Do you dive with a buddy? Always, Sometimes, hardly ever?

[SCUBAMedic]

Uncle Pug once bubbled...

Nobody has drown in only 35 feet of water .

I sure hope you were joking about this !!! How many inches it takes to drown is a better question.

It doesn't matter if you are 1 foot under or 101 feet under you can still drown.

I dive solo on occasion, its a case of weighting up the risks of the dive and your personal experence.

 

[Uncle Pug]

SCUBAMedic once bubbled...
I sure hope you were joking about this !!!

Are you Australian by any chance?

I was merely using irony as a literary device to deliberately expose the foolishness of thinking that depth matters in this case.

you've been pugged.

 

[Uncle Pug]

I just checked your location!!!

 

[techdiver2us]

Ever since finding myself alone on the bottom on my second wreck dive I've found myself diving solo about 95% of the time. It's not for everyone, and there have been times I've wished someone else was there (Where did that anchor line go?). At times I've found trying to dive with a buddy causes more anxiety than diving solo, like trying to keep track of him in low vis situations. Plus it's kept me from seeing if I could actually fit myself with 2 stages through that hatchway. I am a proponenent of diving with pretty much the same gear configuration on every dive. The sole exceptions being number of stages and elimination of upline on dives to recreational limits or less.

 

[captjohnr]

I have been diving a number of years and am a scuba instructor.

Diving alone for someone with my experience is acceptable. Most of my leasure time diving is spearfishing and we use the "same day same ocean" method. Our dives are 70' or less. If I dive alone much deeper than that I use a redundant air supply.

 

[Beachman]

.....you find it almost daily routine to be down alone a lot. In the mid-Atlantic the DM.s job is to tie off on the wrecks (usually over 100') and you use redundant gear. If they can't hook the wreck due to currents, you will be carrying the hook down with you. Then, of course, you have to untie the hook after the dive when everyone else is on board (and that means a free ascent with a sausage for the boat to spot you for a pickup).

As others have said, anything that goes wrong on a boat is the DM/mate's job to fix.....tangled anchor, a customer's lost equipment, a fouled prop, you name it. You bet the captain doesn't offer to be your buddy!

I think once you've spent a lot of time on your own down under to keep the dive boat going, it becomes more natural to be by yourself without the responsibility and confinement of a buddy. As captjohnr says above, recreation for working dive folks is frequently hunting. I couldn't imagine hunting with a buddy....although one or more other folks might also be down hunting at the same time.

Personally, I regularly take my own boat out solo and then dive solo. However, since I'm normally hunting I seldom need to exceed 50' or so. Some folks would say you shouldn't go in a swimming pool alone, but I would and do. To me, this type of diving is no different. Some folks wouldn't, but I do.

 

[Hamlet]

The way I see it, all instructors are solo divers. Surely you don’t expect any help from anyone on first time in open water. In fact, worse than solo. If you have a problem it becomes two, your original problem and the problem of an un supervised trainee.

 

[Nessie]

I do dive solo quite regularly. Do not want to recommend it, but for me it is most relaxing.
When I started diving I loved the feeling and kind of stopped thinking.
Now everytime I dive with a buddy, doesn´t matter how experienced he/she is, I somehow switch to "Instructor mode" and most of the divetime I am looking after my buddy instead of enjoying myself.
But I never drove alone to the diveside, we go together to the diveside, do our own dives and spend the the surface time together. The best dives were with somebody studying nudy branches, we went down together, he stayed at a wall, I did my dive, came back, he had by that probably not moved more than a few meters, we did decompression together and surfaced.

 

[SwimJim]

I think Arduous pretty much said it the best. Less then ten percent of my dives are conducted solo. I not only don't mind going solo, I rather enjoy it. I've done a ton of dives and I'm well equiped. When I dive solo I am REALLY saftey concious.
Solo diving really is not for everyone. But for those who are capable and want experience it, you can't find a more awesome experience.

Jim

 

[ElectricZombie]

Yes, I dive solo. Not by choice though. If I find myself out on a charter and there are no suitable buddies to be found, I have no problems diving solo. Acutally, most of the time I prefer to be solo unless I know my buddies diving history and feel confident in their abilities. I feel that a bad buddy is more of a hazard than not having one. As others have stated, when I teach I'm still solo diving.

The buddy system is the way to go if possible. If not, know your limitations and plan accordingly.