Entry Level Solo Diver

[paddler3d]

I would not call myself a solo diver. In fact I would definately say I prefer to dive with someone else. That being said, I have definately done the solo thing.

There have been many times when I'll be diving with a group of buddies at the local quarry. I'm in a semi-dry with a big single tank and slug pony and they're in drysuits and 2x's. I just get chilled, tell them I'm gonna boogie and head back. I'll get distracted in the warmer shallows checking out all the fish. In the end, they beat me back.

I'm a Divecon, so know I'll find myself having to retrieve lost stuff, make sure the platform is squared away, so on so forth. I'm diving alone.

I've gone deeper than some of my buddies and my computer is more conservative than there I end up with a bit more deco time than they do. I tell them to gone on their merry way and I finish out my stay.

It is something I don't quest to do and frankly, where I currently get to dive, I don't think I'd want to go solo. If I lived in the Caribbean, that may be a different story.

If you are at your local watering hole and have a legitimate redundant air source, give it a try. You'll know if you're ready. If it freaks you out because you're not sure what you would do if you lost your mask or an o-ring blows on your main, then you know.

Good luck and good diving.

 

[SCUBA482]

For me, it wasn't about number of dives, it was about feeling that I had all my bases covered. I felt comfortable when I had a plan for what I'd do if any foreseeable situation arose and I had to deal with it myself. If a first stage failure, lost mask, entanglement, BC rupture, drysuit flood, instrument failure, silt-out, free-flow, runaway inflation, etc. are things you have no-brainer solutions (and less desirable backup solutions) for, and you're comfortable handling those situations without a buddy, you might consider solo diving.

Matt,

Thanks for your thoughts. They make a lot of sense and I appreciate you respecting the notion that somebody can handle themselves and providing things to consider. I would ask; however, has anybody posted their plans on what they would have or have done on any of these situations you mention under this solo diver thread? I would think there should be a special consideration of what to do on each of these critical incidents should you be diving alone vs. with a buddy. Maybe there has been a topic on this and I'm just new to the site and haven't found it yet.

These are things, like all things in life, that you will perform according to your training. Since most of us are trained to act in sync with a buddy, then I think the dive instructors should consider training newbies to be a little bit more self sufficient. I base this request by the volume of people admittedly starting a dive with a buddy but then finding themselves alone somewhere during the dive. Heck, a lot of you mentioned that is when you first discovered solo diving and found you feel more relaxed in doing so. Just a thought.

 

[SCUBA482]

I am generally not in favor of new (i.e. inexperienced) divers going solo. Everyone's different in terms of how they think about their dive, how well they plan for contingencies, and how comfortable they would be dealing with problems underwater ... so it's difficult to quantify how much experience is enough. But as ScubaSteve pointed out, there's more to it than just getting a redundant air source.

The biggest part of solo diving is mental. Keep in mind that solo diving's pretty simple as long as everything goes right. It's those rare times when things perhaps don't go right that you'll have to be prepared for. Our brains are hardwired for a land-based existence, and the instincts that have developed to keep us alive could end up killing us in the underwater environment if we don't overcome the natural "fight or flight" instinct if something goes wrong. We need to train ourselves how to remain calm, consider the alternatives, and form a response that'll get us out of the situation safely ... and keep in mind that you will usually only have a few seconds to do all that. So one of the major reasons why you want bottom time is to help you "rewire" your instinctual responses to handle problems that may otherwise cause you to react in a way that could be injurious or worse. "Fight or flight" just aren't good options for most underwater problems.

A coupla years ago I wrote an article that might give you some things to think about in terms of whether or not you're ready. I'd recommend you read it as a part of finding your answers ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Bob,

All of this makes perfect sense and your article was a big help. I was particularly appreciative of the weight integration issue. I have a weight integrated BC and splitting up the weight is something I will put more thought into for obvious reasons.

In addition to becoming proficient, I plan on some more gear practice in my own pool. I am comfortable with all you have mentioned and before I make the leap I will certainly have a spare air source & some other goodies.

I couldn't agree more with the mental issues involved in this potentially complex task of solo diving, but one should seriously consider whether or not THEY are able to handle the issues you and others mention. I'm ok with others not being comfortable with this, but then again they don't know the other person or may have had an eye opening experience themselves causing them to be extra cautious. I would only ask that on this thread they consider providing some of the issues they have had diving (solo or not) and how they dealt with them if they were solo. Or more specifically how they would have dealt with them if they were separated from their buddy so that I, and others, can learn from their experience. Maybe a topic for my next thread

 

[pdelannoy]

Not to hijack this thread, but simply having a redundant air source (and knowing the site) does not qualify someone to safely solo dive. Remember, people do dumb things everyday and survive.....it is the ability to correct for what can (and eventually will) happen at depth. Gear failure or serious situations are not usually counted on as "IF they happen..." but "WHEN they happen....".

Do not think that a pony or spare are or doubles automatically qualifies you to SAFELY solo dive.

I don't really think this guy was asking for a solo diving manual or pontification. He was just asking about how some of us decided to take the solo leap. Also, certification is supposed to mean something last time I checked. AND furthermore, diving is an extreme sport BUT there are other sports way more extreme. Presumably diving is not a sport that requires hand holding.

Or am I wrong about that?

Maybe I'll look you up Steve before I dive next time and make sure I've got my reg hooked on right.

PD

 

[ScubaSteve]

Sounds like you have taken my post in a negative way. That happens. I play by the following rules: this is the internet and since anybody can read what I type (even here where it is an opt in group, anybody can get in). For that reason I strongly believe in making every effort to not only answer the poster's questions in a helpful manner but also to ensure that the advice or information I hand out cannot be easily misinterpereted.

What you told the person (a possible interpretation) was that as long as you had a "spare air" and had dove the site before, they were qualified to dive it solo. I simply made it clear that this was not at all the case. There is far more to diving solo that that. These differences have already already beed discussed but I felt that my post and your reply deserved an explanation. There was nothing harsh intended however if you are uncertain of whether your reg is hooked up right, approach your Instructor and ask for a refresher .

And by the way, if you are ever up here in cold water country, definitely look me up. I PROMISE not to tell you when you hook your reg up wrong .

I don't really think this guy was asking for a solo diving manual or pontification. He was just asking about how some of us decided to take the solo leap. Also, certification is supposed to mean something last time I checked. AND furthermore, diving is an extreme sport BUT there are other sports way more extreme. Presumably diving is not a sport that requires hand holding.

Or am I wrong about that?

Maybe I'll look you up Steve before I dive next time and make sure I've got my reg hooked on right.

PD

 

[Steve SDI/TDI HQ]

Since SDI is the only agency we know of teaching sport divers a solo diver specialty, allow me to wade in.

The prerequisites for solo specialty candidates includes the candidate having at least 100 logged dives! Of course, number of dives is a perfunctory method of gauging experience but we have to publish standards and # dives is 'time honored.'

We teach the solo diving course because we recognize that it goes on and will always go on so we figured we should try to promote certain protocols and procedures that may help manage risk.

Every sport diver would benefit from a solo course, because the skills will help to make her a better all-round diver. However, NOT every sport diver should dive without a buddy.

I'd suggest to the OP to think long and hard about the consequences of diving alone without training, experience and equipment. In the final analysis it's up to the individual (not withstanding local bylaws and guidelines).

I teach and conduct technical diving... and take extraordinary precautions before diving completely alone... precautions most sport divers would think preposterous. In fact, apart from working dives, I cannot recall the last time I dove without students or a buddy... and I have a few more than 100 dives!

 

[vladimir]

AND furthermore, diving is an extreme sport

Really? According to whom? My personal litmus test: if senior citizens and the morbidly obese can participate, it's probably not an extreme sport. I have come close to dozing off on some dives.

BUT there are other sports way more extreme.

Badminton, bowling, croquet...

 

[pdelannoy]

Hey vladimir,

I was simply parroting what I have been told by some of the experts. Which was the point I was trying to make. That solo diving can be done within a reasonable margin of risk and that using common sense is 99% of the issue. I don't think that the number of dives one has prior to solo diving means much. It depends on the diver.

PD

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Hey vladimir,

I was simply parroting what I have been told by some of the experts. Which was the point I was trying to make. That solo diving can be done within a reasonable margin of risk and that using common sense is 99% of the issue. I don't think that the number of dives one has prior to solo diving means much. It depends on the diver.

PD

I have found that common sense is much more common when you're sitting behind a keyboard than it is when you're at 90 fsw and the current's kicking your ass or you're so tangled up in kelp that you don't even know where to start getting yourself untangled.

Yeah, it depends on the diver ... but we're all hard-wired to react to certain stimuli in certain ways. And unless you've planned, prepared and practiced dealing with stressful situations underwater you'll have a harder time than you might think responding with what you would, looking at it from the safety of a keyboard, consider common sense.

It's been my experience that the vast majority of divers think they're better at dealing with stress underwater than they really are. Most have never had the occasion to actually find out.

In the real world, the first thing you have to overcome is a natural tendency to second-guess yourself. Can you get past your own psychology to deal with the issue? Can you summon the mental tools to deal with it calmly? Or will self-doubt cause you to freeze up or make a decision you would KNOW in the safety of an above-water environment wasn't the right one?

I've taken ... and taught ... enough classes that emphasize failures to see first-hand how common it is for people who THINK they know better to make decisions that could ... in a real-world situation ... end up badly.

If you haven't been there you really don't know. And most of us who HAVE been there have, at some point, looked back and told ourselves "That was really stupid ... I'll never do THAT again."

Overconfidence can get you in trouble ... overconfidence and a lack of experience can be, and sometimes is, fatal.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[ScubaSteve]

I think the point that most of us are trying to make is that there is so much more to being truly ready to dive solo than a certain number of dives or having certain equipment. The conversation we are seeing is a great one because some of the real vetran divers here are sharing their wisdom. Those of us who have a lot to learn still (I will never fall out of that categary no matter what) should be reading and absorbing the information because this is what this board is all about. The "wise ones" sharing their knowledge.