Buddy System

[wcad]

Hi divers
New to freediving and the forum, have been poring over the details on training, safety, gear etc etc. My buddy and I are very inexperienced, only aiming for depths of 10-12m at this stage mainly for the purpose of observing marine life. Only issue is, from what i can tell not much of the safety talk revolves around this kind of diving (spearfishing is similar and is a common topic however no failsafe solution has been presented due to the fish chasing dilemma)...do we adopt one up one down?? If so, the typical vis in sydney would make it difficult to see a diver if they were 10m down, thus any incident at this depth would go unoticed by the rescue diver.. In addition, the down diver may traverse several metres at depth, making tracking a nightmare. Is it safe to go down with the diver, hovering just within sight say 2 or 3 m below the surface whilst they are diving further below?? Nobody seems to mention this as common practice but it makes sense to me...

 

[Kars]

You both can have a D-ring to the back of your weight belt with a line attached to a buoy, this way you can always find your buddy, and even can fish him up if you cannot equalise. You can also store the fish, first aid, water and other things on that buoy.

One up one down is the system yes. You can also share a speargun so you can take turns.
Having the line in combination with experience in shallow water would for short dives also eliminate the need of the buddy to dive down and surface together. You just get into relaxing more, and diving well within you limits, allowing your buddy to prepare and dive when you hand over the gun at the surface. A good team can have a great time, and a near continuous bottom time.

Make sure you stay hydrated, and also improve your freediving technique and safety-technique separate from spearfishing. Streamlining, efficient swimming, concentration, hookbreath, staying cool all are important things that help in dangerous situations. Practice also finding, picking up, bringing up a buddy, and reviving a buddy. This will help you both to have more confidence and relaxed dives too.

I do not consider my self a spearfisher yet, but I did enjoy a couple of sessions with some competent ones, Patrick and Raffa. However I freedive for over 7 years competitively and recreationally.

 

[Bill McIntyre]

Prepare to hear some heresy.

The way spearfishing is practiced in most of the world, the buddy system is a sham. It doesn't work. People who say otherwise are kidding themselves. In California for instance, my buddy disappears down into the kelp, often with poor visibility. If he doesn't come up after the right amount of time, I'd have no way to know where to look for him, and little chance that I could find him in time to help. Now and then I've tried it, and about the time I get worried, I see my buddy on the surface 15 meters away across the kelp.

But lets say you are diving in better visibility and mostly going straight up and down rather than doing any horizontal movement. If you black out or tangle at any depth, the only buddy who can save is one that is better than you. When he sees the need to help, do you think he will remain calm and be able to have a normal breath hold? No, his heart will be racing, and his capability will be significantly reduced. He has to be a whole lot better than you to be able to save you. And if you aren't as good as he is, then what good are you to him?

That's why I'm about to buy a Freedive Recovery Vest.

http://forums.deeperblue.com/freediving-equipment/89804-freedivers-recovery-vest-user-manual-up.html

A buddy system is realistic in the highly controlled environment of competitive freediving, but not for spearfishing.

I've heard that Kirk Krack, owner of Performance Freedivers International, is even going to equip his safety divers with them. His safety divers are supposed to save the students, but who is supposed to save the safety divers?

 

[spaghetti]

I agree with Bill McIntyre completely. When we hear the recommendation "don't dive solo", "go one up one down", "always have someone watching you", we all think that's the right recommendation and the best approach to freediving/spearfishing. That's right indeed, but...

...but practically, it's not going to work in most of real life situations and conditions. You're not safe with a buddy up on the surface, and the one up one down system makes the divign so unpleasant, unrelaxing, unenjoyable. That's at least my sensation. Diving in turns me first you second again and again, you spoil that wonderful sensation of freedom and interior recreation.

I consider it wiser to dive conservatively even whith a buddy "watching" you. Don't rely too much on his presence and be as prudent as if you were solo.

 

[Erik]

+1000.....

 

[JennyWren]

These are all valid points - and as a diver in BC it's often murky and there is kelp and whatnot in the way. However, still not a bad idea to employ perhaps a 'modified' one-up-one-down buddy system to counter surface issues. We all know it's not unheard of to bo on the surface, so not a bad idea to have your buddy already up and watching you and ready to assist if you take one breath and then pass out. If you want to dive together, maybe try having on each dive one person come up earlier and wait to help their buddy if needed (alternate who gets the longer dive on each time). That way not only are you at depth with your buddy in the middle of the dive, but you'll also be closer to him when he does surface.

Thoughts?

 

[azapa]

I have a saying, also heresy, amongst my spearo buddies: i'd rather dive alone rather than with a buddy who I THINK can save my butt.

A bad buddy (for whatever reasons, his training or your conditions) at best is the guy that goes home to report the loss, he won't actually save your life.

In all my freediving/spearing, accompanied and otherwise, probably 5% of those dives have been with someone in a position to really make a difference if I was in trouble.

Sad, but true. My FRV (freedivers saftey vest) arrives at the end of the month.

 

[Erik]

I have a saying, also heresy, amongst my spearo buddies: i'd rather dive alone rather than with a buddy who I THINK can save my butt.

A bad buddy (for whatever reasons, his training or your conditions) at best is the guy that goes home to report the loss, he won't actually save your life.

In all my freediving/spearing, accompanied and otherwise, probably 5% of those dives have been with someone in a position to really make a difference if I was in trouble.

Sad, but true. My FRV (freedivers saftey vest) arrives at the end of the month.

Agreed! Also i'm jealous about the FRV; once my Line of Credit is paid down I'm ordering one.

 

[wcad]

So what's the solution?? Is it possible for both to go down together sticking close and if one has a problem the other can recover them? IN this instance we are not spearfishing, just observing so stalking is not really an issue here...

 

[Erik]

So what's the solution?? Is it possible for both to go down together sticking close and if one has a problem the other can recover them? IN this instance we are not spearfishing, just observing so stalking is not really an issue here...

That's what I'd do.

 

[Bill McIntyre]

So what's the solution?? Is it possible for both to go down together sticking close and if one has a problem the other can recover them? IN this instance we are not spearfishing, just observing so stalking is not really an issue here...

I doubt that you could talk many guys in Southern California into doing that. Right or wrong, we have ourselves convinced that big white sea bass are very sensitive and its hard enough for a single diver to avoid spooking them. Two guys together would just be too much.

 

[Unclejake]

Excellent advice in most of these posts IMHO

Once your fins leave the surface, spearfishing becomes a solo pursuit. Be careful around kelp and ascend before you need to. Personally I avoid contractions when spearfishing. If I get one I am angry with myself for staying too long (yes... I know that a b/o can come without warning but this approach has worked for me so far, but this is a personal method only).

I think the best single thing you could do for your buddy is to use a float and floatline attached to your gun (rather than a reel gun) but I know it is a pain in many countries, and the diver could be 15 meters away from a long float in shallow water so I will not preach.

Wcad, I see you are not spearfishing so a small anchor on the end of a floatline is a great way to mark items of interest for a second dive. We swim around with small anchors on our floatlines when hunting crayfish. I think Kars has given you some great advice on everything else, but I would never attach the floatline to my belt. I figure that would have a greater chance of killing you than no floatline. I get my floatline caught around rocks or weed on almost every dive day.

As Kars said, drink plenty of water and don't push anything (depth, time or effort) and the chances are you will be fine

 

[Unclejake]

So what's the solution?? Is it possible for both to go down together sticking close and if one has a problem the other can recover them? IN this instance we are not spearfishing, just observing so stalking is not really an issue here...

If you want to observe awesome things then eventually you will need to hide in the weed or behind rocks

 

[Kars]

It would be better to have a buoyed floating line to the buoy, so it will be "tight" going to the surface float, avoiding much entanglement.

In between over hanging rocks and kelp is obviously a very tricky situation, in that case a line is indeed is more hazardous. Very conservative diving and the aforementioned Freedive rescue vest are in there in my view the best.