what makes a good buddy?

[alcina]

There have been a lot of threads recently with stories of bad buddies and bad diver behaviour. I recently had the great pleasure to dive with a new buddy who was fantastic. I normally solo dive and buddy diving drives me to drink most of the time. Diving with this individual was a joy and I would gladly jump in with him anytime.

So it got me to thinking, let's put out our ideas on what makes a good buddy. Each diver will have a different set of criteria, I'm sure, and it will also pay to keep in mind that some of the specifics will vary based on the type of diving you want to do. Here's my initial list for my normal diving - photography, no to moderate current, viz 2 - 30+m, boat based, relatively warm water.

#1 - communication. I am convinced that this is what made my recent outings so successful. We chatted about what we wanted to do and what we were going to do when certain things happened. We chatted about how fast/slow we wanted to go and what creatures we wanted to see. It was pretty informal, but it worked a treat for each of us. The creature list was great as we weren't continuously pointing out each and every thing (extremely annoying diver habit) - but when we saw something on the the other's "hit" list, we'd make the effort to show it.

#2 - dive skills. My buddy also has excellent dive skills and that meant that I could relax and dive my plan instead of dealing with a reef kicker, critter harrasser or zoomer (you know - cover the whole reef in 3.2 seconds!).

#3 - trust. I liked this person as a person. I had never dived with him before but had admired his photographs and had talked to others who had dived with him. We two talked about our diving on the trip out to the site - seemed we had a lot in common in the way we approach diving. I had only met him the afternoon before.

I trusted him to be able to take care of himself as a diver and to respect the reef - the two primary things that I usually end up worrying about most with buddies (how much air? Is he watching it? Does he know how to get back to the anchor? Is he kicking the wobbie in the head as he tries to get a shot of a cod? Is he ripping the eel out of his hole to get a better shot? - that kind of thing.)

I am sure there are more but these are the three that really popped out at me while I was thinking about this.

 

[Kriterian]

I agree with yours, and will put up my own:

- Communication: This is definitely the number one requirement. The pre-dive needs to be discussed, equipment (likes/differences), underwater signals, how to cancel a dive, how to handle seperations under/above water etc.

- Like personalities and dive interests: You sort of touched on this one, but I think it's important that both buddies have the same "goal" for the dive. Imagine if you're a budding photographer about to snap an award winning picture and your new buddy, the spearfisherman, swoops down and stabs it with a spear. Also that wreck person who could spend hours studying the bell on a sunken ship won't have fun with the person dashing around trying to hand feed sharks.

- Skills: While this should be a diver thing and not necessarily a buddy thing, both people should be first aid/cpr and rescue certified.

Other than that, they just need to be:

- Extremely rich
- own a bar, dive shop or both
- love to share

 

[NotQuiteDead]

Completely agree. Communication is most important; without that, skills are useless.

Helps if she's hot too. *winks*

(I keed, I keed)

 

[Daryl Morse]

Communication and trust are at the top of my list. Add to that similar dive objectives, similar skill level, easy going, patient, self-sufficient, helpful.

 

[Rick Inman]

Let me add (as long as the others mentioned are there), History. There's nothing like diving with someone who you have so many dives with that you can read their mind. I have about 150 dives with one guy and we act like some old married couple. We don't talk much, just kind of move in unison with the occasional nod or word to confirm what we're already thinking.

BTW, I know there are some buddies who have hundreds of dives together. That must really be something.

 

[baitedstorm]

Very nicely put.

I have a ton of friends I dive with, but only a small group that I consider actual dive buddies. I like to watch how other divers handle stressful situation, I think it shows a number of things about the person and their abilities. All to often, divers are on different pages, even after they've talked about their profiles. Communication is certainly a biggie!

For me, a good dive buddy is someone I dont have to constantly look for because I know they are right by me. Someone that takes notice of their surroundings, they always leave the bottom with enough air left in their tanks for themself and a buddy and are extermely comfortable in the water. They can't have a quarker-noise-I-wanna-kill-you thingy.
I love when I'm completely in tune with my buddy to the point that we can just look at each other and pretty much know what the other person is thinking. It's nice having a buddy that will pull you out of harms way in a moment (my back was too the danger) and never have to second guess why he's dragging you quickly away.

 

[KidK9]

Female is my first criteria. Single is my second criteria. Third is how good the individual looks in a wetsuit. I'm cool diving with whoever...LoL

 

[Xman]

I agree with most of the above, but would also add.
-strives to be as good a diver as they can be.
In my mind, I want a buddy who is thinking after the dive, what vould I have done better? What do I need to learn from that.
-practices skills regularly
Its not much good diving with someone who doesn't regularly pratice OOA drills etc.. (this does come under good dive skills in the above posts)

 

[baitedstorm]

Female is my first criteria. Single is my second criteria. Third is how good the individual looks in a wetsuit. I'm cool diving with whoever...LoL

I think your first post was funnier.... :laughing:

 

[kidspot]

...For me, a good dive buddy is someone I dont have to constantly look for because I know they are right by me.

That was something I had to work on when I first started diving (ok - I'm still working on it, but getting better) I realized how much I appreciated it when I started diving with one of my new buddies. We always know exactly where the other is, it gives us both a great sense of confidence and greater ability to just enjoy the dive.

I have trouble diving with a lot of DM's and Instructors as my buddy because they are in a "lead the dive" mode instead of being part of a team. I still dive with them, but if I'm going to go somewhere new or push a limit (within careful reason) they will not be the buddy of my choice, my less experience buddy above who I know "has my back" is my first choice every time.

Aloha, Tim