A good buddy briefing does not have to be complicated. It just has to happen.
Before getting in the water, two divers should have a shared understanding of what they are doing, how they are going to communicate, how they will manage the dive, and what happens when something does not go according to plan.
The DWF Buddy Brief Builder, or B³, is designed to help start that conversation.
Sometimes 90 seconds makes a difference
About a decade ago I was back in California for a weekend of diving and was paired with a diver I had never met. We shook hands, chatted on the boat, geared up, and went diving.
It was not until I asked him how much gas he had that I realized we had never reviewed even the simplest hand signals.
Neither of us had done anything particularly unusual. We had simply skipped a conversation that probably would have taken about 90 seconds.
That experience stuck with me, and it is ultimately why B³ exists.
Build your buddy briefing
Work through the questions together. You do not have to select every condition, review every signal, or fill in every optional detail. Concentrate on the things that actually affect this dive.
Buddy Brief Builder
Talk through the plan together, then generate a short briefing card you can review or print.
DWF Labs
DWF Buddy Brief Builder
Pre-Dive Team Plan
Generated: September 9, 2026 6:38 am
What's New
Recent improvements to the Buddy Brief Builder.
- The tool now opens more directly into the buddy briefing; the longer origin story lives in the surrounding page so the workflow stays focused.
- Form controls now use more consistent spacing, and the Buddy Brief icon better reflects the two-diver conversation at the heart of the tool.
- Choose the hand signals you actually want to review, then open a quick visual refresher that shows only those selected cards.
- Added approachable review cards for OK, problems, stop, ending the dive, low gas, out of gas, turning the dive, and staying close.
- Pressure communication now includes a metric/bar example as well as the recreational PSI examples.
- Communication still focuses on shared meaning, visibility, acknowledgment, and compatibility with a dive leader rather than one supposedly universal signal system.
- Completed briefs can still be copied, shared by link, or printed for the team.
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What should dive buddies talk about?
There is no single briefing that fits every dive. A simple reef dive from shore does not need the same conversation as a drift dive, a night dive, a cold-water dive, or a dive involving a DSMB, camera, reel, or other task.
B³ starts with the basics and expands the conversation when they become relevant. That includes:
- the objective, maximum depth, and expected dive time
- who is leading and navigating
- breathing gas and the team’s gas plan
- entry, exit, and regroup procedures
- navigation and turn points
- hand signals and gas-pressure communication
- environmental conditions that change the plan
- special equipment and task loading
- lost-buddy procedures and other contingencies
- basic emergency-resource information
The signal matters less than the agreement
Divers sometimes get surprisingly wrapped up in which hand signal is the “correct” one. There are certainly common conventions, and knowing them is useful, but the more important question between buddies is simple: Do we both understand what this means?
If a divemaster, instructor, guide, or dive leader is involved, there is another question: Can we communicate with that person too?
B³ includes a quick review of several useful signals and common ways of communicating remaining gas. They are examples, not commandments. The goal is to make sure everyone involved in the dive understands the same language before entering the water.
And remember that visibility matters. A perfectly formed hand signal does not help very much if a black glove disappears against a black wetsuit in poor visibility. Move the signal away from your body, use contrast or light when appropriate, and make sure your buddy actually acknowledges it.
Either diver can call the dive
This is one point I want B³ to reinforce every single time it is used:
Either diver can end a dive at any time, for any reason.
You do not need to win an argument. You do not need to convince your buddy that your reason is good enough. If something does not feel right, communicate it and make the appropriate decision for the team.
A briefing is not a contract requiring you to complete the planned dive. Conditions change. Equipment develops problems. People get cold, uncomfortable, tired, distracted, or simply decide they are done.
Talk first. Then go diving.
B³ is intentionally lightweight. There is no account to create and no reason for a simple buddy conversation to become another administrative exercise.
Use the tool together, review the parts that matter, make sure everybody understands the plan, and then go enjoy the dive.
This tool is meant to help facilitate a conversation between dive buddies. It is not a substitute for your training, applicable site or operator procedures, actual conditions, or your own judgment. Use your judgment and change or end the dive whenever appropriate.
