Do you often find that your buddy inconveniently insists on deciding how deep to go (and for how long) before entering the water? |
Does your buddy baulk at giving you a hand to lift the scrap metal you have liberated when your own BC is fully inflated and you still can't get off the bottom? |
Does he question the condition of your gear, when you know it's good enough because you've been diving with it for years? |
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There are many reasons why some people prefer solo diving to diving in a pair, and having a god-awful buddy is high on the list. Answer our questionnaire (truthfully) to see whether your skills as a buddy are up to par. By John Bantin and Rico
Sharing your under-water experiences with another person can double the pleasure of diving and pleasure is what leisure diving should be all about.
Like most sensible divers, I always opt to dive with a buddy. But occasionally I come across seemingly experienced divers who prefer to go it alone.
Why? The answer could be you! Try answering yes or no to the following questions to find out how good a buddy you actually are:
Do you find that your buddy insists on pointing out details of his equipment to you, when he should be aware that you are familiar with every bit of kit on the market?
Are you left hanging about in the water while he has to make a textbook entry?
Does he stop unnecessarily on the surface and check that he is OK, before signalling to the cover boat crew and descending?
Is he slow to descend the shot-line, leaving you to wait impatiently for him at the bottom?
Does he want to go with the current when the best part of the dive is only ten minutes of hard swimming away? Does he want to go against the current when the dive boat is tethered?
Does your buddy disappear behind you in the murk because he dawdles when you want to fin urgently ahead?
Does he want to conduct the dive by consensus, when you are clearly the dive-leader?
Does he want to study (or even photograph) the wildlife, when you want him to hold open your goody-bag while you stash it away? Does he spend too much time looking at things?
Does he go to the surface after you have been separated and leave you to continue the dive alone?
Does he signal that he is low on air and insist on making an ascent, when he still has all of 30 bar in his aqualung? Does he drag you unwillingly to the surface, when you could have squeezed another five minutes from the dive?
Does he ascend at a dawdle, constantly checking his computer, when you would rather get up and get out?
Does he insist on hanging around in shallow water, making a safety stop, when you could be getting back on the boat and wrapping yourself round another can of lager?
Does he loiter about on the bottom, fiddling about with some problem and leaving you to twiddle your thumbs while you wait for him, probably at the surface?
Is he prone to wait passively at the surface for the cover boat, while you shout at the coxswain for picking up other divers first, and lead the swim towards it?
Does he complain that you never saw the anglerfish and you never saw his signals, because you never looked at him once during the dive?
Is he slow to get up the ladder of the boat, and does he take forever to struggle out of his kit unaided?
Does he stay quiet while you tell everyone about the maximum depths you achieved during the dive?
Does he always seem to opt for the long shallow dives, when you want to have the challenge of beating your own depth record?
Is he not impressed by all your hard-earned badges, which prove you must be a better diver than he?
Was he trained by a different, and therefore inferior, training agency?
If the answer is yes to any of these questions, rest assured I don't want to dive with you. I would rather be diving solo! |
Does he appear anxious when you disappear inside a wreck without a lamp or bottom-winder? And does he look agitated when you reappear some time later, even though you are as cool as a cucumber? |
Does he stop at the previously agreed maximum operating depth for the gas you are breathing, even though you want to go on deeper to prove that you can survive an oxygen hit? |
Is he slow to get to the front of the queue as the boat reaches the site marker buoy? Is he too reticent to push in ahead of other divers who may also be about to dive? |
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