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Going solo - what do you think?
- Thread starter Texasguy
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00wabbit
Contributor
OP
Texasguy
Contributor
Not true. I am all up for healthy contingencies. However, one cannot be prepared for everything, everything. Something I think some forum member try to suggest.
---------- Post Merged at 05:38 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 05:36 PM ----------
As far as I know we have a cotton mouth. I think water snakes don't bite while swimming, only on land.
---------- Post Merged at 05:38 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 05:36 PM ----------
As far as I know we have a cotton mouth. I think water snakes don't bite while swimming, only on land.
fire_diver
Contributor
No, but you can be prepared for the most deadly problems that divers experience. It is CLEARLY obvious that you don't know enough about diving to understand the real problems that are out there. You don't even have the diving experience to understand how to respond to pedestrian problems.
I'm not going to re-hash the advice everyone has given you so far. Dive or don't dive. But if the SHTF scenario DOES happen on one of your solo dives, I bet this thread is one of the last thoughts to ever pss through your mind.
CT Sean
Contributor
I stated my opinion that gear checkout in a portion of the lake that is only a few (as in 4 or 5) feet deep - assuming nothing to get tangled in, basically a flat sandy bottom - is not really different that that same checkout performed in a pool, as others have recommended. Surely there is an experienced non-solo diver than can give their opinion on that? Given additional thought there are certainly differences, you're much more visible in a pool, their might be a lifeguard at the pool - though they likely would be oblivious to any problem you might have. In a lake you could have issue with boaters and/or swimmers, but I'm making the assumption that OP isn't "dumb" enough to do his "gear check" at the boat launch and would still bring his flag. but i don't know the lake - perhaps none of this is an issue, or perhaps there are many more issues that would make even a 4 foot "dive" foolish
If I'm understanding correctly, you mean that, contrary to the advise given by others here, that you believe one should not even enter a pool alone with scuba gear since one cannot breathe underwater in a pool? I'm not arguing or disagreeing, I just want to make sure I've properly understood your enigmatic sentence
OK, so you have AOW training and <25 dives. That barely amounts to basic exposure. From an experience standpoint you are in that dangerous phase where it all seems simple but you don't know what you don't know. It's actually quite common. This is usually followed by a phase where divers see the light and focus on good buddy diving to improve their safety margin. Finally with a body of real experience some divers will opt to enjoy diving solo to some extent.
If all of your diving was done locally in this pond you must have a local dive shop relationship. Don't they do some sort of shop dives? Is there a dive club in the region? I happen to be a lifetime local but the vast majority of my buddies began life elsewhere so get engaged.
With respect to the scenario of ducking your head underwater in a location where you can stand you're on the fuzzy edge. Real people really die in shallow water usually through entanglement or entrapment. We find that ocean diving is about whet we see and fresh water is about what we find. There is a lot of crap that can accumulate in fresh water especially near a public access point that you are apt to be sharing.
Based on what you have shared NO is the only responsible answer anyone can offer in an online forum. Nothing you have said makes an another answer conceivable.
Pete
Last edited:
The deep dive is one of the required dives in the PADI AOW. If that lake is only 25-30 feet deep, and all your dives were in that lake, how were you able to get your AOW cert without doing the deep dive?
By the way, looking at the website for that lake you are talking about, there seems to be a lot of diving there. You should not have a problem finding a buddy to do some diving with. Just make a few phone calls, I would do that before solo diving. Espically in a lake with visibility that ranges from 4 to 25'. 4' vis is not much...
OP
Texasguy
Contributor
Please post a list of these real problems that I don't understand. Please be specific and up to the point. Otherwise it is hard to learn. Please make a list for the sake of beginner divers. Kind of, either make a list or don't post. Let us not beat around the bush.
---------- Post Merged at 09:22 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 09:13 PM ----------
I am not a certified instructor and cannot comment on this. You are welcome to address you concerns to my instructor: Amber Pearce, B&W Dive Co. in Channelview, TX. Thank you.
Also, please post "a few" phone numbers to call. Please be specific, post area codes, the phone numbers, names, and the hours I can call.
PS: I am an introvert and have problems forming friendships, personally soliciting people I don't know is not in my nature.
---------- Post Merged at 09:22 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 09:13 PM ----------
I am not a certified instructor and cannot comment on this. You are welcome to address you concerns to my instructor: Amber Pearce, B&W Dive Co. in Channelview, TX. Thank you.
Also, please post "a few" phone numbers to call. Please be specific, post area codes, the phone numbers, names, and the hours I can call.
PS: I am an introvert and have problems forming friendships, personally soliciting people I don't know is not in my nature.
CT-Rich
Contributor
what are the hazards?
Entanglement, I swam into fishing lines in low visibility and they caught up on the yoke of my tank, where I could not reach them myself. Two choices, one find the lines you can reach and cut them with your knife, or remove your tank underwater and clear the lines that way. When you become entangled you will most likely be on the bottom and will kick up the silt. In an open water situation the current will eventually carry the silt away. In a lake you will sit in the cloud. The entangling line could hook your reg and pull it out of your mouth or pull off your mask. None of these things should be a lethal hazard to an experienced diver with experience. If you panic, you CAN drown even in four feet of water.
I just read a thread about a woman who freaked out because her reg started to free flow. To me that is a non issue, in the worst case scenario if I can't fix it I abort the dive. That put the woman into a panic. A panicky diver bolting to the surface can accidently get an embolism. If you are by yourself who is going to get you out of the water and call for help?
It is not that experienced divers don't test equipment in controlled shallow waters either at the beach or in a pool. People do that. You asked us if you could bend the rules even though you are a relatively inexperienced diver. The majority think that you don't have the experience to be out by yourself. Therefore we are not going to give you our blessings.
Personallly, I think you should be looking to find a diver or group of divers that can learn with you and practice with you. This is as much a social activity as it is a sport. Even solo divers like to hang out and shoot the sh*t with other divers. From what I have read, you should be asking about where you can find other divers to dive with in Texas, not whether it is safe to do gear testing solo. You can dive alone or with someone, there are no laws to prevent foolishness or bad judgement. It just is that most divers don't condone it. When you have lots of experience you can give the benefit of your expereince to others. For the moment you have asked for ours.
No one here has seen you in the water, so the only thing we can do is make sweeping generalizations based on what you wrote and what we experienced in our own experience as divers and what we saw in others. The decisions about how you plan and execute a dive really is yours alone. If you have a bad experience, we hope you come out of it okay and learn something useful. If you log 500 dives and never have a problem that is also great. We all wish you the best, really. We are only advocating safe practices dictated by your level and our experience based on the question YOU ASKED US.
Entanglement, I swam into fishing lines in low visibility and they caught up on the yoke of my tank, where I could not reach them myself. Two choices, one find the lines you can reach and cut them with your knife, or remove your tank underwater and clear the lines that way. When you become entangled you will most likely be on the bottom and will kick up the silt. In an open water situation the current will eventually carry the silt away. In a lake you will sit in the cloud. The entangling line could hook your reg and pull it out of your mouth or pull off your mask. None of these things should be a lethal hazard to an experienced diver with experience. If you panic, you CAN drown even in four feet of water.
I just read a thread about a woman who freaked out because her reg started to free flow. To me that is a non issue, in the worst case scenario if I can't fix it I abort the dive. That put the woman into a panic. A panicky diver bolting to the surface can accidently get an embolism. If you are by yourself who is going to get you out of the water and call for help?
It is not that experienced divers don't test equipment in controlled shallow waters either at the beach or in a pool. People do that. You asked us if you could bend the rules even though you are a relatively inexperienced diver. The majority think that you don't have the experience to be out by yourself. Therefore we are not going to give you our blessings.
Personallly, I think you should be looking to find a diver or group of divers that can learn with you and practice with you. This is as much a social activity as it is a sport. Even solo divers like to hang out and shoot the sh*t with other divers. From what I have read, you should be asking about where you can find other divers to dive with in Texas, not whether it is safe to do gear testing solo. You can dive alone or with someone, there are no laws to prevent foolishness or bad judgement. It just is that most divers don't condone it. When you have lots of experience you can give the benefit of your expereince to others. For the moment you have asked for ours.
No one here has seen you in the water, so the only thing we can do is make sweeping generalizations based on what you wrote and what we experienced in our own experience as divers and what we saw in others. The decisions about how you plan and execute a dive really is yours alone. If you have a bad experience, we hope you come out of it okay and learn something useful. If you log 500 dives and never have a problem that is also great. We all wish you the best, really. We are only advocating safe practices dictated by your level and our experience based on the question YOU ASKED US.
fire_diver
Contributor
You want a list? OK, here's a few off the top of my head, I'm sure others can add a few....
burst disc failure on tank
catastrophic failure of first stage
second stage diaphram falls off during exhalation (you don't realize this until you inhale)
second stage hose rupture
inflator hose failure
inflator failure
BC OPV failure resulting in loss of gas and inability to inflate
mask and reg kicked off by passing diver
snagged by mono
snagged by wire lead
BC / hose / reg / any part of gear hung up in rocks / trees / sunken dive attractions
vertigo
disorientation in zero vis silt-out
loss of weight belt / pouch
This is just a short list of dangers faced in a FW, inland dive site. Some can be rapidly fatal, some can be annoying. But when things go wrong, you can very quickly have multiple things go wrong. Several annoyances at once can be fatal. Sorry, I'm not here to teach anyone how to dive. If you want to learn how to deal with diving problems, find a mentor to go diving with.
burst disc failure on tank
catastrophic failure of first stage
second stage diaphram falls off during exhalation (you don't realize this until you inhale)
second stage hose rupture
inflator hose failure
inflator failure
BC OPV failure resulting in loss of gas and inability to inflate
mask and reg kicked off by passing diver
snagged by mono
snagged by wire lead
BC / hose / reg / any part of gear hung up in rocks / trees / sunken dive attractions
vertigo
disorientation in zero vis silt-out
loss of weight belt / pouch
This is just a short list of dangers faced in a FW, inland dive site. Some can be rapidly fatal, some can be annoying. But when things go wrong, you can very quickly have multiple things go wrong. Several annoyances at once can be fatal. Sorry, I'm not here to teach anyone how to dive. If you want to learn how to deal with diving problems, find a mentor to go diving with.
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