Most divers learn a buddy check during Open Water training, yet I rarely see one initiated on recreational dive boats. Divers set up their equipment, exchange a few words, and enter the water without verifying how their equipment works or what their buddy could do if something failed. A checklist matters only when someone actually uses it.
BWARF and ABCDE provide straightforward equipment checks, while GUE-EDGE broadens the process to team planning. Knowing what each accomplishes matters more than arguing over which acronym is best.
BWARF: The Familiar Buddy Check
BWARF provides a familiar order for checking equipment immediately before entry. That simplicity is particularly useful with someone you've just met.
- Buoyancy: Inflate and deflate the BCD; verify the inflator connection and operation.
- Weights: Confirm ballast is secured and both divers know how the release works.
- Air: Verify the cylinder valve is open, check pressure, and breathe from the primary and alternate regulators to confirm they supply gas.
- Releases: Locate and check important buckles and releases, including those you'd need to remove a buddy's equipment.
- Final OK: Confirm remaining equipment is ready and both divers agree to enter.
The common sequence is useful, but equipment readiness is only part of the preparation. Both divers can pass BWARF and still disagree about the route, turn pressure, ascent plan, or lost-buddy procedure.
ABCDE: A Different Equipment-Check Sequence
ABCDE covers much of the same ground, but explicitly includes the dive computer. Variations exist; this is the version used here:
- Air: Confirm the gas supply, cylinder pressure, and regulator function.
- BCD: Verify inflation, deflation, connections, and releases.
- Computer: Check that it works and is configured for the intended dive and breathing gas.
- Dive Equipment: Check the mask, fins, and remaining equipment.
- Enter the Water: Confirm both divers and their equipment are ready.
I appreciate the explicit computer check. Working regulators and a BCD don't tell you whether your computer is configured for the gas you're breathing. What matters more than choosing between these acronyms is actually performing each check.
GUE-EDGE: Check the Dive as Well as the Gear
GUE-EDGE is the approach I prefer with a regular team. It incorporates equipment checks into a broader briefing, where everyone agrees on the dive before entering the water:
- Goals: What are we trying to accomplish?
- Unified Team: Who leads, who does what, and how will we work together?
- Equipment: Is everything checked, functioning, and accessible?
- Exposure: What are our planned depth and time limits?
- Decompression: What is the ascent plan?
- Gas: What are we breathing, how much do we need, and when do we turn?
- Environment: What conditions, hazards, and exits must we consider?
Imagine two divers preparing to explore a wreck. Their regulators, BCDs, and computers could pass every equipment check without either diver knowing who is navigating, how they'll return to the descent line, or when they must turn. GUE-EDGE addresses those questions alongside the physical checks.
The sequence can feel elaborate for a straightforward guided dive, but it is easier to follow a familiar routine than improvise the briefing. The separate GUE-EDGE Pre-Dive Planning article walks through the process in more detail.
Checks Need to Verify Reality
Whether you use a five-letter acronym or a longer team routine, make the checks physical. Confirm an inflator operates instead of merely looking at it. Verify that the cylinder valve is open and gas is delivered while watching the pressure gauge as you breathe. Check your computer's gas setting rather than assuming it still reflects the cylinder you're using.
Equipment can change after a check. A valve may be disturbed or a hose disconnected while gearing up, so anything that changes deserves another verification before entry. Once you're in shallow water, a bubble check can reveal leaks around the cylinder, regulator, and hose connections before you continue the descent. It provides another opportunity to identify problems missed on the surface.
What If Your Buddy Is Someone You Just Met?
Formal checks can feel awkward when a boat is preparing to enter and your assigned buddy isn't accustomed to doing them. I prefer to work the important questions into normal conversation while we're setting up. Where is their alternate gas supply? How do their weights release? Are they using the same gas and ascent procedures I expect? Do we agree on the plan?
That conversation helps us understand each other's equipment, but it doesn't prove the equipment functions. I still want essential components tested before entry. I've written more about this in My Insta-Buddy Pre-Dive Check, including the conversational 4G approach I use with unfamiliar divers.
With regular teammates, I prefer the more comprehensive GUE-EDGE routine. With a new buddy, the presentation may be less formal, but the checks cannot disappear. By the time we enter the water, I want both divers to understand the equipment, the plan, and what we'll do if something goes wrong.