The solo diving mentality with a buddy diver

[Garth]

If we approach each dive as it is a solo dive we will be prepared to deal with problems on our own. I'm not saying that your gas planning should not include enough for you and your buddy if they would need your gas as this important when buddy diving. Help your buddy and stay together.
My point is there is this fear of solo diving that holds back people from learning the necessary things to dive alone. Some day you will find yourself separated from your buddy. Period. Will you have the skill and mentality to deal with the situation or will you freak out because you never planned to dive solo so you never thought you would need the skills and equipment.
I suppose it is dependent on conditions of the environment but I was on another thread and this popped up. My instructor has taught me to prepare for every dive as a solo one even if with a buddy. Being a good buddy can be achieved while doing this by staying attentive to them but when separated knowing and practicing the skills are necessary IMO.

What are your thoughts? Have you practiced solo skills even if you always dive with a buddy? ( I have and believe it's important but do you and why?)

 

[Garrobo]

All my dives ,either with someone else or not, is treated as a solo dive.

 

[Rainer]

My thought (and which has been borne out by my experience) is that those who approach team dives as solo dives done in the company of others make terrible team members. Diving in a team isn't the same as two people agreeing to simply dive together. The best team divers are those who approach the dive as a team. It's really that simple. It goes without saying that we should all do what we can to bring our skill set up to a level where we can finish a dive in the extremely unlikely case that the team breaks down, but we should also recognize that the team is strongest when it's treated as such.

In any case, the above has worked well for me and those I dive with.

 

[Bogie]

I think you are right on.

You must be prepared mentally and physically to manage any situation. The more competent you are the better buddy diver you are. I dive with new people at times and know they would be of little to no help for me so I must be self sufficient.

You had a very good instructor.

 

[on_two_wheels]

So in a kelp forest you have a gas delivery emergency. While dealing with that you get entangled and not getting air (or enough air). Guess you take a large pony bottle with you every dive and/or dive doubles with iso-valve?

On the other hand, you could dive with a buddy using sound buddy skills.

On the flip side of this, I've seen a guy show up on a boat solo and then ask to join us. He constantly drifted off on his own and I'd have to catch him and get him pointed back in the same direction. If he had descended as a solo I wouldn't care. When you say on the boat you're diving with me, you're descending AND ascending with me.

 

[Crush]

A disciplined, trained buddy team can out-perform and out-survive a similarly skilled solo diver.

Diving with an insta-buddy can be the same as diving solo, especially in open-water dives where being "near your buddy" means being in the same ocean.

 

[Garth]

Clear dive plans must be made. A solo dive is a solo dive. A buddy dive is a buddy dive meaning you descend, stay together and ascend. My point is that I feel that it is important to know how to handle problems alone if put in that situation from one reason or another. Team diving has been brought up and I agree with that post that team diving should be executed as such.
My only argument would be that the way you speak of team diving leads me to believe the if the rare unbelievable situation that those team divers would be separated they would know how to respond. Being a good buddy has a lot to do with your mentality, and your skill set. So many people think that solo diving is just diving alone. It is so much more than that. The equipment is self reliant in it's own redundancy. Matching the equipment and redundancy as well as the skills and preparation to team or buddy diving is IMO the future of safe diving.
Thank you for letting me share this with you. I would enjoy more of your thoughts.
(for the record those that say they will buddy up and wander off are not even close to the type of diver I speak of)

 

[Rainer]

And the flip side of what you've written is that buddy diving isn't (necessarily) the same as team diving. The latter is much, much more than two people jumping into the water and kicking around together. I probably *would* approach a dive with an insta-buddy as a solo dive (thankfully, I don't do such dives), but I'd *never* do so for a team dive. I want my skills as sharp as possible (for the team and for myself), but I lack the hubris to think I'm perfect. I'm fallible and respect the fact that a solid team might some day save my life in exactly a situation where diving solo would mean death.

Clear dive plans must be made. A solo dive is a solo dive. A buddy dive is a buddy dive meaning you descend, stay together and ascend. My point is that I feel that it is important to know how to handle problems alone if put in that situation from one reason or another. Team diving has been brought up and I agree with that post that team diving should be executed as such.
My only argument would be that the way you speak of team diving leads me to believe the if the rare unbelievable situation that those team divers would be separated they would know how to respond. Being a good buddy has a lot to do with your mentality, and your skill set. So many people think that solo diving is just diving alone. It is so much more than that. The equipment is self reliant in it's own redundancy. Matching the equipment and redundancy as well as the skills and preparation to team or buddy diving is IMO the future of safe diving.
Thank you for letting me share this with you. I would enjoy more of your thoughts.
(for the record those that say they will buddy up and wander off are not even close to the type of diver I speak of)

 

[danvolker]

Clear dive plans must be made. A solo dive is a solo dive. A buddy dive is a buddy dive meaning you descend, stay together and ascend. My point is that I feel that it is important to know how to handle problems alone if put in that situation from one reason or another. Team diving has been brought up and I agree with that post that team diving should be executed as such.
My only argument would be that the way you speak of team diving leads me to believe the if the rare unbelievable situation that those team divers would be separated they would know how to respond. Being a good buddy has a lot to do with your mentality, and your skill set. So many people think that solo diving is just diving alone. It is so much more than that. The equipment is self reliant in it's own redundancy. Matching the equipment and redundancy as well as the skills and preparation to team or buddy diving is IMO the future of safe diving.
Thank you for letting me share this with you. I would enjoy more of your thoughts.
(for the record those that say they will buddy up and wander off are not even close to the type of diver I speak of)

Being a buddy or team based diver is not a license to have poor skills.
Surely you have seen how GUE works on developing skills which are far beyond what is normally taught....and this is exclusively for buddy diving...
Regards,
DanV

 

[Garth]

I think my comments are not for you unless only to agree.