distance from your buddy???

[coralcrazed]

There has been much discussion about diving safty... however, I have heard very little about recommended safety distance to your buddy... should you be 10,15,20 feet away closer? what is the max. distance recommended. I know that many recommend that you stay within an arms length of your buddy but it happens to the best of us on a good dive when we see something we want o investigate and your buddy does not see you have taken a slight rest stop... Just wondering what people on th board think hat distance should be. thanks

[Kingpatzer]

I've always taken that the distance should be appropriate for the diving conditions.

If you can't see your buddy, or get to them in time to help in an emergency, then you're too far away.

It will vary some with vis, current, etc.

[Formerly 45yroldNewbie]

Visibility plays a big factor, but it seems like the answer to " How far can you or your buddy swim on half a breath?" would answer your question.

That would be about how far you have if you run out of air and didn't know it before that last gasp!!

[DivingsInMyBlood]

i would say no more than 10 - 15 feet max.

[diverdad]

Originally Posted by 45yroldNewbie

Visibility plays a big factor, but it seems like the answer to " How far can you or your buddy swim on half a breath?" would answer your question.

That would be about how far you have if you run out of air and didn't know it before that last gasp!!

I agree with 45. If your to far away from your buddy you are really diving solo.

[cummings66]

For me it's all related to visibility, that means that at most I might be 15 feet away because that's good visibility around here. In a place I could see as far as the eye could see I'd still limit myself to how far I could swim with no air.

For me a good buddy is by your side through thick and thin, not out in the nether regions.

[Bring the Payne]

Definately relates to the conditions, vis, etc. As long as they are close enough in case of an OOA emergency or something else.

[Ramgib]

To me the distance, no matter the conditions, is how far are you willing to swim to get air after exhaling then finding your tank is empty.

[Bill22]

Everyone has made good points. We try to stay near our buddy at a comfortable distance to respond in case of a problem, but reality it's easy to get separated especially in bad vis. One of the reasons we have the one minute rule if we get separated.

Just last weekend I was diving with two buddies at Hayama. Visibility was still bad after the typhoon. There was a layer of very bad visibility (4-6 feet) until we hit a depth of around 10 feet then it cleared up to about 10-12 feet. There was a fair amount of debris in the water and on the bottom. I was in the middle and got my foot entangled in a piece of fish net. I stopped to get clear and my buddy behind me stopped also. My buddy in front didn't see us stop. By the time I was clear he was out of sight.

We searched for a minute and then I signaled for us to go up. Our other buddy popped up maybe 15 feet away from us right after we did. We went right back down and continued the dive. These things happen and thats why we plan for them.

[wxboy911]

Anything more than a couple of fin kicks away is too far...regardless of the vis my buddy and I try to stay pretty close but then again we are still pretty new.