I have a new dive buddy.
Named GREG.
Yeah, all caps.
GREG is an acronym I’ve been playing with. A predive check.
There are lots of them out there, most of them have always felt very forced to me. START is in a terrible order.
GUE EDGE has too many E’s and just sounded like a cool phrase that an acronym was built around.
BWARF is ridiculous in every possible way.
My personal favorite one I’ve ever heard was “Ready?” But I don’t think it was actually a predive acronym, because no check was conducted after it was asked. In fact, the person asking didn’t even wait for an answer, they just descended.
But a formal, consistent predive check is important. It doesn’t need to take more than a minute or two, but it’s when you realize that your drysuit isn’t hooked up or when one member of the team thought you were going somewhere else. You can do it in the water or on the boat. It’s the last time the team gets to speak to one another before going somewhere there is a significantly elevated risk. Take the few minutes to check in with one another for fucks sake.
Goals, Roles, Exposure, and Gas. - Where you going? What are you doing there? - Who is doing what on the way? - Depths and times that will affect any deco. - What are we breathing and how much do we have?
GREG
Yeah, it’s basically GUE EDGE with some of the fat trimmed off.
And yeah, a head-to-toe equipment isn’t included. You’re going to have to remember that one extra thing for yourself. But seriously... you can’t remember to check your gear as team?
Honestly, the acronym is irrelevant anyway. Just do SOMETHING by way of a predive.