Unfortunately even the best buddies can get separated in poor vis or current. Each buddy should still be able to complete the dive without having a redundant system, whether another buddy or extra gear.
Why no redundancy in mainstream rec scuba?
- Thread starter reefrat
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chrisch
Contributor
I think society has changed over the last 20-30 years such that people are more "individual" thinking. The buddy system relies on mutual respect for one another and that seems lacking these days. I would like to think scuba diving was cutting across that trend and re-establishing something we are losing, but I fear this is not the case.
Bob DBF
Contributor
I boat dive in SoCal, and so far, they don't care if I dive solo.
So far I haven't had an issue with an instabuddy, however I haven't had many. The ones I've met enjoy diving and it's a matter of planning the dive to meet as many of our individual objectives as we can.
I usually have a chat with an instabuddy about buddy procedures, ending with lost buddy procedure. If I'm buddy diving, I take it seriously, and no one wants the recall and come up to a boat searching for their body.
Bob
DAN has reported rarely is equipment failure an issue. I'll add, in warm tropical waters; a little bit different in cold water. The main issue is people do not know how to use the equipment properly. DAN research acknowledges this. Most divers don't practice, they learn the skill in class, rehearse the drill once, maybe a second time, and think that it is adequate. In my view, requiring an additional piece of equipment will add to people not knowing, or remembering, how to use it leading to more problems.
Actually they do; at least NAUI and PADI. There is nothing to enforce people to adhere to the buddy system. After all, people are people and they are going to do what they want, including not paying attention to a buddy.
Interesting thought, but wasn't scuba diving an individual sport from the very beginning? The buddy system came later, I believe.
Still, it seems to me that since the buddy system IS now taught as the option to rely on if you have an equipment failure, then it should be taught rigorously. If our training made it clear from the start that my buddy and I are teammates, or maybe like co-pilots on an airplane, and we're both there to fly the plane together, we wouldn't see diving as an individual sport in the first place. You CAN dive as an individual--"solo"--but that ought to be thought of as something else entirely. If team diving is so antithetical to today's "individual thinking," then maybe they should stop teaching the buddy system from the beginning and teach every new diver to be self-reliant, even if that means buying and lugging along a pony bottle on those Caribbean reefs.
My PADI training was a while ago, but from what I recall the buddy system was given lip service. We practiced sharing air once or twice. The instructor never really hammered it into us. We never had to do a checkout dive where we had to act as a team. I hear the term "buddy team" used now and then, but the "team" part seems to get lost. True buddy diving has been given a new name by agencies that teach it, such as GUE and UTD: "team" diving.
gcarter
Contributor
Exactly.
Complete the dive or safely end the dive upon realization that your buddy is missing?
Whichever you discussed before the dive. If the plan is to end the dive, do so. If you and your buddy are comfortable solo diving, your choice. What I was saying is that buddy separation does not equal out of air.
Not really. In the U.S. Navy "team" (more than two divers) has always been used. So has "buddy" (two divers, maybe a third). During dive training, one never leaves his buddy. GUE and UTD are able to train divers who are motivated to take additional courses and practice good buddy and team work. While the two agencies get credit for this, most of the credit goes to the divers who want to adhere to the system.
I've been on plenty of dive trips in which the guide covered buddy procedures thoroughly. As soon as people jumped in the water it became a free-for-all for some, sometimes everyone. I experienced the same issue when I worked in the islands. Even when we had a chat with the buddy pair the next dive was good until part way through the dive and they went back to old practice.
PADI and NAUI do inform their instructors to teach the buddy system. Once students are certified they do what they want.
My point is, people are people and they are going to do what they want. Remember, the Navy, GUE and UTD are very mission oriented which leads to different practices. In the recreational world, many people just want to flop around the in water, have there hand held, and not really take responsibility for themselves; as I've been told - that is what the dive guide is for. Those who want to adhere to a strict buddy system can chose to do so.
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