How many of you think solo is OK to do and why?

[Omisson]

Most cave, technical and deep dives should be treated as if they were solo even if it is a team or buddy dive. Many advanced recreational dives (night, wreck) should also be treated similarly.

There is no magic number- it's skill, experience and comfort.

Of my last 150 dives half have been solo- including some great wreck and cave dives.

Properly trained experienced and equipped - solo diving is no more dangerous than any other diving- there are DIFFERENT risk factors than buddy diving but different isn't qualitative -it isn't more or less risky - it's different risky. All dives have risk- Tec dives more so.

Know your limits and expand your horizons.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Don't get me wrong . . . I don't like solo diving. I don't do it (except for float setting). I have a good friend who does a great deal of it, and I worry about him.

Why worry? Is he 'doing it wrong,' or doing unusually hazardous diving? I know conditions in your locality are not warm and aquarium like, based on reports in other threads.

I suspect Lynne's referring to me, since we're good friends, and I do a lot of solo diving.

I do it because I genuinely enjoy the solitude ... just me, my camera, and the elements. It's one of the few ways in my life that I know how to relax.

No, conditions here are not benign. On the other hand, after you've done a couple thousand dives here, you've developed a pretty good familiarity with them ... and a healthy respect for when to say "not today". Despite the fact that many of my solo dives have been below recreational depths, or incurred a deco obligation, I'm pretty conservative in terms of choosing my dive sites, profiles, and conditions. I have a pretty good understanding for the potential risks, and put some thought and effort into understanding my personal limits so as to minimize the risks ... or avoid them when possible.

Yes, there are things that can go wrong ... a medical event without a buddy seriously compromises your potential for survival. But then, I live alone ... I don't imagine I'd have a great potential for surviving a heart attack if it should occur in my own home, since there wouldn't be anyone around to respond or call 911. It's a risk I'm willing to take.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Omisson]

Where did you find that in the manual? This is all that I recall (from page 19):

“When Not to Dive Solo
The first order of business for planning any sort of solo episode is to set outside limits for our adventure. We can do this by first listing the types of dives that are NOT recommended for solo practitioners. These are: Staged decompression dives; Wreck Penetration Dives and Cavern and Cave Dives; Pinnacle Dives; Any form of "Technical" Diving.”

And of course MANY cave and northeast wreck divers break this rule regularly....

 

[Bob DBF]

Really? It sounds like a commercial for a solo class to me.

It's interesting how the attitude reflected in Scubaboard responses have become much more reasonable since I first logged on here. Just the mention of “solo” solicited apoplectic fits for pages.

Don't you miss those those days, I do. All this acceptance turned the Solo forum into a ghost town.


Bob
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The most important thing to plan when solo diving is to make sure that you are not diving with an idiot. Dsix36

 

[Basking Ridge Diver]

One of the foundations of the SDI Solo class is that it is 60 ft max depth while solo diving. One of the reasons is narcosis.

As Akimbo said and the Solo Dive Planners (checklists) do not mention a limit other than NDLs... Gas Volume Calculations - Key C - NDL at Maximum Planned Depth.

 

[Akimbo]

And of course MANY cave and northeast wreck divers break this rule regularly....

Not even a rule, just “NOT recommended”.

…… We can do this by first listing the types of dives that are NOT recommended for solo practitioners. These are: Staged decompression dives; Wreck Penetration Dives and Cavern and Cave Dives; Pinnacle Dives; Any form of "Technical" Diving.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

... of course, since it's a recreational class, staged decompression dives, wreck dives, and cave dives aren't recommended for graduates of the class regardless of how many buddies they take along (or don't) ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[tursiops]

I apologize; my "60 ft rule" was from a much earlier version of the solo course, when it used the Von Maier "Solo Diving" book as its informal text. That book refers to dives below 60 ft as possibly being in the high-risk category (along with caves and deep wrecks and big aggressive animals), depending on one's experience and the conditions, and then goes on to say that solo diving is maybe not the best idea in high-risk scenarios. He even says to not solo dive deeper than twice the depth to which you can free-dive, and says that probably will keep most divers above 30 ft! How's that for a limitation!

The current training simply says to avoid "decompression and deep" dives, and don't do "pinnacle" dives. Deep is not defined, but pinnacle is: anything deeper, longer, tougher, more complex than anything you've done before. I presume "deep" may have a 60 ft threshold, but of course the real thresholds are gas management and narcosis.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

The current training simply says to avoid "decompression and deep" dives, and don't do "pinnacle" dives. Deep is not defined, but pinnacle is: anything deeper, longer, tougher, more complex than anything you've done before.

... around here a pinnacle dive is a dive on a pinnacle ... which is essentially an underwater hill that doesn't come all the way to the surface. I was wondering why they would want you to avoid those, since some of them are awesome dives.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[drrich2]

That book refers to dives below 60 ft as possibly being in the high-risk category (along with caves and deep wrecks and big aggressive animals), depending on one's experience and the conditions, and then goes on to say that solo diving is maybe not the best idea in high-risk scenarios.

In The Complete Diver, Alex Brylske, Ph.D., discusses what he calls 'the forgotten 50,' that gap between 80 feet & 130 feet deep where the risk of serious incidents goes up substantially (I'm not home now and don't recall his exact terminology, but I believe that's faithful to the spirit of it; by the way, that's a great book, well worth the ~ $27 at Amazon). Given that he recommends added care when diving to that range, it stands to reason a solo diver may wish to be cautious about it.

But depth is just one parameter. I've solo'd to around 100 feet into roughly 45 degree water…at the local quarry in town. Right near the wall I can ascend and then get out in short order if need be. That I've dove a number of times, have a map of and don't need a boat to get to. With time to acclimate to the water temp. as it's warm at the surface to fill my suit, and I punch through 2 thermoclines before I hit the real cold water. Doesn't make it perfectly safe, of course.

But imagine if I headed up to try my hand at Great Lakes wreck diving, same depth, same bottom temp. perhaps, but otherwise a much different dive. In a place I've never dove. That would be a 'pinnacle' dive.

Solo diving the former, I'm mindful & respectful of, but not scared. Now, if somebody told me I had to solo dive the 2nd, well, that'd worry me...

Richard.