gas they have left, and they obviously have no clue until they look at their spg and study the thing for a bit, I keep a closer watch. It they respond right away because they are staying aware of their gas at all times, I know I can pretty much ignore it because they have a handle on it.

Yeah, on a team dive, my gas is your gas and vise versa. But with a new buddy, this is not an assumption make.

100% agree with you. It may not be my duty or responsibility to monitor my buddy's are, but if I have any doubts whatsoever that he/she does it properly, I will - if not for his, then for my own safety.

 

[El Jefe]

MY normal buddy is my GF and I always check her air, even though she is an experienced diver (over 100 dives) and uses less air then me. Four eyes are better than two.

Same here. I check my girlfriends air regularly. She is not as experienced a diver as yours but I concur that 4 eyes are better than 2. Sometimes I'll see her looking at my computer to check my air, which I appreciate.

I've been thinking about getting an extra transmitter for my VT3 so that I can watch her air consumption from my computer, as she is still just learning to dive with 20 dives under her belt. At the same time, I don't want her to become dependent on me to watch her air.

 

[DandyDon]

Same here. I check my girlfriends air regularly. She is not as experienced a diver as yours but I concur that 4 eyes are better than 2. Sometimes I'll see her looking at my computer to check my air, which I appreciate.

I've been thinking about getting an extra transmitter for my VT3 so that I can watch her air consumption from my computer, as she is still just learning to dive with 20 dives under her belt. At the same time, I don't want her to become dependent on me to watch her air.

Just tell her how often your transmitter fails.

 

[El Jefe]

Just tell her how often your transmitter fails.

I've hear about these transmitter failures for a long time. Interestingly, I've accumulated about 25 hours of bottom time on my computer (it's still fairly new) and I log my dives in 15 second intervals. There have only been two data points in my entire log that have shown the transmitter as not being connected to the computer. I'm curious if that is better than normal, but clearly a topic for another thread.

 

[nereas]

Personally, I do not feel that I am responsible for monitoring my buddy's gas. When we get in the water, there is a gas plan. I have asked my buddy to notify me when he reaches certain checkpoints in his gas supply. I will probably ask him his pressure at about 20 minutes; that will give me a good benchmark for where he is in comparison with what he told me on the surface before we dove. Today, for example, the man I dove with told me his average dive was to get about 45 minutes out of an Al80. I planned a 45 minute dive, and at 20 minutes, he had about 500 psi more than I thought he would have. We took our time on the way in.

EVERY diver is responsible for monitoring his own gas. If I were to dive with a student (which I don't, because I'm not an instructor), I'd feel responsible for watching their gas, because they might be overloaded or unable to do so. When I dive with a certified diver, I expect them to do this for themselves. Besides, the majority of people are diving air-integrated computers, and I can't read them from a distance, anyway!

Edited to add that anybody who is going to blow through an Al80 in 20 minutes at the depths I'd be in with a new diver is going to be pretty obvious, huffing and puffing and thrashing around.

As part of basic open water training, new divers are taught to monitor their buddies' air supply every 10 mins or so.

I agree that I too have gotten out of this habit, as I have been diving with fairly advanced buddies.

With twin tanks and the rule of thirds, it is quite unlikely that you would need to monitor your buddy's air supply who also has twin tanks and is also using rule of thirds. Thus it is easy to get out of the habit.

But with single tanks each, and an inexperienced buddy, it is surely a good idea to do so. I would not necessarily blame the rescuing buddy for not having done that, since we all seem to get out of the habit, and then we justify ourselves with whatever excuses.

I do believe that people should be more careful about whom they buddy-up with. The ideal buddy (if not an instructor or a D/M) should be about your same skill level, and also your same size too. If you have to fight someone off, you want to have a fair chance.

Going into the water with someone twice your size and strength should be a red flag in and of itself.

 

[Ayisha]

Going into the water with someone twice your size and strength should be a red flag in and of itself.

I'm not sure that is always true. Almost everyone I dive with is almost twice my size and strength, and I've never seen it as a negative thing. However, I make it a policy to not do particularly deep or challenging dives with anyone I haven't already been diving with before and am comfortable with, so I dive with divers that I trust. I have seen the way they handle themselves as divers and their awareness of me, their gauges, and their surroundings while u/w.

The potential to be overpowered is there, but as we can see, so is the ability to counteract it somehow. It comes down to making good choices about suitable buddies, which is often difficult, especially when it comes to insta-buddies.

 

[Windspirit]

[FONT=&quot]On two dive trips, in the past 12 months (Caye Caulker 02/08 and Cozumel 11/07) during a portion of the trips I was diving with a new buddy. Funny coincidence it was the last day of diving on both trips....both buddies ran, what I would consider dangerously low on air (like they had ~ 400 psi and were at ~ 65 feet). Once I looked at their gauges I immediately ended the dives. Our dive plan was to start our assent when the first one hits 700 psi. I still had >1200 psi but in both instances they were working hard during the dives taking many pictures, fighting current and swimming hard....

Prior to the dive, each claimed to be experienced divers, had own (top of the line) equipment and in one case gave me grief for aborting the dives when they still had air left....all I could say was *** is wrong with you??? After lengthy discussions at the surface they both still didn't get it..... I told the divemasters what had happened and said never again with these folks. Divemasters pulled each aside when we got back to the dock for continued discussion, not sure of the outcome. Both times it rattled me a bit....and definitely not the way I was hoping to end 10 days of diving. As I left the next day, not sure if they continued diving or not....but glad they were not my buddy!

Both situations have me being extra vigilant on the subject at this point. Any new buddy gets grilled by me and I check their air on regular intervals....I think this happens more then gets reported....just my vibe.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]

 

[Ben_ca]

I'm not sure that is always true. Almost everyone I dive with is almost twice my size and strength, and I've never seen it as a negative thing.

I have certain personal limits in place with regard to diving with someone that's bigger than I am (from a rescue perspective)... If the difference is so great that I wouldn't be able to drag him up the beach I would think twice about diving a secluded spot with him...

A 3 man team would actually be my preference in that situation.