The Self Sufficient Diver...

[TSandM]

If you have a good buddy who has actually done some gas planning and knows how to share air, if you manage to run out, sharing with your buddy becomes a non-issue, and is much safer than bolting for the surface.

We had a tragic fatality two years ago, when a woman went OOA, got gas from her buddy, but the pair failed to make a controlled ascent together, and she discarded the donated regulator, bolted, and embolized.

TRAINING, TRAINING and more TRAINING. Relying on a buddy relies on your training, and your buddy's training. Using a pony relies on your training, and your presence of mind in the face of one of the most horrible realities of diving: That we CAN'T breathe down there. Either way you go, don't be complacent that your strategy is going to work. It requires practice and recent facility, or the stress of the moment will overcome the dim memory of procedures, and you are at horrendous risk.

 

[ryssyr]

At recreational depths, well within the NDL, it's actually pretty difficult to get hurt while ending a dive using any of the "go for the surface" methods taught in your OW class. You might get bent, you might get some sort of barotrauma, but you'll probably be alive.

I'd call getting bent or any sort of barotrauma 'hurt'.

 

[Meng_Tze]

...Either way you go, don't be complacent that your strategy is going to work. It requires practice and recent facility, or the stress of the moment will overcome the dim memory of procedures, are you are at horrendous risk.

And that is the crucial point!

Many divers never practice their 'dive exit plans' on a regular basis after their certification. Relying on memory alone is not going to get you out in a moment of demanding circumstances. Muscle memory through regular practice is the only way to ensure you can react correctly without really thinking about it.