diving alone

[diveborg]

Anyone with a camera underwater should probably be treated like a solo diver, or at least a buddy that you will have to keep track of instead of an actual buddy team dive.

 

[Miami_Diver]

I dive alone most of the time even,if the people that dive with me cant go so I just book the trip for myself ,no sweat. I enjoy it alot , specially wreck diving . I go check out what I want and dont have to worry about going up sooner or worry because youre paired up with ann inexperience diver(I rather dive solo than be paire off with someone I dont know) ,there is always people on the boat so Im really not far from divers and have a 6cub extra air from oddyssey as a baill out bottle. Im not talking about the 3cu spair air wich I personally think its worthless as a bail out bottle. I wont do tech diving alone though , but with no deco obligations a bail out bottle and a little experience , recreational solo diving can be safe.

 

[Hoosier]

That's depending on your depth. 6 cfs might not be enough if the wreck is at 100 ft.

I dive alone most of the time even,if the people that dive with me cant go so I just book the trip for myself ,no sweat. I enjoy it alot , specially wreck diving . I go check out what I want and dont have to worry about going up sooner or worry because youre paired up with ann inexperience diver(I rather dive solo than be paire off with someone I dont know) ,there is always people on the boat so Im really not far from divers and have a 6cub extra air from oddyssey as a baill out bottle. Im not talking about the 3cu spair air wich I personally think its worthless as a bail out bottle. I wont do tech diving alone though , but with no deco obligations a bail out bottle and a little experience , recreational solo diving can be safe.

 

[Miami_Diver]

scuba lab did an independent test and it did get them up from 130ft controll assent with breaths to spair.

go to scubadiving.com and search extra air and theres an article on it. thats why I got it.

 

[Hoosier]

Well, that issue has been already coverd with your providing reference in other thread.

We don't buy it.......

Check out this....:http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=52102&highlight=bail+out+padiscubapro

It took some time to find out the thread for you...

scuba lab did an independent test and it did get them up from 130ft controll assent with breaths to spair.

go to scubadiving.com and search extra air and theres an article on it. thats why I got it.

 

[Miami_Diver]

scubadiving.com/gear/regulators/bailout_bottles/1/

Well, that issue has been already coverd with your providing reference in other thread.

We don't buy it.......

Check out this....:http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=52102&highlight=bail+out+padiscubapro

It took some time to find out the thread for you...

 

[Hoosier]

I don't think you still get the point.....

=========================================================
Rodales has traditionally given favorable exposure to active advertisers.. So their opinions should be viewed with this in mind.. It wouldn't be in thier best interest to rip a product that is from a big advertiser.

this topic has been beaten to death many times.. 3cf is nothing.. 60fm is not the recommended ascent rate 30fpm is..

that means it takes 1 minute to ascend between 70 and 40 ft for an average depth of 55 fsw (2.67 atas) with a very reasonable rmv of 1.0 cuft/min that means you need 2.67 cuft of gas to get to 40 ft..

now we will take .67 minutes to get to 20 fsw (average depth 30 fsw or 1.9 atas) that means you need another 1.27cuft to get to 20 feet.. ooops you are out of gas..

to do a 3 minute safety stop (1.6 atas) you need 4.8 cu ft and finally .67 ascent to surface avg depth 10 fsw (1.3 atas) or .87 cu ft of gas..

the total required is.... 2.67+.1.27+4.8+.87=9.61 cuft of gas, a panicked diver is probably more like 1.5 cuft per min or greater..14.4 cuft+, at 80 fsw your requirement is a bit higher

Those who use the ANDI or NASDS ascent procedures would require even more gas..

The only thing a spare air is good for is to prevent an ESA, if you are going to bother spending the money and carrying something you should use the right tools.. not something thats basically a pipe dream..

All the above assumes you can immediately go to the surface.. There are many areas where you MUST go up and down an ascent/descent line.. it could take you several minutes to get to this point, you would be out of gas before you even got to the line..
The following recommendations are for a diver in control
13 cuft is adequate for about 80 fsw, 19 cuft about 100, and 30 cuft for about 130.. someone with a higher RMV would have to adjust these sizes.

scubadiving.com/gear/regulators/bailout_bottles/1/

 

[Miami_Diver]

you probably got more experience than me so Im not going to argue the point . I dont know about rodales but its a big magazine , they did essentially say in this article that basically spair air is worthless so ill rather carry extra air than nothing at all. besides most wreck divin that I do here are in the 95ft range so I rarely go to 130 .its a bail out bottle of last resort no safety stop. if I get bended I still have a chance if I drown Im dead.

 

[Hoosier]

Miami Diver,

No, I don't want to argue anything, specially on Friday evening.

I just want to give some others' opinion. It won't hurt you......
Actually, who cares... It is your life and dive. If you are happy and nothing is happend on your dives, we are all happy....

you probably got more experience than me so Im not going to argue the point . I dont know about rodales but its a big magazine , they did essentially say in this article that basically spair air is worthless so ill rather carry extra air than nothing at all. besides most wreck divin that I do here are in the 95ft range so I rarely go to 130 .its a bail out bottle of last resort no safety stop. if I get bended I still have a chance if I drown Im dead.

 

[Bwanar]

I don't know where you dive and have done 95% of my diving around Florida, but it is stupid only if you don't have the proper experience/training and equipment.
It does not look to me like you are a candadite with so few dives, as you probably have not experienced enough dives to even understand all the possible dangers you need to learn to avoid/deal with. As far as going out on a boat by yourself and diving alone (without someone at least in the boat) I would say absolutely, definately not. That isn't smart even for people with thousands of dives. Things can still happen when you do everything right and you can make it to the surface with either no way to physically get to the boat (ie. change of weather, current, disability) and there is no one there to pick you up or call for help! Trust experience, it's not if something ever happens. If you dive enough, something will happen.
Go to your local dive shops if nothing else and talk to them about finding a buddy or recommending a dive service that can provide one.

Re-iterating everyone else's comments, really.

Solo diving has it's rewards but it also has it's risks - don't even consider it until you are in a position to know what those risks are and have the experience and confidence to cope with them when something goes wrong!

For a relative newbie to diving, you'd be a lot better off with an insta-buddy on a charter boat than thinking of going solo.

I do a lot of physical and mental preperation for solo diving. I carry multiple redundant *everything* (two computers, analogue depth gauge, anologue bottom timer, dive tables, pony bottle) and have put a lot of thought into configuring and placement of gear - so for example, I've got a self modified weightbelt that lets me ditch weights in 2kg increments rather than dumping the whole lot. Every now and again I'll go out with a buddy and practice emergency drills - swapping to alternate air source, simulating computer failures and lots lots more.

Even then, I still prefer to "dive solo" with someone else around!