Good Buddies and Bad...

Today's thought is simple. "Good buddies and bad, I've descended with both. All of them have taught me more about how to be a better dive buddy myself."

Good buddies are grown and trained. So perhaps it helps to think of those divers who train great buddies, and those who are in training. Hopefully we're all in both groups. But some divers definitely have their act together, while others are still learning to make basic open water training into diving instinct. As a result, your value as a buddy should be readily available to all, with pace, planning, intervention changed to fit your individual buddy's needs.

Dive training tells new divers to try and get experienced buddies, in order to learn from their experience. But all too often experienced buddies don't want to limit themselves to less experienced limits. I've heard an experienced diver lament that any dive under an hour was a waste of a fill. Perhaps he's right... if he hasn't used his shorter dive to help train a better buddy.

If the problem is air consumption, for example, setting a slower, shallower pace doesn't detract from the fish you see, but does improve your buddy's air consumption. You'll stay longer and have a better dive.

Similarly, teaching a buddy to swim closeby is easy if you also swim close to them. Review handsignals and dive plans so each diver knows the intended route and who's leading.

In diving I've watched my own progress and that of various students. Improvements can come quickly when learning is made easy. And for my own latest progress in diving, I mostly have to thank a number of good buddies. Diving with people like Mike or Wanda helps you to relax, enjoy and generally get more out of your dive. They're great buddies!

And what they pass to me, that which improves the quality of my dive, I should pass on to those less experienced divers I buddy with later.

In the diving world... or any world for that matter... the more good buddies we train, the better off we'll all be. So get out there and enjoy your diving while trying to improve yourself as a buddy. Before you know it there'll be no shortage of good buddies to dive with.