Advice

[Nailer99]

OK, so I've been thinking a lot about doing the solo thing. I'm looking for pointers on gear, mostly. The most obvious thing seems to be a redundant air supply in the event of a burst disk/ first stage failure. I've been diving with a 40 cf pony for a bit, and Just started carrying it in the "slung" position, and I've practiced deploying it on safety stops several times. I'm comfortable with it, and comfortable in the water, generally. I'm not seeking permission from anybody, but would like to hear from experienced solo divers about any gear configs they'd recommend, different from normal rec diving.

 

[ClayJar]

I consider my spool (with double-ender) and lift bag (mounted in a sleeve attached alongside my tank on my back) required equipment for some conditions (and therefore carry them on all dives), and I see very few rec divers with those.

Do you already have redundancy on your other gear? Knife plus shears, primary light plus backup light (plus pen light in my case), etc?

 

[Scubydoo713]

OK, so I've been thinking a lot about doing the solo thing. I'm looking for pointers on gear, mostly. The most obvious thing seems to be a redundant air supply in the event of a burst disk/ first stage failure. I've been diving with a 40 cf pony for a bit, and Just started carrying it in the "slung" position, and I've practiced deploying it on safety stops several times. I'm comfortable with it, and comfortable in the water, generally. I'm not seeking permission from anybody, but would like to hear from experienced solo divers about any gear configs they'd recommend, different from normal rec diving.

I dive in doubles with an isolation manifold, but if I were diving a single tank, as is your case, I'd be inclined to have an H valve installed, so that I'd have a backup independent of my primary reg. Of course, with this setup, you have to make sure that you are able to do a valve shut down in case of emergency, and practice it regularly, but the H valve would free you from having to carry a stage bottle.

Jack

Dive safe! Dive often!

 

[Nailer99]

Hmm. So, what's the lift bag for? Redundant buoyancy? Reference for mid-water ascents?

And yeah, I carry two lights, knife +shears, etc.

And I thought the slung 40cf pony would be better that an H valve, Scubydoo. Maybe I'm wrong, I dunno, but I really don't mind having it there- I barely notice it in the water.

 

[ClayJar]

The lift bag can be redundant buoyancy if I ever need it, but the primary use in my diving is indeed as a reference for mid-water ascents and stops. Having made ascents in good and poor viz with and without a reference, I quite appreciate having a ready reference available to me. I practiced some zero-viz-no-instrument ascents on the spool and SMB on some night dives, which pretty much sealed the deal for me.

The lift bag goes in its sleeve behind me (tucked against the tank), so it's never in the way or a hazard. Keeping a spool and double-ender clipped on somewhere is easy enough, and spools can be useful for other things as well, so why not carry one, eh? (I like mine right along my slung pony, but you could as easily clip it anywhere else)

I've only got a 50' spool right now, but I'm going to pick up a 125' orange or yellow line spool from Dive Rite Express on my next gear grab.


Incidentally, I'd rather a pony of adequate size than an H-valve. Sure, extruding out a neck O-ring or having a dip tube get inexplicably blocked are not very likely, but having a separate cylinder means you have to have at least two failures to lose or lose access to all your gas. Plus, it's quite a bit easier to swap tanks and still carry the same pony. You can't swap the H-valve to the next full tank, and if you ever dive rented tanks, H-valves are pretty much out.

 

[Timeliner]

Dive with gear you are comfortable with.

You'll find that solo is all about what you have with you and
not what you bring along.

Enjoy the dive and be sure to tell us about it OK