Tether to my son

[htn123]

Hi all,
My 10yrs old son is going to get certifed in May. Since he is new to scuba, I was thinking about tether him to me when we go diving, say 10 ft cord until he is comfortable then we will go with no tether.

1. make him feel comfortable that he has me near.
2. if he happened to bolt for the surface, I can keep him down

Wonder if that's a good idea or not? any entanglement issues?

Thanks

 

[baitedstorm]

I'm thinking no! I wouldnt take the chance of an entanglement with my kid, or anyone elses. In my recent experience, kids do a lot better than most expect. In fact, I'd rather work with kids than most adults (the kids usually listen better), and I do. I think this is more to do with you as his parent concerned for his safety (perfectly normal). My advice to you would be, make sure you have an amazing instructor that both you and your child are comfortable with. It wouldn't hurt to find one that also has certified kids before.

If you still have concerns about wanting to stay close you can swim right next to him with a hand ready to grab him if need be.

Good luck to both of you, please keep us posted on his progress...


Cheers,
Vickie

 

[JustAddWater]

Tethering does not sound like a good idea for the reasons you described. IMO, if you are concerned about your 10 year old bolting to the surface I'd question if he is ready to be certified. I think staying close to the new diver, and diving in conditions that are conducive to his level are a better idea.

 

[solo_diver]

Hi all,
My 10yrs old son is going to get certifed in May. Since he is new to scuba, I was thinking about tether him to me when we go diving, say 10 ft cord until he is comfortable then we will go with no tether.

1. make him feel comfortable that he has me near.
2. if he happened to bolt for the surface, I can keep him down

Wonder if that's a good idea or not? any entanglement issues?

Thanks

i have to say that if your son needs a tether for his or your comfort then he has no business in the water w/ scuba. For my own son (who doesn't exist, lol) i would want him to be able to handle himself and perform his duties as a buddy, because that's what he was trained to do and if he can't do that then he's got no business in the water with scuba. But you're a real dad, I say do what you feel is best, but like you mentioned careful of the entanglements.

 

[teknitroxdiver]

I would also say no way. If a tether is needed to keep him close, he shouldn't be diving. If a tether is needed to keep him from doing something unsafe, he shouldn't be diving. As for entanglement issues, yes! Getting a line wrapped around you is bad enough when the buddy team consists of experienced, adult divers. I'm scared to think of what would happen if he found himself wrapped up in a line.

Maybe on the surface you could educate him about needing to stay very close to you. In the cert class he will (well, he should at least) learn about the buddy system and about not dashing to the surface.

I guess it's your call to make, but IMO he should be trained to the level that he can do those things without being tied down. Besides, here's a little story about holding things while underwater:

I was doing my stress & rescue class, and one part of it consists of a circular line search around a point. One diver swims at the edge of the visibility while holding a line so that he swims in a circle. Another diver holds the line at the center of the circle. Even with the light pressure on the diver swimming in a circle, it was necessary to stick a knife or finger into the sand to keep from drifting from your spot. A person swimming full-out against the line would be very hard to restrain without turning around and swimming against him, which would be a serious risk of getting either tangled up or unknowingly doing more harm to him than good.

 

[Dive Junky]

Entanglement is not the only issue. If you are actually tied together, which is what I am assuming, and your dive buddy fully inflates his BC chances are you will not be able to keep him down. In this case you both risk embolizing and DCS. You won't do him much good on the surface injured or even worse.

I am an instructor and when it came to teaching my 12 year old I found another instructor I felt comfortable with to teach him. Perhaps if you are overly concerned either don't let him dive or take a completely hands off approach. Either way after he is certified you will have to let him dive as an independent diver or you won't be doing either one of you any good.

LOL, as a fellow Dad I know how you feel.

 

[kidspot]

While not Scuba, when taking my neighbor's kids snorkeling (9-11yr olds) we set the policy early on that every 15 seconds they make eye contact with me. I described that as being about the same amount of time they could do a breathhold dive on. As I got more comfortable with their abilities (and learned that they were not going to do something foolish on a regular basis) I eased up on this. We also started the habit of notifying at least one buddy before any change (ie a freedive, change in direction, etc) Maybe you can adapt something similar... Now it has become a habit (we've been snorkeling together for over a year on a regular basis) and I know they are keeping track of each other and myself pretty well. I consider it early "team awareness" training for all of us Who know...maybe one day they will become my dive buddies...

Aloha, Tim

 

[OE2X]

Kids seem to get the buoyancy thing a whole lot better than adults. I watched GratefulDiver train my kids in a pool one afternoon. They would drop down to 2' off the bottom, completely horizontal and in a flawless DIR hover.

I completely understand why you would like this method, speaking as a parent, but it would be better for you son to learn to stay within arms reach of you at all times. You will have much more control this way and not have to worry about any entanglement issues. DCS or an embolism will be best delt with if you are right there with him. He may also have greater emotional comfort by being close.

 

[htn123]

Wow,
Thanks for all the answer.
I think this has more to do with me than with him :11: .

He is very intelligent, very capable of handling himself, and a very good listener; Only thing is his older sis (1yr apart) got certifed before him and he wants to show that he is better than her in everything. I was just concerned that he might want to show off that he can handle it just to be competitive with his sis.

Points well taken. I will stay close to him and observe his movement closely.
Thanks.

 

[Saipanman]

no kids yet (one on the way) so take this for what you feel its worth.

As an instructor, I gotta vote 'no' on the tether idea. If you don't need to have the kid on a leash in the parking lot, you don't need him on one while underwater. just make sure he can keep focused on you, and within grabbing distance. Make a game out of it (who can get closest without touching).

I understand you're worried. So, I would recommend after he gets his C card, the first coupla dives should be done with a DM or instructor in a Discover Local Diving (guided tour) type situation. The Dive guide can focus on getting you out and back, and you can focus entirely on your son.

Good luck, and be sure to welcome your son into the club for us...