How long did you wait before you started Solo Diving?

[Thalassamania]

... Mastersniper, although young, is an adult...and adults tend not to respond well to being told what to do ...

And that can be a major problem. The concept of an adult is a rather strange one without a biological basis, which would place the age of majority at about 25, even though historically adulthood has started as young as 12.

 

[DevonDiver]

I think the problem here is that a number of people seem to want to tell mastersniper what to do.

Scubaboard reflects that... here is the disclaimer for the solo-diving forum (this forum!)...

You have entered the Solo Divers forum. This forum is intended solely for qualified Solo Divers. Only members can view or post to topics in this forum! If you are interested in joining you can do so by heading over to your Group Preferences and select the Solo Divers group. Please keep in mind that our warning was written with good reason, this forum exists for the discussion of a dangerous part of Scuba Diving, you should only engage in this activity if you are qualified to do so.

Anyone not qualified as a solo diver, please put their hands up.....

Mastersniper, although young, is an adult...and adults tend not to respond well to being told what to do

It was kind of a waste of money for him to do a scuba course then, huh?

This is poppycock. I teach scuba... and find that 99.9% of divers respect the advice and direction given to them during courses. Likewise, I am sure that instructors, mentors, teachers and coaches in a myriad of activities find that their adult students respond well to direction.

The best you can do (both with respect to scuba and non-scuba endeavors) is to provide a person with a lot of information and hope they make an intelligent decision, or set of decisions, based on that information.

Yep.... and that's exactly what happened when he took the Open Water course. What I am drawing attention to is the fact that he then chose to make an unintelligent decision, based on that information.

I'm not doing it for his benefit. As you say, he makes his own stupid choices. I am doing it for the benefit of expressing a clear opinion and reason, why others shouldn't do it.

Telling a new diver not to solo dive works about as well as telling a teenager not to drink or have sex.

That's crap. 99% of newly qualified divers do listen and apply what they've learned. I don't know of any of my ex-students that solo dived.

To be honest, I think this whole inexperienced solo diving issue is an American thing. Perhaps it's cultural? I've never seen or heard of it elsewhere in the world.

 

[master00sniper]

You know what Andy? That's because your a perfect instructor, and my instructor was terrible. Or maybe I did make an unintelligent decision, and that was to open my mouth about diving solo rather than shutting it like most people I've talked too.

Anyways, sorry I've been away from the party. I just got back from BUDDY diving with multiple people here on the forums and we all had a lot of fun. A couple more dives to add to my experience level, and my buddy was kind enough to run me through a drill or two to further my experience.

 

[captain]

Scubaboard reflects that... here is the disclaimer for the solo-diving forum (this forum!)...



Anyone not qualified as a solo diver, please put their hands up.....



It was kind of a waste of money for him to do a scuba course then, huh?

This is poppycock. I teach scuba... and find that 99.9% of divers respect the advice and direction given to them during courses. Likewise, I am sure that instructors, mentors, teachers and coaches in a myriad of activities find that their adult students respond well to direction.



Yep.... and that's exactly what happened when he took the Open Water course. What I am drawing attention to is the fact that he then chose to make an unintelligent decision, based on that information.

I'm not doing it for his benefit. As you say, he makes his own stupid choices. I am doing it for the benefit of expressing a clear opinion and reason, why others shouldn't do it.



That's crap. 99% of newly qualified divers do listen and apply what they've learned. I don't know of any of my ex-students that solo dived.

To be honest, I think this whole inexperienced solo diving issue is an American thing. Perhaps it's cultural? I've never seen or heard of it elsewhere in the world.

And who is the determiner of "qualified". By your criteria I am not and never was I am happy to say.

 

[DevonDiver]

You know what Andy? That's because your a perfect instructor,

Nobody's perfect. However, I do try my best to be ethical, well-meaning, professional and focused on shaping safe and responsible student divers.

My biggest fear as an instructor would be to learn that one of my students had died in an avoidable accident. Consequently, I try and equip my students with the skills, procedures and mindset that will keep them safe.

At a novice level, the correct mindset is to dive conservatively and adhere rigidly to the safe diving practices, including depth limitations and the buddy principle.

and my instructor was terrible.

IF he told you to go solo diving, then yes he is terrible.

It would be irresponsible, unprofessional and unethical for someone to recommend that a newly qualified diver should gain further experience with no safety support in the water.

I do think it possible that you may have misinterpreted him though.

Or maybe I did make an unintelligent decision

That's what we've been trying to tell you.

 

[master00sniper]

I like how in your quotes, you totally took one of them out of context, left the sarcasm out of the other 2.

But no, I did not misinterpret him. I even emailed him after, asking for his opinion on my solo dives at Camanche. I already wrote what he replied with in another thread. To be honest, had he said, no, I would have been more hesitant to go. I still would have probably gone. But that's me. I see something that I really want to do, and I make it happen.

Someone mentioned early that I was just here looking for validation. This isn't true. Originally, I cam here looking for advice on what to expect in one single lake. No validation, no even mention of solo diving, nothing. It turned into a solo diving discussion (because people kept asking me about my buddy, to the point where i finally felt like I had to reveal that I had none instead of lying about it, I don't like doing that ), which then turned into a Master00Sniper roast. The only reason I even posted the 'introduction' here, was not for validation, but because someone else had already posted about me without all the facts. Whether you found the facts relevant or not, isn't the point. I was going to wait to post here until my next solo dive, which isn't in my immediate future. I felt like I should get my introduction in early however, because my name was revealed. This is my story. I don't want your validation. Now I'm simply just wound up in a should-beginners-solo-dive debate.

 

[TGCIII]

I'm new to Solo Diver forum so excuse me if I'm out of line but my 11 year old son (as of 8/19) is now, my dive buddy. Am I beyond the "rules" by diving with him? Although I have all the confidence in the world in him as a young man, wouldn't I be foolish to expect him at age 11, to make the right decision, at the precisely the right time, in order to save my life? I think he deserves me to be as good as I can be.... for both of us. Therefore, I've chosen to start practicing Solo at depths where I feel comfortable... for me... 50'. 50' is beyond his realm as a JR diver and I see nothing but great things coming from moving myself forward to keep us both safe.

 

[master00sniper]

Careful TGC, them be fightin words right there. You might start a riot with solo talk like that. Best to keep quiet about the solo stuff. I guess its kinda like being gay 40 to 60 years ago. Best to stay in the closet. Don't worry, our civil rights movement will happen sometime soon

 

[TGCIII]

Coming out of what? Brother, I'm lookin for advice from people that give good advice. No more No less.

 

[master00sniper]

Hmm I was joking. I am a very sarcastic person. perhaps this doesn't convey well via text. You have come to the right place. A lot of knowledgeable people on either side of this debate IMO. I'm not trying to include myself as one of those people, don't get me wrong. Everything I've said is from what i've seen (which admittedly is a small amount), and what i've heard others like me but more advanced than I say. I've put solo diving on hold as much as I can until I get the training and equipment recommended to me. Perhaps others can give you the same.