Solo... novice training?

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When are your ready to solo dive, only when you're ready to risk your life for a cheap thrill. Can you get a "card" to solo dive, sure, you can buy a card saying you are an instructor, or a "card" that you can do anything. No card can protect you in the water. . . there are some cards that call you a dive master, the navy offers that, It takes about 20 years and mastery of every commercial and military skill. That means a lot.

Why does every meaningful dive training organization insist on a dive buddy? Because of the total experience of millions of dives vs. the hundreds of diving deaths, when there was no "buddy" to help even a little bit. Jacques Cousteau and some of his divers started diving alone because there was only one regulator. As soon as there was more than one, they quickly knew they risked death if diving alone. Read his book "Silent World."

When I had only had a thousand dives, I made a dive with a friend with more experience, and he asked if I dove alone. I told him I, like many of my friends. would dive if an experience diver was in the boat, but not if there was no one along. He experienced a dive where the visibility turned to zero while he was down by himself. . . enormous numbers of fish were thrashing around, blocking the sun. They were in an illegal net dragging the bottom. He was tangled, and when he attempted to cut free, his knife was knocked out of his hand. He struggled against the weights of the net to reach surface. . . His soon to be fiancee, didn't swim, but paddled their anchored boat with a ski and reached him and held his head above water. Fishermen heard her screams and helped cut my friend loose.

You will choose to do what you want, and giving you some idea of how conditions can go beyond your control, even by the criminal act of others, not to mention all the things mother nature can throw at you. There are conditions where a bad dive partner can put you in danger. . . you can back away. There are many more situations where a dive partner can clear an intanglement on your back, share his air, bring you up if pass out, and more. . .

I've made a 1000 logged dives and a couple thousand without a log. . . I've got good friends that have over 50000 dives, and the idea of diving alone is not a good one. When you have that kind of experience, you have lots of people who will dive with you just to learn from you.

A common trick among hunters is to separate and go opposite directions, then about a third of the way into a dive, go look for the other to see if the hunting is better where he is. Or he will join you if you have found the fish. You need a lot of skill, and experience at finding your partner under water. . . but that is what lots of experience will teach you.

And the thread was going so well, with calm rational advice.... then the always-amusing-but-somewhat-delusional "you're a'gonna die if y'all dive solo" post. :shakehead: Sigh.

A little math. To get to 50,000 dives, if you dove 2x/day, EVERY DAY, would take: (50,000 / 365) / 2 equals, gosh, just bit over 68 years of diving twice a day, 365 days a year.... How old are your friends??? Sorry, couldn't resist, I'm assuming he really meant 5,000 dives.

Anyway, this needs to be in the solo divers forum before it goes south...

Best wishes.
 
Dear Carjack - Please don't get into the mindset that somehow quarry diving, whether solo or partner, especially by someone with our level of experience, is somehow inherently safe. A woman with our level of experience died in just 50 ft of water at the local quarry last summer, and she had a buddy. You ask a very good question, and I personally am happy to see all of these experienced folks responding since I also am a "singleton" diver and would love to just dive whenever I want without having to find a buddy. The thing is, I know that I'm just not ready yet. I suspect you know this also, but at least now we have some course of action to follow over the next couple of years because of the good advice.

FYI - the mod may want to move this to solo diving, but it was a good thing for me as a new diver that it was here. I don't often check out the advanced stuff, but I saw this because I do check out the newbie stuff. Just a thought?
 
While I agree with almost everything you've said, I find this difficult to believe. "Charges being filed?" What charges? Solo diving is not a criminal offense. Without extensive experience, it's extremely stupid, but even then it's not criminal.

Probably trespassing. Some quarries have very specific rules that you need to follow in order to legally use their facilities.

Terry
 
I'll start this by saying I feel a bit like a 16 year old asking for the car keys.
I am an AOW diver with <30 dives (Advanced...? Some of you have forgotten more about diving than I may ever know, and I love reading your posts). I firmly believe certifications beyond OW should be based on criteria other than check stroking.
ANYWAY... To the question.

When I had 20-something dives, I thought I was ready to dive solo, and actually did a number of them and survived.

When I had around 50 dives, I got trapped in some line on my deepest dive up to that point, with less than 1/2 a tank and no cutting tools. This gave me a huge new appreciation for many things including gas planning, dive planning, training, diving with a well trained buddy and not cutting corners just because it's convenient.

Terry
 
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The answer to your question is simple. NO you are NOT ready to dive solo. Will you survive? Likely.

Just find a buddy in your area to dive with. If you don't know of anyone, talk to folks at your LDS, look on SB, look on Facebook, hell call a dateline! :D It's not all that hard to find a buddy, so do a bit of legwork, and find one. It also enhances the enjoyment before/after the dive as you are sharing a unique experience.

As for a class, none that I have ever done prepare one to be confident in the skills taught. Rather they teach one the skills, and then you must dive to integrate those skills into your skill set. IOW's a weekend in a solo class IMO is NOT enough to prepare one to dive solo.
 
I think it's obvious that Mudhole meant to type 5,000 dives.

I do agree with Walter's comments, "Solo diving is for people who are so confident diving that the confidence oozes from their pores."
 
Agree, this really should be moved to the Solo Diver thread. That being said, solo diving with appropriate experience and equipment is a very safe and enjoyable activity. This is really not a point of contention. I'm not going to run out of air, who's going to save me from an equipment malfunction? The answer is, me.

Good diving, Craig

PS: Posters should proofread and spellcheck their posts, much more professional appearing
 
Hi! If you're looking for a buddy, I live in T-town (60 miles from Pelham) and I dive there nearly every weekend. My "regular" buddy and I tend to plan dives that are a bit outside rec standards, but if you PM me, I'd be glad to meet up with you for some rec dives.

Rita :)
 
Plan your dive and dive your plan.

I'd rather go solo than with an "instant" buddy.

If you go solo then yes, make sure that you have a full redundant air supply AND plan to be very conservative (shallow depth, not too far from shores, avoid entanglements, etc.).

It's not something to take lightly of but at the same time, it's not all doom and gloom either.
 

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