For those of you who dive solo . . .

[ScubaKimmie]

I was just thinking that as I was reading down.
If I may add my 2psi worth here. It seems to me Lynne may have been a little "collective like" in her first post. I think like many of us SK saw that and wanted to respond. Peter jumped in to the fray because it's his wife (hey I would too) , but started insinuating things that we're apparent, at least to me. (didn't see troll anywhere)
Now I think you both should go, count to 10 then come back and play nice

Oh I'm up to 6 already

 

[SeanQ]

I've been following this thread since it started but decided to refrain from posting until now. Some people may think I'm rehashing to stir the pot; but remember, every soup, from the lightest consomme to the thickest of stews, needs to be stirred. I'd prefer not to reignite controversy or arguing. I feel I've learned a lot from this thread, despite the digressions. If we can continue, without any preconceptions, I'm sure it would benefit those, like myself, who are still wondering and learning.

I honestly don't believe this thread was ment to be about DIR. Reread it if you wish; I'm just not seeing it. What I see is not a necessarily a DIR buddy team but instead two divers who share the same outlook. Whatever reason you have for diving solo, aside from enjoying being alone, that buddy shares. In this case, your buddy likes to go at the same pace and look at the same things you do. You don't have to worry about where they are because you know where they'll be. You don't have to worry about being sued because both of you don't give rodent's digestive terminus about who's liable. Heck, your buddy could be your clone if that what floats your boat. The question was, if you had a perfect buddy, by your own definition of perfect, would you still dive solo?

At this point I think the question has already been answered by most who have replied. I'm not asking for another 15 pages; just that we remain focused. It won't break my heart if that doesn't happen; there are many posts in this thread that I'm sure I havn't read as thoroughly as they deserve. Call it a glorified plea for more if you wish because I'm guilty as charged.

 

[Green_Manelishi]

I'm finding myself luckier and luckier these days, in that I'm acquiring a nice circle of excellent dive buddies. In thinking about this, and thinking about WHY they're excellent dive buddies, it occurred to me to wonder -- Those of you who dive solo, would you do it if you had a dive buddy who:

Had skills equal to or better than yours;

Had equipment similar to yours and properly maintained;

Was on the same page you are with respect to the way a dive should be planned and conducted;

Had excellent buddy skills and underwater communication;

Had excellent training in emergency response, and kept those skills sharp by regular practice;

And, of course, was regularly available to dive

Based on your avatar, do you learn from the buddy or assimilate their skills?
while claiming to "improve their quality of life"?

 

[mdb]

I am certainly not I've filled a couple of things out on my bio. I'm not so certain I"ll be around long enough to get to know better so I won't bother with anything else yet.

ScubaKimmie: Stay in the board. You bring a good fresh insight. Yes, you have taken some heat, including from me. You have done a lot of diving, been an active instructor etc.

This is one of the better boards IMHO, gets a lot of good folks and sometimes gets a bit out of hand. The MODS do a good job of keeping us in check. Stay with us. We all just want diving to improve.

A three-five day trip off the Channel Islands would help me a lot today.

 

[TSandM]

I'm quite sure my inexperience plays a role in the apprehension I feel when I think about going diving by myself. Having a couple of friends who tell horrific stories about getting wrapped up in fishline or nets in local dive sites doesn't help, either

Charlie, thank you for fleshing out what you meant by "attitude" -- Of course, I immediately got very defensive, because when "attitude" and "DIR" get put in the same sentence, "attitude" usually means something else . . .

And yes, my temperament and the DIR approach WERE a match made in heaven, and Bob saw that. But really, I wasn't trying to say in the first post, "If you had a DIR buddy, would you still solo dive?" I meant exactly what Charlie thought I meant.

And SK, I guess it's important that we have somebody on the board who can detect and reveal any subversive subliminal DIR suggestions which are planted in otherwise benign posts. Protect the innocent!

 

[AndyNZ]

DIN is preferred and encouraged, but it's okay to dive yoke too - at least in open water. This is according to my DIRF instructor from back in January.

My goodness - are you saying that the DIR philosophy doesn't mandate things!?!?

From my understanding, nothing is actually mandated there are just strong recommendations. Couple of quotes from 'Dress for Success':

Fins with a short broad blade, such as the Scubapro Jetfin and the IDI Turtle Fin, tend to be favoured... <snip>

The DIN fitting is preferred..... <snip> ... Having a mix of DIN and yoke regs and valves reduces interchangability..

... and so on. I guess that being dogmattic is an individual characteristic when it comes to being DIR or not!? The argument is frankly dull, as when it boils down to the fundamental precepts there is no difference in the philiosophy of DIR, non-DIR tech diving, recreational diving and solo diving. Keeping it simple, it's along the lines of have good diving skills, minimise risks and chance of failures, use well maintained gear appropriate for the dive, plan dives properly and only dive with buddies who have skills and experience to dive the plan.

The difference between a (dogmattic) DIR diver and a (prepared) solo diver comes when there isn't a suitable buddy to dive with for the planned objective. The DIR view of the world is that diving without a broader team does not allow you to minimise the risk in the dive. The solo diver will allow and embrace the increased risk, but mitigate it as much as possible through planning and execution.

So the answer to Lynne's original question really has nothing to do with DIR or not - any logic you apply to diving without a buddy when a suitable buddy is available just does not compute, but yet we chose to do it for our own reasons, enjoying the solitude, not placing others at risk and so on. We do it because we enjoy it.

 

[TSandM]

Very nice post, Andy!

 

[Diver Dennis]

Shocking, truly shocking that you accept diving with inferior equipment!

Oops. Busted. On a more serious note, though, if you do think about it a bit, diving with what is supposedly an inferior system is not truly living up to the DIR philosophy. Deciding to do a very easy, safe dive in excellent conditions as a solo dive isn't that much different of a step in assumption of additional risk. Perhaps that's why you will find a lot of "DIR divers" that do solo dives on occasion.

Thank you Charlie. Well put sir.

Is solo not allowed in DIR?

 

[AndyNZ]

Very nice post, Andy!

One does one's best

The dogma really gets on my wick - on both sides. There is always more than one way of doing anything and there's no real "best" way. The DIR configuration makes perfect sense when taken as a whole and for the context for which it was designed. It's not the way I choose to do things, but I can see why it works. For example, the hose routing only works if you keep all your stage tanks on the left hand side, which you only need to do if you are using the scooter. Does it make me an unsafe diver because I choose to bungee my long hose and balance stage tanks on either side? If I was being dogmattic, I'd argue that you'd get better trim if you balanced your stage tanks on either side..... yada yada yada and around the same old arguments we go! :fruit:

I don't think that the detail changes any of the precepts which are (should be?) common to all types of diving...

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

That's again the mantra of DIR, you assume your husband is a risk taker because he's not interested in DIR.

Or it might just be possible that two people who have been married for 17 years do not have to assume such things about each other. Since you don't know either of them, do you think it's possible that it's you who's doing the assuming?

Some of us just don't want to be assimilated. We're Borg free yet safe

Are you sure? Or are you just assuming? ...

This doesn't have to be a partisan discussion ... it wasn't intended to be one. Why do some of you seem so intent on making it one?

If you are so "safe" in your style of diving ... why be so defensive about it? I mean, why should you care what anyone else thinks?

... Bob (Grateful Diver)