Why Leave a Buddy?

[fnfalman]

@fnfalman: I understand your point...but I think the decision to wave goodbye to an insta-buddy deviating from the dive plan might not always be so clear-cut. For the sake of furthering the discussion, would your response change if you knew that your buddy did not willfully intend to descend to a depth of 150+ fsw? For example, imagine a scenario in which a diver has his/her LP inflater hose pop off of the BCD power inflater. With equipment malfunctions of this nature, I've seen newbie divers "freeze" (no kicking, no actions to rectify the situation). At that point, an attentive buddy within arm's reach would be in a position to intercede. Passive panic can certainly manifest like this. If the dive plan called for an operating depth of 100 fsw or so, it's certainly possible that narcosis played a role in the buddy going substantially deeper.

Just something for all of us to think about...

In your case, the buddy should stop the diver from descending further. If it's equipment failure, then assist the buddy. But if after hand signaling and nothing is wrong with the equipment yet the other diver insisted on going deeper than planned even though I signaled that I won't agree to further descension and that buddy kept on going? Then have fun! I'll be where I'm at.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

In your case, the buddy should stop the diver from descending further. If it's equipment failure, then assist the buddy. But if after hand signaling and nothing is wrong with the equipment yet the other diver insisted on going deeper than planned even though I signaled that I won't agree to further descension and that buddy kept on going? Then have fun! I'll be where I'm at.

@fnfalman: Communication by hand signals might not be so effective if the buddy is looking down into the "abyss." I understand your position, though.

My point was that there might be certain circumstances under which it isn't so clear-cut that the buddy was intentionally deviating from the dive plan. From your perspective, passive panic during descent might look like the buddy was intentionally descending below the agreed upon maximum depth. As the buddy descends deeper, it's possible that he is so preoccupied with his predicament (or narced) that he doesn't think to look up at you and signal for help. Diving in SoCal where limited vis is the rule rather than the exception, the window for him to signal to you could be rather narrow.

The scenario I described is perhaps an extreme one. I'll concede that. I suppose that I would try several different ways to intercede before giving up on the buddy. When I buddy up with someone, we agree that neither person will intentionally leave the other...unless the circumstances are quite dire. In my mind, depending on available gas resources and my overall comfort level, I would probably descend to 150 fsw to retrieve a buddy who was in trouble -- even if he "looked" like he was simply being an idiot and straying from the dive plan. But I can only speak for myself... I can think of several examples from my own experience in which a very capable, safety-conscious dive buddy did something out of character at depth (likely due to narcosis).

 

[Code Monkey]

I take my buddy obligations very seriously. The only case where it is acceptable to leave a buddy is if not doing so would mean the end of my life (and defining the turn-back point would be a very difficult decision for me). I have no problem thumbing a dive if my buddy is an idiot but I would continue the dive if s/he patently refused to leave the water.

I once thumbed a dive due to extreme vertigo while my buddy continued their dive with another diver. I was fine with the decision to separate but, after a couple of dizzy minutes of safety stop, I _really_ wished I had a buddy on whom to lean. This incident underscored, for me, the importance of staying together throughout the entire dive.

 

[Zen1300]

I take my buddy obligations very seriously. The only case where it is acceptable to leave a buddy is if not doing so would mean the end of my life (and defining the turn-back point would be a very difficult decision for me). I have no problem thumbing a dive if my buddy is an idiot but I would continue the dive if s/he patently refused to leave the water.

I once thumbed a dive due to extreme vertigo while my buddy continued their dive with another diver. I was fine with the decision to separate but, after a couple of dizzy minutes of safety stop, I _really_ wished I had a buddy on whom to lean. This incident underscored, for me, the importance of staying together throughout the entire dive.

In this case I the buddy left you.



Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

 

[Code Monkey]

In this case I the buddy left you.

Oh, certainly. It's just a shoe-on-the-other-foot sort of arrangement. Now that I know what it's like to be left (even when I was OK with it initially) I understand why it's so important not to leave others.

 

[masska]

General idea of buddy system as i get it is simple: you do not have reserve parachute, you dont have airbag... only thing you have is your buddy.