Gear Requirements for the Solo Diver?

[dumpsterDiver]

The drawback is that you can not deploy until you reeach a dpth of 25 ft. If you are in a screaming current and the live boat operator is only going to look for you exactly where you got dropped, then deploying a float on a spool or reel from depth is necessary. If you are jug diving in the Gulf and are ascending within 100 yds of the jug/descent location, the delay in ascending from 100 to 25 ft is negligible.

 

[CuzzA]

your gear is appropriate for solo. If you own your own tanks, I would personally go to an H-valve instead of a pony because a first stage failure is more likely than actually running out of gas and will lighten the rig considerably, but a 19cf pony isn't really worth arguing about.

Echoing off of halocline above, the hogarthian and minimalist rigs are always assuming you are diving with a buddy. It is one of the fundamental principals of GUE/UTD/DIR etc etc, team diving is paramount. When you are solo diving, everything changes because now you have to carry the redundancy instead of your buddy.

Instead of a pocket on the bc, I would go with neoprene pocket shorts, or the dive rite thigh pockets. I personally don't carry an extra mask, but that is my choice and I am more comfortable without a mask on than with it on. Only thing I can't really do is read, which is solved by creating a small air bubble in your eye socket with your hand, or in the case of a lens failure, you can still get enough air in the mask pocket to read computer or tables. Odds of a lens failure are pretty slim, and if your strap is tethered, it is up to you whether or not you need one. Doesn't hurt to have though.

Only thing I'd really question is the wing size which will depend on how deep you're going and how thick your wetsuit is. You have 20lbs lost to gas, so 12lbs may or may not be enough to compensate for your suit, but you also have to total up the weight of everything else you're carrying. I'd argue you're probably pretty close to maxing out the wing, so that would be the only thing I'd verify.

So, with an H valve you still have some risks though compared to a completely seperate redundant system, right? If there were any failure on the valve you're SOL, right? Then you're resorting to emergency protocols.

I do have a pair of pocket shorts I picked up from DGE. I have not wore them yet, but they would allow me to ditch the waist pocket. Perhaps I should consider wearing them over my suit. But that's more neoprene, more weight. I bought them for the summer rather than dive in board shorts.

 

[uncfnp]

The drawback is that you can not deploy until you reeach a dpth of 25 ft. If you are in a screaming current and the live boat operator is only going to look for you exactly where you got dropped, then deploying a float on a spool or reel from depth is necessary. If you are jug diving in the Gulf and are ascending within 100 yds of the jug/descent location, the delay in ascending from 100 to 25 ft is negligible.

Good point. I only shoot an SMB on my drift dives in SoFl so tend to think in those terms.

 

[CuzzA]

The drawback is that you can not deploy until you reeach a dpth of 25 ft. If you are in a screaming current and the live boat operator is only going to look for you exactly where you got dropped, then deploying a float on a spool or reel from depth is necessary. If you are jug diving in the Gulf and are ascending within 100 yds of the jug/descent location, the delay in ascending from 100 to 25 ft is negligible.

Yeah, we definitely don't get the currents like you do on the other coast. But, they do rip pretty good from time to time.

Edit: But if I'm getting pushed off the patch reef or ledge, I'm ending the dive. We just don't have the huge reefs like you guys do.

 

[tbone1004]

h-valve is not as good as a true independent system, correct. You are still at risk if the valve seat, neck o-ring, or burst disc fail, but I have never personally seen any of those failures occur under water, only while filling for the burst disc and o-ring. The valve seat you will know before you assemble your gear because the tank will be empty, and it is not important while the valve is open. It depends on how you view the pony and what you are bringing it for. If bringing it for extra air, then yeah leave the second tank, if you are bringing it for regulator failure which is far more likely, then I would personally go to an H-valve to have the regulator redundancy and have less stuff to take with me, but I don't believe in pony bottles, so take that with a grain of salt. I also don't use H-valves, I much prefer to carry small doubles, lp50's, lp72's, lp85's, HP100's, etc etc.

the shorts aren't going to require significantly more lead. maybe a pound? negated by the stuff you're putting in them. Your pony is about 3lbs negative when empty for buoyancy calculations, so that more than offsets the shorts.

 

[SillyQuestions]

Not a good spot for a knife. What if your right arm is the one entangled?

I don't know about you, but I can reach my right arm with my left.


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---------- Post added December 28th, 2015 at 04:26 AM ----------

On top of this. Arms are not likely to get tangled as you can see and control them easily.


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[OldNSalty]

I don't know about you, but I can reach my right arm with my left.


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---------- Post added December 28th, 2015 at 04:26 AM ----------

On top of this. Arms are not likely to get tangled as you can see and control them easily.


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A few points, first, I agree that an arm entanglement is least likely when compared to other locations. Second, there is nothing about "solo diving" that dictates that a new convention be followed in relation to where a knife is placed. Third, strap your knife to your right arm and then place your left arm behind your back because it is entangled. Can you get to your knife with our right hand? If you are diving, your knife should be reachable by either hand, it's really that simple.

 

[SillyQuestions]

I concede in your convoluted scenario that arm mounting would not work, though suspect that you could still get the knife out with a bit of fiddling and ingenuity, I'll have to have a play.

But your second point, about convention, nothing about convention dictates that it's right or best practice. It's conventional for people my age to get blindingly drunk every friday night...


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[dumpsterDiver]

So I read it again. You have a back mounted pony bottle turned off and have the second stage straped to the tank. You have an octopus with a necklace around your neck. You have a tether connecting your mask to your octopus necklace.

I have never seen that last little trick and I have dove with a lot of people and spearfisherman. Is it possible that a buddy will come to you in a panic, rip the octopus from around your neck and then rip your mask off via the tether?

If you saw him coming and removed the primary in expectation to donate it -- so then you hold your gun in one hand and are forced to drop the second stage to try to recover the mask and find yourself with no mask on and no regulator in your mouth? All because you got the idea to connect the mask to your regulator? And of course, your pony is turned off too right?

I have had my mask knocked off a few times from fish tails, but I have never lost a mask, although I did completely shatter one by doing a face down entry into the water once... I think you are over estimating the need for mask retention and redundancy for open water scuba.

Do you know how to make a bubble mask - capturing air around your eye balls using your index finger? Possibly this skill will give you more security about the loss of a mask.

 

[CuzzA]

No, the pony is on and the regs are pressurized. The second stage is secured like you would a stage bottle. I picked up a inline shut off valve for the second stage and a OPV for the first stage. This is to prevent an unnoticed free flow from occurring, especially at the beginning of a dive when I'm splashing off the boat and a brief free flow is most likely. To deploy I just pull on the reg and the hose pulls free and slide the inline valve open. I can also remove the pony from the back mount if needed as the Highland pony mount uses a cam strap on the pony. I like this setup because it's basically like a tightly packaged stage/bail out bottle and barring a failure there's no chance of gas loss plus I don't have to open the tank valve behind me to get air.

The Highland mount is very nice too. The bottles do not bang on each other, the pony is very rigid. Also, it's very easy to swap tanks, which was important to me so I don't get in the habit of leaving it on the boat because it's a pain in the ass. Since the hose and reg is tightly secured like a stage tank all I have to do is hook it on to my primary tank cam band and it's installed. I like your DIY pony mount, but I don't believe it would work well with my double cam straps. If I'm not mistaken I think your BC only has one cam strap which allows you to slide the pony cam strap over the tank.

I came up with the mask tether primarily due to the many videos and stories I've read of angry fish knocking a mask off someone's head. Aside from losing the mask, I would also lose my GoPro if it came loose. So here's how it works. On the back of my neoprene mask strap I cut a small slit right at the hem. I installed a mountable zip tie, the kind that has a hole in it for screwing the zip tie down to a surface. Add a dab of neoprene glue to prevent tearing. I put another mountable zip tie on the back side of my octo necklace. I took approximately 6" of nylon line and tied a brass swivel snap to both ends. On one of the ends I removed the swivel. This makes it easy to add or remove. If my mask and GoPro were to get knocked off my head it should be sitting on my neck or shoulders. The entanglement risk is minimal because it hugs the back of my neck and even if it did become entangled I could easily cut the nylon line. Here's a picture for reference. I admit that I likely wouldn't use it on shallow dives with good viz. But if the plan was to hunt AJ or Cobia I most likely will, just because of the nature of those powerful fish.

As far as a buddy grabbing the octo, they're not going to get far with it because it's on a short hose over my shoulder. I also did not zip tie the necklace to the reg. It's tightly secured with shock cord, but not permanently attached to the reg. I did this purposefully so that in the unlikely event something did entangle the octo hose I could pull the reg free from the necklace to untangle it. I also did it so in the extremely unlikely event me and a buddy have to do a true air share due to my primary failing the reg can be removed from the necklace and we can do a very uncomfortable air share. The latter scenario is hardly worth bringing up with the pony in the equation.

I know some would argue against having 3 second stages, but in order to to eliminate one that would mean I need to either use an AIR2 or flat out ditch the octo on my primary. I don't like either of those options. In an air share situation I want to breath on an identical second stage as the one I was just using before donating. I want independence from my octo and inflator. As for the latter option of ditching the octo, I would be really pissed if I found myself in a situation where I needed air and there was a whole bunch of it on my back, but I couldn't access it because I didn't have a backup and my primary failed for whatever reason, like for example a cuda just sheared the hose. I could crimp the hose to stop the gas loss, but it would be hard to breath from it. Not to mention on shallow dives or if I develop a solid relationship with a good buddy I may not bring the pony and therefore could be going back and forth installing and uninstalling the hose and reg.

I have never tried to capture a bubble with my hand and eye socket. This is something I'm going to have to practice to see how realistic it would be for me as a solid solution. Saltwater stings and remember the viz over on our coast isn't as good as yours.