When to Ditch your Buddy

[Rick Murchison]

Originally posted by Arduous
Hi Rick Murchison:


Originally posted my Rick
Hmmm... Who's ditchin' who here?

When I’m on a dive with someone and I stop to take note of something and they just continue to swim on, never looking back, never checking on me, never taking note of my position, then I have been ditched. Dive Safe ………………………..Arduous

Good example.. let's read it from the other fellow's point of view - "When I'm leading in less than wonderful visibility and my buddy just stops to look at something without letting me know he's stopping it only takes a fin kick and he's gone - he's ditched me."
What your post reveals to me is that y'all don't plan your dives - at least not the part about who's buddying with whom, who has the lead, who is responsible for what, how you're going to stay together under the diving conditions. If you *do* plan it and then ignore the plan you have an even more serious problem, and George's admonition becomes relevant - "Don't dive with strokes."
Rick

 

[Hobbs]

Originally posted by Uncle Pug


And you are far to smart to dive with a buddy who has faulty equipment on a 450fsw wall dive....

And you are smart enough to be aware of your surroundings and yourself and your buddy and stop the chain of events before they get to the point of your illustration....

Imaginning the senario is fine....
But don't use it to look for *the reason I ditched my buddy*
Look for a chain of events that you and your buddy break early...
Because you Hobbs, are a smart diver!!!

I would hope that I am a smart diver otherwise I wouldnt survuve for long ;-), but smart has very little to do with it,
accidents happen couse there was no way of knowing that they would/could happen, If there was, there would be a defence mekanism against them. However being smart would give you the opportunity to actually stop many of the accidents from happening by recognising that there was a risk.

however its quite interesting that you use the terms "chain of ev ents". If you check out aircraft security/risk management there is something called "the swiss cheese model" wich is used to explain the chain of events and also used to help understand how to stop "accidents" from happening through the chain of events. if you get a chance check it out, it does have a lot to do indirectly with this thread

I am sorry to see that accidents within the diving community is hard to get information about. one could and would learn alot from the accidents that occur if one would get to know of them.
fx I know of a swedish diver who drowned when turning around and swimming on his back on the surface since his exhaust valve om the drysuit was faulty and filled the drysuit with water and he panicked and drowned.
The question is did he die of the faulty valve or of the fact that he panicked when he was having a misshap.

of course its a combination but its an very interesting thought

thanx for a very interesting thread ;-) even though we are a bit astray with this posting ;-)

 

[Zept]

What about the situation where your buddy panics and bolts for the surface? Going *with* them doesn't seem that attractive. Going *after* them, how fast do you go? Do you skip your safety stop? This is a situation that I would *not* like to encounter, because I can't think of any good solutions.

Zept

 

[Sea Squirt]

I hope I would never encounter a situation where I would have to ditch my buddy (Keralucu!). Some of the scenarios above made my hair stand on end, and it's very informative to read all your opinions.


...we were trained to constantly be aware of our buddy's position by our instructors/DMs, who to test us, often turn round and signal "WHERE's YOUR BUDDY???" just to make sure we do actually know where our buddy is. We get a stern expression and ticking off if we can't respond correctly right away. I usually check on Keralucu's position about every 20 seconds or so..Good habits are learned by constant practice. I don't find it tiresome, or distracting from the dive - it's just become part of my dive routine.

 

[JustAddWater]

That is a situation I hope to never encounter. In my opinion, bolting after a panicked diver, and ignoring your own dive profile could necessitate rescue operations for two divers. Yet, if an underwater emergency (heart attack, seizure...) were to occur I couldn't imagine not assisting my buddy. I'm interested in some experienced opinions to this matter. Also, how would the responsibility differ if you are an instructor or divemaster in this kind of situation?

 

[blacknet]

Hello,

Well technicaly you do have a 5-10 min window if your buddy bolts to the surface. Assuming YOU do not embolise (5-10 for dci)


Ed

 

[Uncle Pug]

I dive with a regular partner.....
More than a buddy.... we are a team.....

His gear condition (including gas supply)....
His physical as well as emotional condition....
His training level for the dive planned....
Are as much my responsiblity as his.
Same goes for his responsiblity for me.

During the dive we maintain the same level of responsibility for one another....

During the dive we are in constant passive communication via the beams of our dive lights.... We are each responsible to make sure that our beams crosses the other guy's beam regularly.

During the dive I make eye contact on occassion with my buddy.
During the dive I assess my buddy's trim, gear, performance....and he like wise is responsible for me.

Our dives are planned and any adjustments to the plan are communicated via signals or through wet-notes.

If I want to stop, I figure 8 in front of my buddy to get his attention and when I have it I give him the stop signal (clinched fist.)

If my buddy wants to test my reflexes (we do this every dive) he waves his beam rapidly back and forth in front of me... I immeadiately turn to him with my primary regulator extended to donate air.... some times he takes it so I have to use my necklace regulator.... some times he just OKs me. I do the same to him (at least once a dive and usually when he is task loaded with something else;-)

When we come to a 70' stop and I pull out a lift bag he already has the spool out ready to go..... or vise versa as we have planned.

When I check my SPG I know what my buddy's SPG reads.... we dive a lot together... we are a team.

If my buddy lost his mask... he would stop, hover and wave his light back and forth.... I would come to his side and check his position while he got out his spare.... If he lost his spare I would control both of our buoyancy and ascent... same he for me.

If my buddy and I got separated... which would be very hard to do and be a most unusual circumstance (but it has happened in poor viz diving with a third wheel) I would stop...turn in circles flashing my light.... he would do the same.... and because we are never very far apart.... we would find one another.... if not we both would surface....

I would never ditch my buddy to save myself because he is my responsibility.... In this case, for me, two deaths would be better than one.

If I were diving with you....
The dive we would do would depend upon your skill level...
Whether we would dive would depend upon your attitude toward buddy diving...

 

[blacknet]

Uncle Pug,

Hey I gotta ask and don't take this the wrong way. Does your buddy and you wear the same pants size?

Ed

 

[Uncle Pug]

Originally posted by blacknet
Uncle Pug,

Hey I gotta ask and don't take this the wrong way. Does your buddy and you wear the same pants size?

Ed

Ed....
No....
Why do you ask???

 

[blacknet]

Hello,

Was poking fun of all things being the same and I just had to throw that in for a bit of humor. No insult/harm/damage intended just for humor.

Ed