[quote=BennyB]
7. Don't think buddying is just following someone because you have to and that's what freedivers do. Buddying is following someone to ensure they are safe and to be ready to act to do whatever is necessary to keep them safe. This means a buddy must know what to if a freediver blacks out or has LMC. I think people (myself included) can become blasé about safetying because 95 times out of 100 they buddy someone and that person finishes their dive with no problems and that's it. We need to train for those 5 times that something goes wrong.
Couldn't have said this better myself! Far too many freedivers can kind of just "zone out" while they're on safety duty, when they should be ready to go at ALL times. When I dive with a new buddy, I always like to evaluate his safety skills/knowledge before we get in the water (the last guy I dove with before my PFI course had VERY little training in safety, which I found pretty alarming). When I'm the safety, I'm breathing up and watching my buddy like a HAWK, just waiting for something to go wrong. If you keep yourself in a state where you're waiting for something to go wrong, then you'll be MUCH more prepared to act when something DOES go wrong. Safety is something that we CAN'T afford to overlook, and should practice regularly. Heck, I KNOW I need practice; during open water training in the course last month, Mandy pulled an underwater "black out" on me, and I rescued her by pulling her up with an armpit carry, and not with the chin hold. Whoops. At least she still complimented me on getting her to the surface and rolled over quickly. Practice, practice, practice!
Todd
