Prerequisites

• Be at least 18 years of age 
• Hold at least a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver certification (or equivalent) 
• Have logged at least 100 dives 
• Have successfully completed a dive skills assessment by a PADI Self-Reliant Diver Specialty Instructor

INSTRUCTORS AND DIVEMASTERS

• Instructors and divemasters are often with a group of students or certifi ed divers
  exploring the local dive sites, however, they may not have a specifi c dive buddy.
• Being self-suffi cient and self-reliant provides the skill set needed for instructors
  and divemasters to respond to emergencies independently.
  

PHOTOGRAPHERS AND VIDEOGRAPHERS

• A photographer’s or videographer’s buddy is usually in the viewfi nder and
  sometimes a distance away.
• Photographers or videographers may pay attention to the environment around
  them, but not pay much attention to a dive buddy
• Because divers capturing images are typically concentrating on their subjects
  (such as fi sh or environment), and often not as much on their buddies,
  photographers/videographers and their dive buddies benefi t from learning selfreliant
  diving skills.
  

TRAVELLING DIVERS

• While traveling, divers may end up with a dive buddy they have not met and
  that may not share the same dive objectives.
• Buddy separation can be avoided in many ways, but if it does happen a selfreliant
  diver is better prepared to handle the situation.
  

WRECK DIVERS

• Recreational wreck, cavern and ice divers should not dive alone in overhead
  environments.
• However, the wreck diver who has the skills and knowledge of a self-reliant diver
  is more likely to properly handle buddy separation and to deal with emergency
  situations.
  

TecRec DIVERS

• Diving without a partner is not unusual for TecRec divers.
• In some cases, trained cave divers dive without a partner in no mount and
  sidemount areas.

Standard diver equipment, at a minimum STANDARD DIVER EQUIPMENT
Fins, mask, snorkel, compressed gas cylinder and valve, buoyancy control device and low pressure inflator, primary
regulator and alternate air source, breathing gas and depth monitoring device(s),
quick release weight system and weights (if needed), adequate exposure protection,
at least one audible surface signaling device and dive computer or RDP.

Surface marker buoy
a. Delayed Surface Marker Buoy (DSMB) with at least 30 metres/100 feet of line
b. Lift bag with at least 30 metres/100 feet of line

Redundant air sources
a. Pony cylinder
b. Twin cylinders with isolation valve
c. Bailout cylinder
d. Sidemount confi guration

Redundant surface signaling devices (both visual and audible)

Redundant depth gauge and bottom timer or dive computer

Other equipment
a. Two knives/cutting tools as permitted locally
b. Back-up mask (recommended)
c. Slate and pencil