Assessing A Solo Dive

[Silver_Diver]

I'm a bit new to solo diving, but I've found it far more pleasant and, to be honest, convenient than diving with a buddy. I know the topic of a good solo diving book has been going around the forum, and I wanted to add my two cents. I made up a list of things I commonly think about before, during, and after a solo dive. Rather than a hard and fast list of "what to know" I like using it to test myself on how well I've thought about what I'm doing before I do it. I hope it gets people to appreciate how much us solo divers think about safety before we even get our toes wet. I don't want to quote the "safer than with a buddy" idea because personally I'm not entirely convinced that it is true. However, there are safe ways to do dangerous things and dangerous ways to do safe things, and I certainly feel that a solo diver who has spent time assessing the dangers is less likely to stumble into harms way than a diver who assumes that their buddy will come to their rescue. So here's the list, it's a bit long since I've added brief explanations of each point:

Before every dive what should you assess?
- Physical condition and mental preparedness - confidence in being able to complete a dive profile, confidence in being able to control yourself underwater, physical fitness
- Someone should have a profile of your dive and should be contacted before you go in and immediately after you come out, you should generally dive the site with a partner befre diving alone
- Equipment preperation - equipment is available and in good condition, spares are properly attached and gear is unencumbering and won't prevent you from reaching anything

Having chosen a dive site, what should you know about it?
- Local Animals - Any poisonous, aggressive, territorial, or generally dangerous animals
- Local Hazards - Above and below water including caverns/caves, unstable ground, bent or broken metal or glass (such as at piers), etc...
- Current and Tide Patterns - Direction and strength during diving season, local storm surge effects, tide level, ebb and flow times
- Weather Forecast - Temperature, pressure systems, understanding local cloud patterns helps tons
- Orientation Toward Land - Any conspicuous objects, also, a bearing leading to your exit point, terrain adjacent to your dive site (in case you drift)
- Entry and Exit - Difficulty of access, availability, any hazards
- Local EMS, Hyperbaric, and Dive Store Numbers
- Local Diving Policy - Relating to surface flags, right of way, solo diving regulations
- Surface Traffic Patterns
- Necessary Equipment - Aside from backups of your main gear, lights, special tools, etc...
- Dive Profile - Estimated depth and bottom time

Once underwater, what should you assess before continuing?
- Plausibility of Dive Profile - Both horizontal and vertical visibility, actual bottom depth, apparent hazards, hazards to navigation, current direction and speed at depth, difficulty of the dive, estimated amount of exertion required
- Orientation - Natural features of the dive site, compass bearings
- Gear Condition - Inflator, regulator, BC bladder, octo, tank, dive tool, lights, mask
- Mental acuity - Confidence in completing profile, confidence in equipment, alertness
- Physical condition - Aches or pains, uncomfrotable equipment, breathing rate

During the dive what should you be aware of?
- General - Bottom time and nitrogen saturation, estimated remaining time, air pressure, rate of air consumption, oxygen saturation, depth, dive time and time of day
- Navigation - Orientation to and from dive site, compass condition, current direction and speed, local animal behavior (sound and sight)
- Physical - Warmth, exertion, heart rate, thirst or hunger

Upon surfacing what should you assess?
Condition of exit point
Current and developing weather
Current speed, direction, and surge
Local surface traffic and water quality
Orientation to shore
Time of dive
Level of exertion
Nitrogen saturation

After the dive what should you assess about yourself?
Confidence during preparation and diving
Follow through of plan
Mental condition during dive
Accuracy with Your Profile
Satisfaction with Diving Skill and Ability
Ability to Handle Exertion
Nitrogen and Oxygen Saturation

At first this list seems daunting, but being a divemaster I know that when you are taking people out into the water you try to do all of this anyway. Like I mentioned above, I don't use it as a set of rules, but recommendations, and I know that I only got used to doing the things on this list as a did more solo dives and was able to see where my diving needed improvement. I think one of the best things I did was, on my first solo dive I went to a familiar location and practiced all my one-man dive skills (eg. mask clearing, equipment donning/doffing, etc...) before I actually continued with the dive. Doing that on my own in relatively shallow water (about 30 ft) gave me a lot of confidence that I was ready to go out on my own. Of course that doesn't count all the times I've same-ocean-buddied and the times I've conducted dives with relatively new divers.
If anyone has anything else to add, any question or comments, or thinks I'm full of it, I'd be really interested in replies. I'd like to see solo diving become a respectable part of the diving community, and I think the one way of doing that is to show others that solo diving done properly can be extremely safe.

 

[Charlie99]

It's good list. Applicable to all dives, solo or not.

 

[serambin]

Any good diving book will give you the same basic information. I think the only real difference in solo diving is that you are placing more risk in the operational capacity of your gear. A minor failure with a buddy can represent an inconvenience, but solo it could lead to serious injury.

Stan

 

[Timeliner]

Silver Diver it looks liike a good long list and if it works for you keep doing it.

Wow....When you sit down and have to write a plan it takes a long time doesn't it ? There is more going on in our heads then we think.
Personally I have to say I skip past a lot of the after the fact disaster planning. Right or Wrong, If it all hits the fan I most likely will not need medical attention or a backup plan because I'd be a dead SOB.

Personally I'd prefer that it look like an accident because that is what it would be. By telling a bunch of folks all the plans of your Solo dive it is almost like broadcasting a Suicide Note. Other people just don't get Solo Diving you know.
It just adds to the over all guilt of having fun if you ask me and we just can't allow that you know.
Still, I suppose broadcasting your dive plan is a courteous way to approach it.

Another thought...
Solo Diving is sort of like self gratification........ People may know you do it but they really don't want you to tell them about it.

 

[TomP]

Another thought...
Solo Diving is sort of like self gratification........ People may know you do it but they really don't want you to tell them about it.

lol, good point and as always, uniquely stated.

Silver Diver - I also agree with Charlie99, good thoughts for any dive. I particularly like the post dive assessment, reflection is a good thing and often overlooked (IMHO). One nit, I do though confess to being a little unclear about assessing gear condition under water.

 

[Charlie99]

One nit, I do though confess to being a little unclear about assessing gear condition under water.

A simple example of this is doing a bubble check. Stop about 15' down, wait a few seconds so your gear isn't giving off a lot of bubble, then roll over back down/ face up and look for bubbles. Another example is doing a test breathe off your octo after submerging. Some failures, such as a bad exhaust valve, won't always show up in an above water check.

Whether diving solo or with a buddy, I find it useful to pause, check, and think for a moment at major transition points. 15' down after starting a boat dive, or underwater outside the shore break after a surf entry are good points for making sure that everything is still in its proper place and working correctly before moving onward with the dive.

 

[Silver_Diver]

Great comments. Especially great suggestion for the underwater gear checking Charlie99. I know that leaving a trail of bubbles is a common problem, especially for new divers who haven't gotten used to adjusting their tank valve. However, with a solo diver you have no buddy to watch your back and let you know if an unusual amount of bubbles are escaping. I also include in the equipment check a quick look over to make sure that nothing has been dropped or come unclipped, something you should do solo or not.

As for informing other people before diving, you're right about others not wanting to know. Sometimes you get a lot of flak. But it still good to have someone on dry land who has an idea of where you are going in case you get carried off to sea following a dive. Of course, that's probably one of the least likely dive accidents, and most are going to be fatal, so in the end it's more of a preference. After letting people in on several successful solo dives, though, they often tend to be more accepting of future solo dives.

This list may be sort of rudimentary in that all divers *should* be familiar with most of the things it covers. However, I find that before becoming a professional diver most courses cover very small amounts of material and don't integrate all those thoughts into a single dive plan. PADI can be annoying sometimes in that many of their courses are "correct to 100%" which means that often divers who have inadequate amounts of knowledge about their certification and no intent to use what they've learned in the future still end up with a card. I don't think SCUBA should be entirely exclusive, but it wouldn't hurt to raise the standards just a little (but now I'm digressing).

 

[TomP]

A simple example of this is doing a bubble check. Stop about 15' down, wait a few seconds so your gear isn't giving off a lot of bubble, then roll over back down/ face up and look for bubbles. Another example is doing a test breathe off your octo after submerging. Some failures, such as a bad exhaust valve, won't always show up in an above water check.

Duh, in addition to before my moringing coffee i guess i should add fried on Friday to the times i shuldn't post
I never thought of bubble checks as assessing gear condition but I suppose that's really is what it is, at least in part. I dive doubles and one additional thing i always check is the ability to reach my valves.

 

[dave4868]

If anyone has anything else to add, any question or comments, or thinks I'm full of it, I'd be really interested in replies. I'd like to see solo diving become a respectable part of the diving community, and I think the one way of doing that is to show others that solo diving done properly can be extremely safe.

You've done an excellent job of compiling a comprehensive list of potential safety factors, but, respectfully, isn't it really an exercise in over-thinking?

After all, this isn't the Space Shuttle we're trying to launch.

Besides, over-thinking can drive you crazy!

After employing some basic pre-dive checks and overview, I'm confident my solo dive will go fine if I simply stay within my abilities and don't ignore or mishandle obvious problems that may come up.

Keeping it simple may be the best approach.

As far as wanting to see solo diving become respected by the dive community, that's a personal issue I don't suffer from.

Dave C

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I like all the posts so far and agree with them. Save for the wanting to see it accepted by the community in general. Too much acceptance could lead to a lot of unqualified people trying it simply because it's accepted. It is better if we keep that air of danger and higher required skill level to keep these people from killing themselves. It is an inconvenience at some sites that it is not allowed or some ops won't allow it but I'm finding that there are enough places that don't monitor or don't care that it evens out. And one thing that seems to be missing that is a given for diving solo is the mindset. Not just confidence but attitude and mission objective. Not in the sense that I must dive this site alone in order to see this but it could be as simple as I don't want anyone around. I need to unwind, relax, and concentrate on my self exclusively, while realizing that if the crap hits the fan no one will be able to help me and if it goes really bad I'm ok with getting hurt or even dying alone. I accept ALL the risks involved and am ok with them. For me then comes the confidence in my abilities, my gear, and so on. All the predive checks and plans are for naught if you can't accept the risks involved. Not being able to do that causes paranoia and doubt which leads to problems. A lttle fear is a good thing it keeps me alert. But if I"m worried alot about what may happen during the dive to the point it's a distraction then I need to be out of the water.