Joined
·
480 Posts
Imported post
There has of late,as I'm sure the more observant of us will have noticed,been quite an interest in this subject.Now while I don't profess to be an expert on this or anything in particular I have in the past(largely due to something my old man started in the early 80's)done quite a bit of digging into the buddy system,it's application,its pros and cons and most interestingly for me where it came from and why it's such a cornerstone of recreational diver training.I "presented" this with some other stuff about 12mths ago to a mixed group of divers(mainly PADI trained)of varying experience and it went down really well.I just thought it might be of interest to breifly recount it here.All the research I did is available,much of it via the net and I'll give some links.Right,recreational training for divers instills the buddy system from the onset of training.As we progress through our diving career we (usually if with the agencies)remain in this mode and rarely question it.Leaving aside BSAC for a moment,much of recreational diver training today is US based via PADI,NAUI etc.Amongst the 1st people to draw up training progs.for rec.divers was - the YMCA.Now the YMCA recruited lifeguard experts to assist in the training programme,this is circa 1954.At that time US lifeguarding was pushing a "never swim alone"programme for obvious reasons.The programme was built into the diving training and that was the start,the other US agencies did virtually identical progs.(Even the USN brought NAUI in to advise on Scuba use!).BSAC went their own way and it was more of a natural progression,you were taught with someone in the water with you and it just seemed common sense to continue as such-yes?Now,just to make a point,NOWHERE is it recorded/stated that the buddy system came into rec.diving as being a proven safer system,it just happened to be that way.I'm not saying it is'nt safe ,just that it started out as an unknown but accepted factor.Right,parallel to this,military and commercial divers had always generally worked alone.Even if there were others in the water with them the emphasis was on the diver themselves.There was and is always an out of water,but dressed "standby diver" on hand.Now the CDG,the oldest diving club in the world,generally taught themselves.These guys were pushing caves in standard gear at times(brass hats)as early as the 30's.Given the nature of what they do,they generally dive solo.or,in a self sufficient mode.(There are CDG people here,Scoff for eg.who can correct any points,apologies for any mistakes made).Many US people(or those trained in US agencies/philosophy state that cave diving sytems used throughout the world originated in the US,this is'nt exactly true.It works on the principle that only US teams play in their "World Series".The US cave divers developed their skills in different conditions and probably with scuba as a starting point.They were primarily divers(mainly rec divers),not cavers trying to push a flooded system as in the UK,and trained as such.From cave practices grew technical diving,again commercial/military had long been using mixed gases etc.and much of the cave and later tech divers took much from these arenas as they were more demanding etc.Now,I am in no way knocking anybody here,let it be said.Can you see where different influences have shaped different systems,DIR advocates strongly diving with a buddy(not buddy-diving!)and that is fine,records will no doubt prove that DIR trained divers(not the half way wannabes)and indeed tech.diving as a whole has a much better safety record than rec.diving.Yes I realise there are many more rec.divers,but even compararitvely speaking they are much safer,especially given the conditions.So are CDG,so are commercial and military,etc..All this can't merely be down to just the buddy system of course but the more "concrete thinkers" amongst the buddy system supporters should take note.So where does it leave us,all the safer systems discussed above have one thing in common,whether they advocate solo diving or not.They all, without exception,advocate self sufficient diving,solo or otherwise.If you are trained to be so and are safe with your buddy of the same abilities this is possibly a very safe system.So is the Police diver who goes into a black hole alone.Are either wrong? No.If you see someone kitting up to do a dive alone,just consider that because your instructor says he is,he might not be a suicide candidate,but trained/dived/survived/learnt somewhere we'll never get and do things we'll never do.If they are like that then ask,not with an attitude but with genuine interest,we may learn something."Buddy diving" is fine when training,how else are we supposed to learn? "Diving with a buddy" is different and is what most of us I feel should be aiming not the former.Agencies should strive to make divers able to do the latter safely for both sakes.I apologise for the long thread but it's an important issue I feel,please do correct any factual errors there or ask questions as this is still quite a basic account all said and done,the rest is merely my opinion although I have tried to remain unbiased.Here's acouple of links for anyone not yet bored. http://www.saudidiving.com/solo-diving.htm. There's acouple of excellent articles by Halstead and Gerzner also at the bottom of this article.Also http://divenewzealand.com/issue67/solo.html
There has of late,as I'm sure the more observant of us will have noticed,been quite an interest in this subject.Now while I don't profess to be an expert on this or anything in particular I have in the past(largely due to something my old man started in the early 80's)done quite a bit of digging into the buddy system,it's application,its pros and cons and most interestingly for me where it came from and why it's such a cornerstone of recreational diver training.I "presented" this with some other stuff about 12mths ago to a mixed group of divers(mainly PADI trained)of varying experience and it went down really well.I just thought it might be of interest to breifly recount it here.All the research I did is available,much of it via the net and I'll give some links.Right,recreational training for divers instills the buddy system from the onset of training.As we progress through our diving career we (usually if with the agencies)remain in this mode and rarely question it.Leaving aside BSAC for a moment,much of recreational diver training today is US based via PADI,NAUI etc.Amongst the 1st people to draw up training progs.for rec.divers was - the YMCA.Now the YMCA recruited lifeguard experts to assist in the training programme,this is circa 1954.At that time US lifeguarding was pushing a "never swim alone"programme for obvious reasons.The programme was built into the diving training and that was the start,the other US agencies did virtually identical progs.(Even the USN brought NAUI in to advise on Scuba use!).BSAC went their own way and it was more of a natural progression,you were taught with someone in the water with you and it just seemed common sense to continue as such-yes?Now,just to make a point,NOWHERE is it recorded/stated that the buddy system came into rec.diving as being a proven safer system,it just happened to be that way.I'm not saying it is'nt safe ,just that it started out as an unknown but accepted factor.Right,parallel to this,military and commercial divers had always generally worked alone.Even if there were others in the water with them the emphasis was on the diver themselves.There was and is always an out of water,but dressed "standby diver" on hand.Now the CDG,the oldest diving club in the world,generally taught themselves.These guys were pushing caves in standard gear at times(brass hats)as early as the 30's.Given the nature of what they do,they generally dive solo.or,in a self sufficient mode.(There are CDG people here,Scoff for eg.who can correct any points,apologies for any mistakes made).Many US people(or those trained in US agencies/philosophy state that cave diving sytems used throughout the world originated in the US,this is'nt exactly true.It works on the principle that only US teams play in their "World Series".The US cave divers developed their skills in different conditions and probably with scuba as a starting point.They were primarily divers(mainly rec divers),not cavers trying to push a flooded system as in the UK,and trained as such.From cave practices grew technical diving,again commercial/military had long been using mixed gases etc.and much of the cave and later tech divers took much from these arenas as they were more demanding etc.Now,I am in no way knocking anybody here,let it be said.Can you see where different influences have shaped different systems,DIR advocates strongly diving with a buddy(not buddy-diving!)and that is fine,records will no doubt prove that DIR trained divers(not the half way wannabes)and indeed tech.diving as a whole has a much better safety record than rec.diving.Yes I realise there are many more rec.divers,but even compararitvely speaking they are much safer,especially given the conditions.So are CDG,so are commercial and military,etc..All this can't merely be down to just the buddy system of course but the more "concrete thinkers" amongst the buddy system supporters should take note.So where does it leave us,all the safer systems discussed above have one thing in common,whether they advocate solo diving or not.They all, without exception,advocate self sufficient diving,solo or otherwise.If you are trained to be so and are safe with your buddy of the same abilities this is possibly a very safe system.So is the Police diver who goes into a black hole alone.Are either wrong? No.If you see someone kitting up to do a dive alone,just consider that because your instructor says he is,he might not be a suicide candidate,but trained/dived/survived/learnt somewhere we'll never get and do things we'll never do.If they are like that then ask,not with an attitude but with genuine interest,we may learn something."Buddy diving" is fine when training,how else are we supposed to learn? "Diving with a buddy" is different and is what most of us I feel should be aiming not the former.Agencies should strive to make divers able to do the latter safely for both sakes.I apologise for the long thread but it's an important issue I feel,please do correct any factual errors there or ask questions as this is still quite a basic account all said and done,the rest is merely my opinion although I have tried to remain unbiased.Here's acouple of links for anyone not yet bored. http://www.saudidiving.com/solo-diving.htm. There's acouple of excellent articles by Halstead and Gerzner also at the bottom of this article.Also http://divenewzealand.com/issue67/solo.html