Buddy Check

The pre-dive check in which buddies verify each other's BCD, weights, releases, air, and gear before entering the water, remembered by acronyms like BWRAF.

The buddy check is the structured pre-dive inspection in which dive buddies verify each other's equipment before entering the water. PADI's version follows the acronym BWRAF: BCD, check inflation, deflation, and dump valves; Weights, confirm they are in place and both divers know how the releases work; Releases, locate and test every buckle and the tank band; Air, verify the valve is fully open, breathe both second stages while watching the SPG for pressure drops, and confirm the starting pressure; Final check, mask, fins, computer set, hoses clipped, nothing dangling.

The check exists because most equipment problems are trivial on the surface and serious at depth. A half-open valve reads full pressure until you draw hard at 20 m. A loose weight pocket found underwater becomes an uncontrolled ascent. And the check is explicitly mutual: in an emergency you will operate your buddy's gear, so you need to know where their alternate air source lives and how their weights release before you need to. Thirty seconds of touching each other's kit is what makes the buddy system real rather than nominal.

Every agency teaches a version, SSI, BSAC, and others use their own sequences, and technical teams extend it into full gear-matching and the S-drill with a flow check before descent. Skipping it is the most common bad habit experienced divers develop. Make it a fixed ritual, right after the dive briefing, every dive, no exceptions: the check matters most exactly when familiarity tempts you to skip it.