buddy diving

[Seadart Bob]

<font color='#333399'>Hey Terry
Who’s manning the boat for the 10%?

We use the same system as you but not to the depths that you work at. We are talking working on a wreck site here. Don’t have a problem with that. In fact would prefer to dive solo as you only have yourself to watch out for. If you dived with a buddy you would have one well pi**ed off diver as one worked and the other watched.
Understand you use re-breathers. I feel I might be a bit concerned for my mate if I could not see his bubbles from the boat, especially working amongst large boulders that were unstable.
Although working solo there is always someone that knows where you are and how long you have been down. There’s always a backup set of equipment in the boat.
Rather than call it solo diving SteveW termed it as self contained diving, that seems to describe it better

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]Never yet done a real solo dive, not counting extended buddy seperations, but thought about it once or twice. I think &quot;self-contained&quot; diving is more what it's about to me.

Solo diving to me is!  you are on your own in a boat anchored up, you carry out your dives and return to a base.
Have done this a few times, always left instructions with local authorities and friends as to what is going on though.
Hasn't bothered me but might be open to a flame or two.
Cheers
Bob

[jasondrake]

I dive solo most of the time. Mainly shore diving on air but also trimix wrecks up to 80 metres. I believe I am safer, and I enjoy my diving more on my own. Simple as that. (no macho death wish, I genuinely feel safer without a buddy) If something happens the last thing I want is someone else interfering with my kit. If I have a seious problem the last thing I want is to have to waste time alerting a buddy or chasing them for help. I just want to get off bottom and to a safe death as quick as f*ck and sort it out. All my incidents, every single one, has been when diving with a buddy.

[TDave]

Well, I have to say I'm not overly keen on the idea but then I haven't tried it.
It is true though that self-rescue is a key point that I believe all divers should be comfortable with. That almost goes without saying, but then that does not advocate solo diving, either regularly or just 'practicing'.
As for what I've noticed about some people saying that they find themselves worrying constantly about their buddy etc etc, that too comes down to practise and honing vital skills. Ideally yourself and your buddy should be side by side, almost touching. That way if the viz does go tits up you know (from constantly being able to glance to one side - for argument's sake your left - and see your buddy there) that your buddy will be almost within arms reach on your left side. Obviously torches may benefit in some situations. Or, of course, there's the DIR approach of the Dive TEAM, working together as one unit, both on surface and in the water. Buddy diving, either in pairs, or in the form of a larger team is, undoubtedly, a large safety measure.
Of course, it is only a large safety measure if you either know who you're diving with or more people advocate and embed the excellent points buddy diving has, even from the very start with Buddy checks and the like. If you are the more experienced diver and you find yourself worrying about your buddy lagging behind, YOU should slow down and stress to him that you want him by your side, where you can see him easily if there's a problem and vice-versa. That should also be picked up in the debrief.
If buddy procedures are stuck to then I believe it is the safest way to dive, certainly over solo. However, I can understand why some people may dislike it if they have had a bad experience(s) in the past due to a poor grasp of these buddy skills.

But, as with everyone else in this topic, that is only my opinion. An opinion which I probably haven't explained particularly well because I started writing this a bit too late and I'm now absolutely knackered!

TD

[jasondrake]

Although there are obvious arguments for diving in pairs in theory, I think in practice the application of the system is flawed. If I am having to slow down to de-stress my buddy so he's not a liability, then what advantage is there for me to take him along? Anyone less competent than myself is a liability and just baggage, and anyone equally or more competent than me doesn't need a buddy. I don't want ANY of my judgement/decision process at any point in the dive to have to take into account another person at any time. I find that a much more sensible, realistic and relaxed attitude ensues when you are making all your own decisions based on your own comfort levels, without giving any consideration to what anyone else might think. I believe that buddy diving has a very important place in the training framework of diving, but that at a level where divers are planning and executing their own dives outwith a club/school environment &nbsp;if someone needs a buddy then I don't want to dive with them.

[Andy Phillips]

I've read this thread a few times and pondered. If I am honest to myself, I like diving with someone else, not necessarily for safety but simply because I prefer it. There are times when I like to be on my own, but these tend to be in warm water with huge vis. I am fortunate in so much as I have found a couple of people I am very comfortable with. Particually Mark Chase who I met off this site, we share a style and attitude to diving, this changes ones approach to buddy diving entirely.

My point being, I belive that diving in a buddy pair adds to your safety immensly, but, and it is a huge but, you must trust entirely the person you are in the water with, that means you both must be capable of operating on your own. As far as I am concerned, those that say they prefer to dive solo, simply have not found the right person or people to be in the water with. Besides, how else can you look accross at someone and shrug your sholders to each other at some particually bizzare fish or THING in the water.

Andrew

Ooops, just wanted to add, (I admit I read the post below) I do a bit of training with others and enjoy it, I also have dived and continue to dive with less experienced divers and enjoy that also, my post was about the diving I do for myself, this is becoming deeper and deeper, as far as I am concerned, there is diving, and then there is DIVING - Andrew -

[TDave]

Yeh, I would carry on and echo AndyP's thoughts in as much as those who prefer to dive solo simply have not found the right person to be diving with.
And it is an interesting point to say you don't want to be having to think about destressing an inexperienced buddy, but surely that is the one thing as experienced divers WE should be comfortable doing. If we all adopted that approach then inexperienced divers would be left to dive only with fellow inexperienced divers or, even worse, solo, presenting a MAJOR hazard.
I have dived with people considerably less experienced than myself before and have to say I enjoyed the experience. Not only is it good for the inexperienced diver to be able to learn pieces of advice from the more experienced one, but it also enhances the level of awareness of the more experienced diver.
I have learnt so much more from accompanying entry-level training dives and diving with relatively new divers than the theoretical problems in courses. Of course, without the theoretical problems given in the courses I may well have not been as aware of these problems, but without seeing examples in the water, and being able to help with them, the skills would go 'rusty'.

I can also say for a fact that if it wasn't for more experienced divers who I know and who I regularly dive with being prepared to dive with me over my first 20 or so dives I wouldn't have received the helpful little pointers that have proved so helpful in improving my diving.
But then there needs to be a balance in that the experienced diver shouldn't necesarily do all the work. Occassionally the dive planning could be left to the more inexperienced, clearly with the more experienced diver's aid.
The buddy system is not just for use in the water, it is all about preparation for the dive as a team, the dive, the debrief afterwards. Like AndyP said, the main thing about the buddy system is getting some of the trust and friendship there, being able to discuss, before and after the dive, any points either of you are unsure of or anything that went wrong comfortably. That way, everybody learns.

TD

[Hobby]

I have'nt read the posts fully here but I and others here have looked at this before in some detail(you'd need to do an archive serach of both Solo and Self Sufficient diving).
One of the things that is apparent is that there are many divers doing different types of diving,their requirements as such maybe a subtly different.
There are advocates of some particular disciplines of diving who stand by the philosophy that your buddy should be on hand and aware/made aware should you undertake a drill or unfortuanetly have to undertake some unplanned manouver.Now that's fine but much of my diving has been done in nil vis(I mean nil too,not what some people consider nil.If you can see your hand in front of your mask then you have vis)or in a space so confined you can only go in single file and not turn around etc(sluices etc).In conditions such as this your Buddy,if he's there at all(?) in all probability cannot see you at all so would be of little use to you short of you taking something off him if needed..and you're back to if he's there and if you can reach him.If he is and you can then fine,but many people never dive in such conditions.....but it won't stop them telling you that their method is the best way to dive etc.If you want to dive in these conditions you'll just have to give up diving eh?
At the end of the day,the buck as they say should stop with you.If your buddy is able and competent to help then this is no doubt an advantage.It cannot however be relied upon,total reliance/dependance on such techniques can IMHO lead to over reliance on drill and kit and a false sense of security,all potentialy dangerous.
Regards,Hobby.

[budgy]

Most of the time do you think the buddy you dive with is oblivious of you?  Do you find yourself finning hard to keep an oblivious buddy in sight?  Is your buddy a bottom groveling shit kicker?  If you dive solo with or near strings, ropes and shot lines etc., you better know how to remove your kit and refasten it. &nbsp;You may eventually find out that you would rather dive without danglies as underwater entanglement solo is an alarming experience which you must be able to cope with. The only problem I find with being a totally solo diver is back zips; no problem to undo, but they tend to catch in the undersuit when your trying to zip them up.

 

[Mark Chase]

<font color='#000F22'>I have been both blessed and cursed in equal measure with dive buddies. I have been very fortunate to dive with people far more experianced than I who were good divers and comfortable with going solo. That ment I felt no presure on the dive to match their deco and that at any time I could abort and be confident I was not spoiling someone elses dive. On deep stuff I have signelled my buddy that I wanted out and after sucessfully bagging off I wave him good by and go home. He's OK I am OK. From that point on I am solo and that might be for the next 30 or 40 mins on some dives.

This is pre arranged stuff no surprise to the buddy concerned

I dive planned solo dives and I feel safe and relaxed but I have and eperb and boat support or shore support. These dives are usualy done to max 30m, little or no deco, and always on a twinset even if max depth is 10m. Conditions will be good, and the dive will have safe easy or no penitration into wrecks.

I have dived with buddies who have got me into trouble or ruined the dive in other ways. I have had to rescue one who freeked at 35m and tryed to bolt for the surface. (she was a PADI dive master?) My buddies SMB got tangled in my own and I was sent to the surface feet first (my fault) and I hovered at 60m (as far as I was willing to go) and watched a dive buddy who spent the morning throwing up go down to 66m on air when the dive plan was 50max. I wondered if he would die then got paranoid narked and wondered if I would die. &nbsp;

OK personal opinions:

Diving with a good buddy is a total pleasure and is the safest form of diving. Diving with a bad one is a liabuility and more dangerous than being solo. Diving with trainees is more dangerous than diving solo. Diving solo is as safe as the diver who is doing it.

IMHO &nbsp; &nbsp;

Mark Chase

[Fiona]

<font color='#0000FF'>Mark I totally agree with your last paragraph. &nbsp;Last year the club I belong to didn't do much diving so rather than not do anything I dived quite a lot with Digs in Trearrdur Bay, not very adventureous but it was diving and kept skills in check. &nbsp;

On one particular day I had kitted and was waiting by the car watching a group of divers doing the same, one guy was under supervison whilst kitting up I watched as he put the BC on the cyclinder the wrong way round this was because someone had place a plastic tank handle on the wrong side of the tank, as he was trying to put the reg on back to front and not really wishing to interfer I asked if they would like some help they acepted and I pointed out to them the problem, I supplied them with an allan key to change the tank handle. &nbsp;They then proceeded to kit up again. &nbsp;I then found out they were diving Dig's rib as well although on the other wave. &nbsp;

Although I don't do anything very deep on my own, I don't have a problem with doing so. &nbsp;