Diving with new people

[AB8CD]

That wasn't what scared me, Joe. It was when you said "Them sure are some nice regs you got there...so nobody knows you're diving with me today, right?" And then said under your breath, "I sure could use me some new regs"

I almost blew my pee valve when I read that response.... Thanks for the tears!

On the subject... I have dove in low/zero vis with divers that I have known and have had my mask pulled off and regulator pulled out of my mouth (different divers). It leads to healthy conversations and were good learning experiences. I am extremely diplomatic in my approach to other divers. I would rather have someone under estimate my skills than over estimate them.

[crd_kats]

I like this thread as I'm fixing to take my cavern/intro in Feb and will need to find solid buddies. It's nice to know there are some out there willing to mentor.

My first observation would be whether you are laid back and take things easy. IF you're hyper and I could nickname you "Speedy Gonzales", you probably wouldn't be the buddy for me. Then would be a conversation on how you dive, what your plan is, knowledge of the site and so on. I'll watch you gear up and look to see how well cared for the gear is.. as a total newby, these would be the only things I can possibly think of to go by whether I'm comfortable diving with you.

Word of mouth and reputation are good indicators as well.

[mfascuba]

I usually dive solo, but will dive with about anyone who asks. I treat it as a solo dive, and have my own gas reserves, etc. I am ready to self-rescue, or render assistance, but I do not expect help from the other person.

Mark

[jbdvr]

I havent dove with any strangers in a while, but sometimes thats about the only way to go if your regulars are doing something else. And i have been uncomfortable with one or two of them. I usally ask myself 3 questions when diving with someone unfamiliar to me. 1. Am i familiar with the planned dive site? 2. is my buddy familiar with the dive site? 3. Have i heard of this person before such as by reputation or from other divers as a really good diver? At least 2 of those questions have to be a yes.

[amphipod06]

I do not dive with strangers....

That said, I will dive with people I have not dived with previously if they come recommended and/or I know what their background is. You should definitely "interview" the prospective buddy, after all, your life may depend on it.

A few years back Scotty and I were going to dive Cow. Random diver from Tampa tagged along with us because he had no dive buddy and Cathy (from Dive Outpost) said she knew him. We entered the water and random dude requested to be the last one. After going through the restriction everything appeared ok, after a couple of hundred feet I took a peek and noticed he was just gone...

Fortunately, there was nowhere else he could have gone except back to the restriction and the surface. We turned the dive and went back to make sure the guy was ok, found him in the basin getting ready to leave. When we asked why he turned and did not signal or anything he shrugged. I really wanted to say something involving major expletives but restrained myself and just decided that never again was a good policy.

Dive safe,

Celia

[IowaCaveDiver]

I used to dive with whoever wanted to... then I had an experience I care not to repeat. I was doing a bunch of solo scooter dives at JB and one day a guy pulled up, asked where I was planning to go and said he was planning the same dive, why don't we go together. So we did... If I recall correctly we were about 3500' back and I was trying to find a T I had seen on a previous dive. I signaled him to stay on the main line and I would swim a few feet around the corner to see if it was the correct one... if you've dove JB, you know there are a lot of T's the further back you get... instead he decided to follow me, he got caught up in the line, silted it to zero viz and began twisting this way and that. Being on the non-exit side of the line I was very nervous he would snap the line and I'd be out of luck. I grabbed his leg and squeezed until he stopped moving and I was able to untangle him... we slowly moved back to clear water and exited.
Lesson learned... predive he talked the talk, walked the walk, had the gear and seemed like a good guy to dive with, but I don't ever want to be trusting my life to someone I don't know that far back again. I have a small handfull of buddies I'll dive with, otherwise if I find myself stuck diving with someone I don't know or in a buddy group with an add-on I don't know, I keep the plan simple or normally avoid the dive all together.

[LCF]

Well, I'd hate to develop the attitude that I wouldn't dive with anybody but my "team", in part because I haven't got one and can't always count on having known buddies, and in part because I've been shown SO much generosity on the part of people further along than I am, as I have built my cave diving experience. Most of them knew OF me, from on line conversations, but didn't really KNOW me, and hadn't ever been in the water with me. And they've been part of some of my best memories, and also been part of developing my skills.

But it doesn't seem that any of you are annoyed or offended by being asked for some information about training and experience, and that's really what I started the thread to find out. Because I just felt funny doing it.

[RN]

In aviation it is said that "go arounds" are free, so are thumbs in cave diving. I am still new and hopefully will always be learning and am very happy that a few folks have allowed me to dive with them even though we hadn't met before or were not well acquainted (RN and FW to name two). I have learned quite a bit from more experienced cave divers that I have gone with and also learned from some of the less experienced ones that I have teamed up with.

We need to dive together again. I'm doing some survey work in JB and heard that you are interested in doing some survey dives.

[rotor60driver]

We need to dive together again. I'm doing some survey work in JB and heard that you are interested in doing some survey dives.

I'm up for it. Friday afternoon/evenings are usually good for me. PM or call me.

[amphipod06]

But it doesn't seem that any of you are annoyed or offended by being asked for some information about training and experience, and that's really what I started the thread to find out. Because I just felt funny doing it.

Nope, not at all. It's like medical history, safer and more likely to work, if you treat someone whose med hx you know than that of an unknown....

Dive safe,

Celia