Do You Consider Solo Diving to be Recreational or Technical?

[Thalassamania]

The exact same training that I went through then, was not available back in the day anywhere except at some Universities, where it is still available today, oh .. that's right, I teach it too.

 

[TMHeimer]

I've read most of the posts and it seems the the most popular view is one I agree with. Solo and tech. diving is apples and oranges. From all the reading I've done on SB and elsewhere, tech. diving means:
Below 130'. Mixed gasses other than just Nitrox. Deco stops, mostly long ones. Redundant equipment and usually double tanks. Hanging stage bottles. Does that seem right? May have missed something. So what does this have to do at all with solo diving? You can do solo dives and be rec. or tech. No, I don't think solo should be in the Tech. diving subforum. Maybe in Advanced? Maybe a forum by itself?

 

[mdb]

Many so called "Tech Divers" are are all decked out @ rec sites like cove 2 in Seattle, Shaw's Cove etc. They may look way cool to themselves, but is it necessary?

Gear up for the dive at hand was what I was trained for.

A single steel 80 and a good dive site-this weekend on the North Coast of CA- should be a good way to prepare for the upcoming holiday week.

 

[DevonDiver]

IR1 2, and I would point out that PADI IDC requires DM while SDI Solo only requires what; AOW or Rescue?

PADI Self-Reliant Diver - Course Prerequisites:

Course Overview and Standards

A. Prerequisite – to qualify for the Self-Reliant Diver course, an individual must:


1. Be certified as a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver or have a qualifying certification from another training organization.
2. Have a minimum 100 logged dives.
3. Be 18 years of age or older.
4. Successfully complete a dive skills assessment by a PADI Self-Reliant Diver Speciality Instructor.

Note: To qualify to teach this course, the instructor must be either a TecRec Instructor, or have completed the Self-Reliant course themselves. I'd wager that most of the instructors currently offering this course would be tech instructors.


From my perspective (I am considering teaching this course - not sure if it will sell though), I would put the emphasis on #4. The dive skills assessment is really the make-or-break factor in determining the suitability of the candidate to take tis course. 100 dives is a fair and reasonable starting point. When contrasted with the prerequisite dives needed for DM or Instructor, or even entry-level tech, it does illustrate that PADI demand a high calibre of experience before solo diving should be considered.

I don't know why they opted for AOW certification. I guess the cert level is nowhere near as critical as the experience and also performance in assessment. I'd have still gone for Rescue Diver though...

 

[mathauck0814]

I'd have still gone for Rescue Diver though...

I'd agree with this if there were more emphasis on self rescue in the rescue course. Then again, I generally think that if someone is hell bent on diving alone, I'd rather see people get some level of mentorship/training than not - if they're restricted by level of present certification, I doubt that would discourage them from diving solo anyway... so you might as well offer it.

 

[DevonDiver]

If no Tech Agencies condone solo tech diving, some Tech Agencies prohibit (please explain discouraging solo Tech Agencies?) and no Tech Solo course exists, why is the Solo Diver forum in the Tech Forum, where it encourages significant TOS violation postings by solo tech divers about solo tech dives?

I just found this, which adds some clarification on PADI's perspective of Solo Tech:

PADI Self-Sufficient Diver - Instructor Manual

B. Who should develop self-reliant diving skills and why?
5. TecRec divers
a. Diving without a partner is not unusual for TecRec divers.
b. In some cases, trained cave divers dive without a partner in no mount and side-mount areas.

 

[DevonDiver]

I'd agree with this if there were more emphasis on self rescue in the rescue course.

For me, the benefit wouldn't be about X, Y or X 'rescue' techniques, it's be about mind-set and awareness. Self-rescue is just about applying basic Open Water principles and maintaining a degree of incident control to extricate yourself from a situation. What the rescue courses provides, that isn't generally provided at OW and AOW levels, is a realistic perspective of the dangers of diving. OW and AOW are very cheerful, fun courses - they rarely (entirely instructor dependant) venture into discussion areas that seriously consider and expand upon the risks and consequences of problems encountered underwater. I, personally, feel that the Rescue Diver course enables a mature shift in mind-set and awareness expansion for the student. I feel that aware, honest and realistic mindset should be a prerequisite for solo diving.

Then again, I generally think that if someone is hell bent on diving alone, I'd rather see people get some level of mentorship/training than not - if they're restricted by level of present certification, I doubt that would discourage them from diving solo anyway... so you might as well offer it.

They need 100 dives. I'd have a big question mark about a diver who had that much experience, but hadn't bothered to develop rescue skills... but then wanted to do a solo course..

That said, the course does include a section on self-rescue. Also, the divers' self-rescue skills do form part of the pre-course suitability assessment. I guess that assessment makes the Rescue Course possible a form of prudent preparation?

PADI Self-Sufficient Diver Course - Instructor Manual

1. Before beginning open water dives, assess the diver’s skills and comfort level in-water and generally assess dive knowledge. This evaluation may include checking the diver’s buoyancy control, familiarity with dive equipment such as being able to easily access and understand instrument readings (the SPG, dive computer, depth gauge, timing device), and the ability to perform self-rescue skills. If the diver exhibits lack of dive readiness, remediate before training progresses.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

I just found this, which adds some clarification on PADI's perspective of Solo Tech:

PADI Self-Sufficient Diver - Instructor Manual

I could see that while in a severely restricted passage, requiring no-mount or side-mount to penetrate, the buddy, while single file restricted, is not able to provide buddy assistance. I can just not see PADI saying "with this certification, adding a Tech cert qualifies one to Tech dive solo".

Here again, the only way this makes sense to me is as a carrot to hook a deep pockets fish that spends, spends, spends. The money just seems to circle and feed on itself.

 

[DevonDiver]

I didn't read that into it. The solo course is just some skimmed content from the tech course/s. Tech divers don't need to do a solo course - the content and training they need is part-and-parcel of the respective tech courses.

PADI's acknowledgement is it is "not unusual" that tech divers dive solo. That's on the basis of their tech training - there's no mention, or interpretation, that a tech diver would take the solo course to enable buddy-less tech dives.

 

[waterpirate]

I read thru all the threads on this post and one important thing seemed to have been over looked...A diver's responsibility to others...By others I mean, children, wives and other people who may be dependent on them...When you took on those responsibilities you placed them or should have [If you truly love them] before yourselves.....Solo diving, 'rec' or otherwise raises the 'stakes'....Doesn't matter how well trained, how experienced, how well planned or how well equipped a diver is.....I solo dive regularly in any enviorment I want [not interested in anyone's opinion about it ]....I have no children and my wife knew this about me before we were married...She is successfully self-employed....The 'solo' tech or rec. question should be secondary to other responsibilities.....

I disagree. You infer that if you had a buddy you will not die. Is there any differance between being technically dead and recreationaly dead? How about solo dead vs. buddy dead. When your number is up-it is up.
Eric