Do You Consider Solo Diving to be Recreational or Technical?

[DivemasterDennis]

The original question was "Do you consider solo diving recreational or technical?" The answer, which can be discerned in some of the foregoing responses, is that it can be either, but whatever kind of dive is done, there must be heightened planning and awareness of safety factors and quite frankly, the preparation should be done as if it was a technical dive. By that I mean thorough inspection and testing of equipment before the dive, presence of a redudant air source, and an articulated safety plan as part of the dive plan itself. Factors differ if there is a person on shore or on a boat from which you started the dive, as opposed to going off alone. Lots of divers do lots of solo dives without incident. They are the ones who plan and equip themselves properly. When it comes to a solo dive, it is NEVER just a recreational dive without a buddy. If you choose to do solo diving, learn from those who know how to do it with maximum safety and hence, maximum enjoyment. Whether that is in a class, in a forum here on scubaboard, or joining a group of solo divers or just talking to experienced solos, be a safe solo diver.
DivemasterDennis

 

[Bob DBF]

I’m in the “not being paid = recreational” camp regardless of depth, duration, and equipment. The rest is too vague to consider. The definitions are so blurred that some people call 61' a deep dive and any decompression dive technical, even when max depth was 50'. All dives are solo, even when someone else happens to be tagging along.

I agree with Akimbo and I am not a commercial diver, although I have made a few bucks diving.

The principles of diving are the same for all divers, being more informed and calling yourself tech overlooks the fact that new OW divers are woefully uninformed. At one time Commercial, Scientific, and Recreational divers had very similar SCUBA training. I would guess that a recreational diver of today would have to be a a divemaster or "tech diver" to catch up. It's not the students abilities, it's the path that recreational agencies have taken.


Although I agree with halemanō's attempt to move the Solo sub-forum to another forum, I do not think it will be able to revitalize the solo board. Between the solo divers being... well solo, and the usual suspects swooping down and discorageing any new posters quest to solo, I don't believe a change in venue will help.


Halemanō, if you want some real action why don't we get togather with VooDooGasMan and work on a Bouncedive sub-forum. Start a new "Don't Do This" forum with Solo, Bouncedive, Deep Air and what ever else fits. TOS - A permission group, agree that this is something that shouldn't be done and therefore negative comments are banned, only reasonable discussion is allowed. Oh yes, don't count on it happening soon.


I learned to dive solo, buddy breathing the double hose was the only time there was another diver in the water with me. I had 20-30 dives before I did any buddy dives, I knew how to do it from my training, I just didn't have a buddy. Although there are always new advances, the book I learned from then stood up quite well when I finally certified OW as well as now. I'd say Solo is recreational.



Bob
-----------------------------------
A man's got to know his limitations.
Harry Callahan

I may be old, but I’m not dead yet.

 

[aquaregia]

Just looked - my solo card has no restrictions at all on it.

Is it still valid if you have a buddy then? I just imagined the most convoluted lawsuit ever...


In my mind, the rec-tech boundary is when equipment can honestly be considered "life-support". I often make the claim that SCUBA equipment isn't life support, but if I didn't have a buddy, I don't think I'd feel that way at 100'. I might at 40'.

 

[boulderjohn]

Actually, SDI requires a diver to have 100 dives to do the solo diver course. PADI only required 60 dives to be an instructor. I would put forth the opinion that most solo divers have better skills than PADI instructor candidates. No, I'm not really bashing PADI, IR1.

Although one may begin PADI instructor training with as few as 60 dives, you cannot begin the instructor examination (IE) process until you have at least 100 dives.

 

[Bob DBF]

Originally Posted by Wookie
Actually, SDI requires a diver to have 100 dives to do the solo diver course. PADI only required 60 dives to be an instructor. I would put forth the opinion that most solo divers have better skills than PADI instructor candidates. No, I'm not really bashing PADI, IR1.

Although one may begin PADI instructor training with as few as 60 dives, you cannot begin the instructor examination (IE) process until you have at least 100 dives.

Now why does this strike me as amusing?


Bob
-----------------------------------------
I may be old, but I’m not dead yet.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Pretty much as soon as I passed the PADI IE, the Captains of the boats I had been training off for 6-7 weeks said "as an Instructor you are now essentially diving solo".

 

[DevonDiver]

Pretty much as soon as I passed the PADI IE, the Captains of the boats I had been training off for 6-7 weeks said "as an Instructor you are now essentially diving solo".

Which is a fair point.

PADI Self-Sufficient Diver - Instructor Manual (again)

B. Who should develop self-reliant diving skills and why?

1. Instructors and Divemasters

a. Instructors and divemasters are often with a group of students or certified divers exploring the local dive sites, however, they may not have a specific dive buddy.

b. Being self-sufficient and self-reliant provides the skill set needed for instructors and divemasters to respond to emergencies independently.

The issue they don't specifically mention is that many instructors are often alone in the water with DSDs or OW trainees - in those circumstances, it would be imprudent to assume that any of those untrained divers would be competent or capable of rendering assistance should the instructor be the one who got into difficulty.

In the UK, Health & Safety laws make it mandatory for the instructor to have a dedicated support/rescue diver to prevent that situation happening. Not so in many other parts of the world - since moving to SE Asia, I've never had direct support in the water (other than an occasional DMT).

 

[Wookie]

Pretty much as soon as I passed the PADI IE, the Captains of the boats I had been training off for 6-7 weeks said "as an Instructor you are now essentially diving solo".

I'll tell you the same thing. My divemasters are also my USCG required deckhands, so it is imprudent to allow them both into the water at the same time, but someone has to go in to do the conditions check for briefings and tie in the granny line. My insurance company understands this and allows DM's or better to dive solo without a certification, pony, or DSMB. As long as they are working for the vessel. If they are on a fun dive, they get to follow buddy rules or solo diving rules IAW their cert. I tested this, when a crewmember got bent on a solo technical fun dive. Wasn't an easy bend, either, he took a vestibular hit and 7 chamber rides only got him back to 95%. Luckily, he was fully insured and did not file a Jones Act claim, although he probably would have won if he (or his insurance company) did, since he was logged in the ship's log in a crew position. The Coast Guard raised a major fuss at that one, too. I was in interviews for 6 months.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

I tested this, when a crewmember got bent on a solo technical fun dive. Wasn't an easy bend, either, he took a vestibular hit and 7 chamber rides only got him back to 95%. Luckily, he was fully insured and did not file a Jones Act claim, although he probably would have won if he (or his insurance company) did, since he was logged in the ship's log in a crew position. The Coast Guard raised a major fuss at that one, too. I was in interviews for 6 months.

And so now you do not allow solo Tech dives?

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

The original question was "Do you consider solo diving recreational or technical?" The answer, which can be discerned in some of the foregoing responses, is that it can be either, but whatever kind of dive is done, there must be heightened planning and awareness of safety factors and quite frankly, the preparation should be done as if it was a technical dive. By that I mean thorough inspection and testing of equipment before the dive, presence of a redudant air source, and an articulated safety plan as part of the dive plan itself. Factors differ if there is a person on shore or on a boat from which you started the dive, as opposed to going off alone. Lots of divers do lots of solo dives without incident. They are the ones who plan and equip themselves properly. When it comes to a solo dive, it is NEVER just a recreational dive without a buddy....

Personally, I would prefer that you word posts like this as YOUR OPINION!

99.9% of the time my planning and equipment is same, same for both buddy and solo diving, and the surface is my redundant air.

IMHO, the vast majority of MY solo dives are just recreational dives without a buddy.