>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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