drrich2
Contributor
I want to see what Scuba Board member's personal preferences are for the buddy system on their dives.
I was inspired to post this poll after yet another discussion on how some don't measure up to widely held expectations of the buddy system. Often dive operations don't allow solo diving, and wouldn't officially okay 'same day, same ocean' buddy diving, so you get a group of strangers on a boat who, at least by silence presumed to be assent, maintain (at least a pretense) that everyone's buddy diving.
Most of the time this goes okay; everyone makes it back, most have fun. What you need depends in part of the dive at hand; a difficult cave penetration is far different from a shallow reef dive in benign conditions.
So, for purposes of this poll (if I designed it right & it works!), let me set the conditions of our scenario to get common ground.
1.) You are traveling alone (no holding hands with your spouse, you're not part of a locally organized group, etc...). All divers on the boat are strangers. Boat diving, not shore.
2.) The dive op. will let you do most anything (e.g.: solo without being solo-certified, etc...).
3.) A guide leads a group, but everyone's free to head off on their own.
4.) All divers on the boat are as capable or more so than you. This isn't about your willingness to defer to the wants & needs of others; I want to poll what you guys prefer. Whatever you prefer, all others will agree to.
5.) Benign conditions warm-water tropical diving with excellent viz. and minimal current. Recreational; no penetrations or deco. No lobstering or spearing.
6.) The dive op. rents pony bottles; if you want solo-supporting gear rental, it's there.
Richard.
P.S.: I'm not out to advance a specific buddy system vision, just see how prevalent our preferences are.
I was inspired to post this poll after yet another discussion on how some don't measure up to widely held expectations of the buddy system. Often dive operations don't allow solo diving, and wouldn't officially okay 'same day, same ocean' buddy diving, so you get a group of strangers on a boat who, at least by silence presumed to be assent, maintain (at least a pretense) that everyone's buddy diving.
Most of the time this goes okay; everyone makes it back, most have fun. What you need depends in part of the dive at hand; a difficult cave penetration is far different from a shallow reef dive in benign conditions.
So, for purposes of this poll (if I designed it right & it works!), let me set the conditions of our scenario to get common ground.
1.) You are traveling alone (no holding hands with your spouse, you're not part of a locally organized group, etc...). All divers on the boat are strangers. Boat diving, not shore.
2.) The dive op. will let you do most anything (e.g.: solo without being solo-certified, etc...).
3.) A guide leads a group, but everyone's free to head off on their own.
4.) All divers on the boat are as capable or more so than you. This isn't about your willingness to defer to the wants & needs of others; I want to poll what you guys prefer. Whatever you prefer, all others will agree to.
5.) Benign conditions warm-water tropical diving with excellent viz. and minimal current. Recreational; no penetrations or deco. No lobstering or spearing.
6.) The dive op. rents pony bottles; if you want solo-supporting gear rental, it's there.
Richard.
P.S.: I'm not out to advance a specific buddy system vision, just see how prevalent our preferences are.
