Inexperienced solo divers

[aquaregia]

I've got a friend (no, really) who, for whatever reason, is having trouble finding buddies and as a result is doing solo dives. He's relatively inexperienced (~30 dives?), has top of the line equipment and is only diving fairly conservative sites (mostly <50' @ Monterey Breakwater). He's diving an HP120 leaving half as reserve and checking in and out by phone with a friend (who's been briefed with emergency plans).

Now, solo diving sort of scares me, so I'm pretty concerned for my mate. However, knowing nothing about solo diving, I'm not sure if I'm being paranoid or if there's something he should be doing differently. Given that he's going to continue to do these solo dives, are there additional measures he should be taking?

 

[Andyblue]

So why don't you dive with him?

 

[aquaregia]

So why don't you dive with him?

I do, but our schedules don't line up particularly well, so we only go out together once every month or two.

 

[Diver0001]

I've got a friend (no, really) who, for whatever reason, is having trouble finding buddies and as a result is doing solo dives. He's relatively inexperienced (~30 dives?), has top of the line equipment and is only diving fairly conservative sites (mostly <50' @ Monterey Breakwater). He's diving an HP120 leaving half as reserve and checking in and out by phone with a friend (who's been briefed with emergency plans).

Now, solo diving sort of scares me, so I'm pretty concerned for my mate. However, knowing nothing about solo diving, I'm not sure if I'm being paranoid or if there's something he should be doing differently. Given that he's going to continue to do these solo dives, are there additional measures he should be taking?

The way I see it if he's diving a site he knows well and conditions are ok then there isn't a really big objection to him doing it solo. His idea of checking in/out with a friend via telephone is excellent and he sould continue to do that.

In terms of additional advice, I'd say if he's fit, using his head and not pushing boundaries while solo then his main concern would be an equipment malfunction. Perhaps a fully redundant air supply, like a pony bottle for bailout, would be something to consider.

R..

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

I've got a friend (no, really) who, for whatever reason, is having trouble finding buddies and as a result is doing solo dives. He's relatively inexperienced (~30 dives?), has top of the line equipment and is only diving fairly conservative sites (mostly <50' @ Monterey Breakwater). He's diving an HP120 leaving half as reserve and checking in and out by phone with a friend (who's been briefed with emergency plans).

Now, solo diving sort of scares me, so I'm pretty concerned for my mate. However, knowing nothing about solo diving, I'm not sure if I'm being paranoid or if there's something he should be doing differently. Given that he's going to continue to do these solo dives, are there additional measures he should be taking?

In the "New to Diving" and "Basic" sections of the board, which usually attracts a wider audience of new divers, I'll typically recommend "waiting" awhile before solo.

Since we are in the dark alley of the solo section, with less new folks "listening in", my advice is a bit different:

1+ what Diver0001 posted.

I started solo at about my 9th or 10th dive post-OW, over 30 years ago. If your friend "stays shallow and close (to shore)" he should be fine.

He just needs to clearly understand that while the risk of something bad happening while solo is generally no greater than on a similar dive with a buddy, the outcome without a good attentive buddy nearby could be very bad, even deadly. Little problems can spiral out of control quickly.

But having posted the usual disclaimer.... tell your "friend" (wink, wink) to have fun.

Best wishes.

 

[knotical]

I agree with the responses above.

Besides an independent backup air source, additional considerations might be to carry:
- a spare mask.
- two cutting tools
- both a visual and an audible signal device

I see no problem with doing an occasional solo dive with no more equipment than when diving with a buddy, as long as the dive is benign.
For more aggressive dives, add to kit as mentioned above.
Do not push limits on solo dives.

My first several dives were solo because we had one Aqualung and three of us wanted to dive.
While my view is therefore somewhat jaundiced, I have evolved some.

 

[Akimbo]

I think the personal decision to dive solo is best made after a sober analysis of failure modes and reaching the conclusion that a buddy no longer significantly enhances survivability. This is a highly individual decision and is dependant on personal abilities -- as swimmers, divers, and intellectually -- and of course the conditions they choose to limit themselves to. The process also makes you consider your training, experience, and abilities from a detached perspective, more so than any mental exercise I can think of.

Start the analysis gently. How about a 6' back-yard swimming pool? What about freediving in 6' of tropical water? What about Scuba in 10' of water off a protected tropical beach with 3" surf? How would it be different than if you were his buddy that day? Some people may choose against solo under any conditions while others set their current personal limit to 20 minutes of decompression with a 200' bottom within 500 meters of shore.

Forget about OOA (Out Of Air) and entanglement for the analysis. Anyone who has read a book knows these answers. Can he remain calm and make it to shore if the BC blows a seam, a hose breaks, or the drysuit neck dam tears badly? How about getting sea-sick and losing lunch? There are plenty more you can come up with. If and when the answer becomes yes; then at what depth, sea state, and weather conditions does the answer become no? If 50' at the Breakwater is good, how about 50' at Monastery? (apologies to others for the Monterey, California-centric examples)

This analysis and the soul-searching process that goes with it my make them postpone solo diving or be better prepared for it. Because you are concerned for your friend, maybe you can present scenarios and critique responses. Leave all dogma at the door and treat it impersonally as an engineering problem to develop a procedure to accomplish a task under a set of conditions. It just happens that this condition dictates diving solo. Be realistic about what a buddy swimming with him can actually accomplish under practical conditions, or you may end up in an argument rather than conduct a useful analysis.

I am not trying to "turn you to the dark side" but I believe the exercise improves everyone's skills regardless of who you elect to dive with. I am a firm believer that everyone should treat all dives as solo. Do you prepare for unexpected contingencies? Losing your buddy is one of them. Your buddy getting in trouble puts you in a worse position than if you were solo since your buddy can't help you and you are obligated to help them.

 

[aquaregia]

Okay, so Akimbo's suggestion sounded like fun, and both my mate and I are engineers, so I figured I'd give it a whirl on my own. I had some trouble thinking of failures, so I thought I'd share what I came up with.

These I'd feel confident in my solution, based on past experiences
Lost track of gas supply: Buddy breathe // Independent air source
Lost depth gauge/timer: Redundant PDC // Redundant PDC
Confused about dive plan: PDC // PDC
Minor entanglement: Self rescue // Self rescue
Major entanglement: Buddy // Ditch rig
Gas failure: Buddy breathe // Independent or secondary air source
Lost mask: Ascent with buddy // Spare mask
Lost fin: Buddy tows // Swim with arms
Lost cutting device: Spare cutting device // Spare cutting device
Lost in fog: Compass // Compass
Panic: Self rescue // Self rescue
Wing failure: Swim rig up // Swim rig up
Valve off: Turn on valve // Turn on valve

These are more troubling because I don't really have a solution, it's all avoidance:
Hit by boat/kayak: Buddy solution // Avoid solo diving in boat traffic
Ox-tox: Conservative ppO2 // Conservative ppO2
Narcosis: Buddy support // Avoid depth
Accident during entry/exit: Buddy support // Avoid rocky, slippery or surf entries

These I flat out don't have a solution to, other than "don't be stupid" and "don't have a heart attack":
Ignorance of bottom time: Buddy's brain // 0:10+10' error margin?
Ignorance of max depth: Buddy's brain // 0:10+10' error margin?
Injury preventing exit: Buddy assistance // ?

Came up with some silly ones too:
Saw something awesome: Share with buddy // Buy camera
Impending shark attack: Swim faster than buddy // Swim faster than shark
Lost wallet: Buddy buys // Parking ticket

Any comments?

(Edit: Grrr, I spent a bunch of time spacing those out to be readable)

 

[udtfire]

tell him to find a solo instructor and take the class he does not know what he does not know

 

[Peter_C]

I started solo at about my 9th or 10th dive post-OW, over 30 years ago. If your friend "stays shallow and close (to shore)" he should be fine.

Was that warm water or cold water for you? It really does make a difference. Especially since we are discussing a person who fears the kelp monster that is very real. I think it was last year someone got caught up and almost ran out of air. Being able to don and doff underwater could be the difference between life or death.

Our dive conditions out here are a lot different than diving in the tropics. I have been humbled by the power of the Pacific Ocean many times and have a lot of respect for it. The more I learn about diving here, the more I would say very few people should be going solo out here at all. We lost a very well respected solo diver who was never found. Of course many people do it all the time and live to tell about it. Some sites are more benign than others. The Breakwater being one of them. Although last year someone diving solo died there too.

With a few hundred dives under my belt today, I would say someone around here shouldn't be diving solo until they have at least a 100 dives and have been using their current setup for a long time to become very familiar with it. Plus practicing skills such as don and doff in the water.