I'm not quite sure where the idea you don't need a buddy if you are a deep
diver came from---maybe it was a Brett Gilliam / TDI invention, but the
history of diving puts the buddy system on top as the preferred method to
dive safely, and the solo diver remains on the "endangered list" along with
deep air divers. When you look at the record of the WKPP, along with the
amazing safety record, you see that they consider their dive buddy to be
among their most important gear choice.

Some of the solo divers I have met, like to dive solo for the elitism the
practice allows them to affect....others are actually forced into it, with
mission oriented dives, like macro photography---where it's next to
impossible to convince any other diver who is not brain dead, to stay with
them for 40 minutes in the 20 foot area they remain in.....If we can create
a more intelligent "picture" of how a tech diver would dive ( i.e., as buddy
team only ), maybe the ones affecting elitism would attempt to learn
advanced buddy skills with someone else like themself. This would have to be
much better for tech diving, and would certainly lower the death rate if
they learn DIR .
As to macro photographers---I think we may just have to leave them on an
endangered list :-)

Regards,
Dan Volker
www.sfdj.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Jsuw@ao*.co* <Jsuw@ao*.co*>
To: nocturne_cvs@ya*.co* <nocturne_cvs@ya*.co*>; techdiver@aquanaut.com
<techdiver@aquanaut.com>; cavers@ge*.co* <cavers@ge*.co*>
Date: Tuesday, June 02, 1998 1:27 AM
Subject: Dive Buddies



>
>> I'm sorry - I thought that never diving alone was the first rule
>>  people were taught - yet 90% of the people on this list seem to think
>>  nothing of it.
>
>I've wondered about this too.  It seems that many "experienced" divers
scoff
>at having a buddy.  While I don't want a "velcro buddy", I do like the idea
of
>having one.  I like being able to share the dive with someone.  Self-
>sufficiency or any lack there of is not the issue.
>
>>From a safety standpoint, having a buddy makes sense to me too.  Equipment
can
>fail, entanglement in fishing line and nets can occur, even to the best of
>divers, not to mention many other scenarios which are no direct result of
the
>diver's abilities.  A buddy can help.  A buddy can also be too slow to
react
>and unable to help, but at least with the buddy, there is a chance that
they
>can assist.
>
>The bottom line for me is that I don't count on my buddy to get me out of
>trouble -- I try to avoid trouble, and resolve any small problem myself
before
>it turns into anything.  I still like having a buddy around.
>
>I understand that there are some situations where solo diving may be
required,
>but these are not the majority of dives.  I've heard many instructors say
>"when I dive with students, I am solo diving."  While there is some truth
to
>that statement, I could also argue that it's not exactly the same thing as
>diving alone.
>
>I'm curious about other's opinions on this issue.  Let me define a
qualified
>buddy as being one equally qualified to do the dives you choose to do.  Is
the
>qualified buddy so hard to come by that diving alone is preferable?  Why do
>you or don't you dive with a buddy?  Is a buddy a help or a hindrance?
>
>..
>--
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>

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