Joel-

From my experience out on the dive boats around here usually about 25% of 
the advanced divers dive solo. I agree that beginning divers can benefit 
from have a buddy, if hopefully one of the pair has a clue...

But like the snorkel debate I am talking about advanced divers on a 
technical diving forum here. These are people who are down there not just 
to look at the pretty fishies but to get something accomplished like 
lobstering, spearfishing, photography, wrecking, etc. If you have ever 
been in the lame situation of buddying up with someone doing one of the 
above you would be a solo proponent as well.

You simply cannot perform the supposed functions of a buddy when you are 
head down in the debris, digging out a lobster. When I am in lobster mode 
there are only 2 things on my mind, where are the stinking lobsters and 
how much air do I have left.

When I was still a "buddy zombie" I would get matched up with these 
people and there I was spending the whole dive finning madly to keep up 
with a lobster hound or sitting there for 30 minutes while some guy is 
sawing at a porthole with a hacksaw. So I am sitting there "Is this what 
I just paid $80 and an entire day out of my life to sit here underwater 
while my "buddy" is pushing a hacksaw?". I seriously considered quitting 
scuba, and I will bet there are a lot of people who went ahead and did 
just that.

But then I found the beauty of solo diving. It was like being let out of 
jail. It was like growing wings and flying out of a traffic jam. It 
rejuvenated my interest in diving and made me spend a whole lot more 
money on the sport (DO YOU HEAR THAT MARKETING PEOPLE????).

And yet after solo diving for the past 4 years I am still alive. I 
strenuously object to the statement that all OW divers should have 
buddies. If that was ever enforced I would quit the sport.

Now, having said that, to solo dive you need a proper redundant air 
supply system (hogarth is good start) and other equipment and the 
experience to know your limitations while solo (penetrations, deco 
obligation, conditions etc.) and proper mindset (paniky divers need not 
apply) before you choose to do this.

 Jim

Sender: Joel Markwell  Date: 6/4/98 8:20 AM

>>Barbara, lets can the "buddy" stuff. Thats rec.scuba's perpetual debate. 
>>
>>Please see:
>>
>>http://www.cisatlantic.com/trimix/aquacorps/survive/nobuddy.htm
>>
>>and I think you wil see the attitude of many people on this list.
>>
>>Sender: Barbara Peterson  Date: 6/1/98 7:46 PM
>
>Jim,
>
>I disagree with this premise and with the article you cite. Some of the 
>principles espoused are sensible, be trained to be self-sufficient, yes. 
>But as a tech and cave diver, this article does not reflect my attitude 
>at all. 
>
>I cave dive with a buddy for social reasons, yes, but also because a 
>buddy can save my life and vice-versa. If for no other reason, my buddy 
>carries another whole air supply for me, a supply that, in many cases in 
>cave diving can and has saved a life. He/she also is another set of eyes. 
>I've seen more than one cave diver, fiddling with a gauge, a scooter or a 
>loose strap while floating through the cave, looking down at his problem, 
>drift right over a turn in the line and onto a line that doesn't go where 
>he thinks he's going. It happened to me once in Mexico and had I been 
>solo, I might possibly have gone a LONG way before I realized my mistake 
>or ran into a line arrow there in the 3rd world. In that case, the lack 
>of a buddy might have lead to the wrong passage and then the lack of a 
>buddy's additional gas might have proved to be a serious problem. 
>
>A buddy can not only supply you with air and directions, he can also 
>alert you to potential problems, like a backup light that's on or a 
>leaking or freeflowing hose, especially when scootering. A buddy can tow 
>your "solo" butt out of a cave if your scooter craps out at max 
>penetration. If your computer craps out his can provide you with a rough 
>guide to deco. A buddy can alert you to leaks PRE-DIVE and potential 
>tangles and danglies with equipment during the pre-dive check. If you're 
>engaged in a stupid practice, a buddy can alert you to a safer way or the 
>give-and-take of diving routinely with another warm body can help each 
>diver fine-tune his/her gear for safety and efficacy.
>
>The notion that we are all somehow better off without buddies is just 
>macho BS of the worst sort, IMHO, no offense. Almost all of the safety 
>factors above for cave diving apply to OW diving as well. I solo dive 
>sometimes and I know lots of cave divers who solo, but if I had the 
>choice, I'd always have a competent buddy with me. Sure there are divers 
>that, when I dive with them I am more nervous about how THEY are going to 
>negotiate this dive than I am about possibly being alone. At times, it's 
>true, some buddies are worse than no buddies. but that has been the 
>exception in my diving. I've been lucky to dive mostly with people who 
>did not add _any_ stress to the diving situation. Who I knew would not 
>take stupid chances and who were competent, streamlined, safe cave divers 
>who kept aware of my position and vice versa. Sump diving is the one 
>exception that I can think of, that and extreme dives such as the one 
>Exley died on, where a buddy is unlikely to be able to do anything to 
>help.
>
>In OW diving divers should always be buddied up. Sure I can dive solo and 
>feel perfectly safe, but for most divers, a solid buddy is the best 
>answer, bar none--for me too. As for Mix wreck diving, well, I'll have to 
>leave that to others to comment on, but with a few exceptions, buddy 
>diving is still the best way to go. Learn solo, but dive with a buddy. 
>
>Later,
>
>JoeL
>


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