New to solo diving

[RumBum]

Hello, this is my intro post to the Solo forum. I have all of 4 solo dives under my belt. I have been self-educating and I recently bought the Solo Diving book. So, to introduce myself here with a bang, I wrote a nice long review of the book. I realize many of my opinions may be flawed since I am new to solo diving, but that's why I thought I'd throw this out here and see what you all think.

A review and summary of Solo Diving, Robert Von Maier (second edition)

This is the only book I could find about Solo Diving. Unfortunately, it is more of a philosophical discussion of the advantages of solo diving rather than the technicalities of it. Von Maier tentatively sets forth a few guidelines that would seem advantageous to the solo diver, but he is never forceful enough to make them more than recommendations.
Chapters one through three are a general review of why the Buddy System is flawed and we should all be self-sufficient divers. He mentions that solo divers need to be very truthful in our own self-evaluation and in regulating our solo underwater activities and not exceed our own limits. Chapter four expounds on the need for good physical fitness as a solo diver. Essentially, we should all be in good physical health, good swimmers, and capable free divers. This train of thought eventually leads to Von Maier’s “rules” of solo diving:
“Rule 1: Never scuba dive deeper than twice the depth to which you can free dive.
Rule 2: A diver’s underwater distance from the point of exit (shore, boat, etc.) should not exceed the distances that he can comfortably and easily swim, equipped with full scuba gear.” (Direct quotes from Solo Diving, Von Mair).
Next he goes on to discuss gas management, the Rule of Thirds, and Redundancy. Von Maier has a nice little chart in his book that should guide the solo diver to surface with remaining PSI exponentially increasing with the max depth of his dive. He suggests that we should all be even more cautious if the water was very cold or the dive was very arduous.
I was disappointed that the part of the book relegated to equipment was inadequate. He names two vital equipment pieces: a backup second stage (Octo or Air 2) and a redundant air supply. He discusses his favorite brands and models in detail. He says that Cave Divers, Wreck Divers, and other Advanced Solo Divers should be using independent doubles or a Sherwood Genesis Manifold or dual cylinders with separate regulators and SPG. The final chapter is devoted to eighteen other divers’ essays on the subject, “Why do you solo dive?” Honestly, I just could not stand to read all those essays.
We should all consider ourselves to be solo divers, whether or not a buddy is with us. When you are by yourself, though, you should dive more cautiously. This book might be a good read for a diver with 20 or less dives. For anyone who is already vaguely familiar with diving and dive equipment, though, it was quite a disappointment.


I have made a short list of things that a new solo diver such as myself would like to see discussed in a Solo Diving book:
1. How should a diver determine how much spare air s/he needs to carry?
2. What are some methods that are used to carry your redundant air supply? Some I know of are slinging it from left shoulder to left hip, I’ve seen some divers carry a pony hanging off a hip down their leg, and various piggyback methods.
3. Which gear items are so vital that a backup should be carried? Besides air, of course, I can also thing of perhaps a second cutting tool and emergency signal devices.
4. I would like to see descriptions of various situations a solo diver could find himself in some trouble and what proper emergency procedures would be for that situation.

Thank you in advance for comments, questions, and opinions.

 

[ianr33]

We should go do a solo dive together sometime

I have never read that book but some of it sounds pretty dubious to me.

Any regular dive is safer with a GOOD buddy. I have no doubt about that whatsoever.

"“Rule 1: Never scuba dive deeper than twice the depth to which you can free dive."

Thats just dumb. It seems to be a recreational approach to solo diving. i.e. in the event of a problem can I safely bolt to the surface. I prefer to plan in such a way that any reasonable problem can be fixed underwater.

1. How should a diver determine how much spare air s/he needs to carry?
Enough to allow for one catastophic failure and have enough gas in a separate tank to do a regular slow ascent.

2. What are some methods that are used to carry your redundant air supply? Some I know of are slinging it from left shoulder to left hip, I’ve seen some divers carry a pony hanging off a hip down their leg, and various piggyback methods.

I normally use manifolded doubles. They are not truly redundant but I am O.K with that in a non overhead environment. In a cave or a dive with more than a couple of minutes of deco I would take a stage(large pony) as well.
If I were diving a single tank then I would sling an Al 40 from left shoulder and left hip

3. Which gear items are so vital that a backup should be carried? Besides air, of course, I can also thing of perhaps a second cutting tool and emergency signal devices.
Two cutting tools.At least one spare light.Maybe a spare mask. A lift bag and reel/spool if you have any doubt of your ability to swim up your gear after a BC/Wing failure

4. I would like to see descriptions of various situations a solo diver could find himself in some trouble and what proper emergency procedures would be for that situation.
I solo in Travis quite a bit and the only thing that really concerns me is entanglement.With proper planning any gear failure should not be an issue but getting caught up in fishing line or rope or the trees could be nasty. Best way to deal with entanglement is to avoid it in the first place. For example I have decided not to go solo in the trees at WP unless the viz is much better than normal.

 

[bogrady]

Count me in on the solo diver trip.

I've slowly been turning myself into a solo diver. My regular buddy/son is off to college in August and aside from rumbum and her hubby - I'm not sure I'm willing to go through all the hassles of arranging schedules or putting the same level of trust in someone else watching out for me in the water. I know my son will save me since I pay for his gear and his tuition, and rumbum and her hubby will do it just cause they're really nice folks and really great divers. So - solo it is.

I wonder about the same critical few items that rumbum does - so thanks for the answers.

 

[Dive-aholic]

I'm glad I never wasted my money on that book! It either needs some serious updating or it just needs to be destroyed! I solo dive and know quite a few people who solo dive and none of those rules apply to any of us. Here are my answers to your questions. Also, this is coming from a solo cave diving perspective.

1. How should a diver determine how much spare air s/he needs to carry?

Calculate gas needs to exit the water from the farthest point of penetration/depth accounting for increased air consumption due to stress.

2. What are some methods that are used to carry your redundant air supply? Some I know of are slinging it from left shoulder to left hip, I’ve seen some divers carry a pony hanging off a hip down their leg, and various piggyback methods.

I sidemount now, so I am always carrying 2 independent air sources with me. If I'm scootering a cave beyond 3000' penetration solo, I will carry a buddy bottle.

3. Which gear items are so vital that a backup should be carried? Besides air, of course, I can also thing of perhaps a second cutting tool and emergency signal devices.

Back up timing device, back up lights (2 minimum, I carry 3 back up lights), back up mask, back up depth gauge (although I admit I don't do this most of the time, but I only solo in sites I am very familiar with and should my computer malfunction, I will still know my depth based on my location in the cave)

4. I would like to see descriptions of various situations a solo diver could find himself in some trouble and what proper emergency procedures would be for that situation.

Getting stuck in a restriction - relax, move slowly, you got in and you can get out.
Gas loss - go to reserve and begin exit.
Most other situations should be handled the same way as if diving with a buddy.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

I agree the book is dated, but it still has some useable concepts - equip yourself redundantly and don't exceed your personal limitations. The "don't exceed twice your max depth" advice is a hold over from past single tank advice where the idea was to not exceed a depth where you could reasonably expect to successfully perform an ESA. It is not really relevent but would add another option in an out of air situation if you are well within the NDL's. I think the intent was also to limit the depth to which some one unskilled in the water could get to. Personally I can freedive to around 60-65 ft without too much trouble as I have been freediving off and on for 30 years and am very comfortabel in the water, so the limit per the book would be 130'. If all you can manage in terms of freediving is to make it to the bottom of a 12' pool, maybe a 25' depth limit solo would not be a bad place to start.

I used to dive independent doubles almost exclusively, but have been diving manifolded doubles the last few years and there is little difference in terms of redundancy - as long as you can reach the valves.

A 30 or 40 ft stage with 50% is not a bad idea even with manifolded doubles - the accellerated deco gets you out of the water faster and worst case it coudl pinch hit as a bailout bottle in an emergency from a depth well below 70'. You would not want to delay your ascent at all but a minutes or two on 50% on your way up from 100-130' would probably not result in oxtox (the US Navy has some extreme exposure tables that are worth referencing).

I have dove in submerged trees, and done it belwo 100' frequently if the viz is reasonhable - not that viz makes much difference as monofilament pretty much disappears in low light conditions. The key is to maintain situational awareness, and stop when you first feel the pressure of a line impeding your progress. Stop, slowly reverse whatever you just did, and then re-assess the situation. Do not start looking and rolling around as that will make it worse. Since you stopped swimming and did not turn or roll, the line will tend to pull you backwards to a slack position and may even release itself. If still stuck, slowly and calmly start feeling for the entanglement and further assess the situation. When you find it, the required action is usually both obvious and simple - as long as you did not sucumb to the temptation to look around/roll around/etc and in the process create multiple loops or snags between the line and your equipment.

If you just could not resist, and rolled, looked, moved, etc, and are now truly tangled, you may have to cut yourself out. Be sure you have at least two cutting devices (a knife and a z-knife are a good combination and EMT shears work great on steel leaders almost nothing else will cut) and place them where they can be reached with either hand.

In some cases line will get tangled on you, cut it away to the extent needed to swim freely with no restrictions in range of motion and then leave the rest until you are in shallow water or are back on the boat. Just trim any trailing pieces off so you do not attract more stuff.

In terms of solo penetrations, configuration is important as you do not under any circumstances increase the potential for attached equipment to wedge you in place in a restriction. To be honest, I'd think long and hard about proceeding through a major restriction while solo, it creates both the potential to get your self wedged in place as well as the potential to lose bottles.

I am one of those divers who does not feel all dives are better with a buddy. Being solo reduces task loading as you do not have to focus on maintaining awareness of the buddy (and some buddies can be very hard to stay with, particulalry if their SA is poor) and you do not have to waste time or communicate the need to turn or abort a dive. If you get into a situation that starts to feel uncomfortable, you just bail with no need to communicate or debate the issue and you do not have to worry that a buddy has followed you into a situation that is beyond their ability level. "Anyone can turn a dive at any time" is the rule, but in practice some divers are either reluctant to be assertive in that situation or are concerned that they will be looked down upon for calling a dive.

In some cases in very low visibility the buddy system can make a dive almost impossible to accomplish. Take for example a dive in trees in low light conditions. If I am trailing and get snagged by monofilament, by the time my buddy notices, he or she is out of visual contact and may complicate the entanglement by reversing course and trying to locate me. If I am leading and become entangled, he or she is likely to be right behind me when I stop swimming and will fubar the line's natural inclination to pull me back and release me. In silty conditions, unless he or she is a very accomplished diver his or her machinations to stop and/or back up will probably silt out the area, leaving me to deal with the mess in a cloud of silt. Worst case we both get tangled. All in all, on that type of dive, I prefer to be alone.

 

[RumBum]

1. SAC while mildly stressed = 0.6
For a dive to 132 ft (will probably never do that solo, anyway) I would need 6.4 cf to direct ascend at an ascent rate of 33 ft/ sec. Plus a 3 min stop probably another 2 cf of air. I should have more than sufficient air, even considering stress, with the 13 cf pony.
I agree that doubles would be ultimately the best solution for redundancy. My biggest problem with them is the weight. I weigh 125#. I question my ability to carry doubles. I very seriously doubt my ability to swim doubles up with a wing failure.
2. Slinging the pony shoulder-to-hip is not working. The pony bottle is about half the width of my torso. It's just in the way. I have to add extra weight to the other side to be balanced. If I handed off the pony to another diver and forgot to deflate I would start to ascend because I am very overweighted with the pony right now. I will probably be looking into sidemounting
3. What is the lift bag and reel for? Am I holding the reel, shoot the bag, and then ascend the line? Sounds like a good idea if I am hearing it right.
4. The main entanglement I am worried about are that SS fishing line, cables, tree limbs. I actually got my valve caught once in a loop of wire/cable. Does anyone carry wirecutters or PVC cutters while diving? I intend to go back one day and cut that loop of cable. I know exactly where to find it in Mansfield Dam.

 

[ianr33]

1. SAC while mildly stressed = 0.6
For a dive to 132 ft (will probably never do that solo, anyway) I would need 6.4 cf to direct ascend at an ascent rate of 33 ft/ sec. Plus a 3 min stop probably another 2 cf of air. I should have more than sufficient air, even considering stress, with the 13 cf pony.

Personally I would not use 0.6 as an emergency planning SAC. I'm sure my SAC could be much more than that if I was really scared. I figure 1.0 as a stressed SAC.
Wouldn't do 130 with a 13cf pony either. At 130 feet in Travis (assuming we are mainly talking about Travis here ) you are most likely outside the the no boat zone. A direct ascent would mean ascending 130 feet ,probably in low/no viz with no visual reference and possibly surfacing in front of a ski boat. Not Good !!
I would want at least a 40 cf pony.That would let me profile back up.


2. Slinging the pony shoulder-to-hip is not working. The pony bottle is about half the width of my torso. It's just in the way. I have to add extra weight to the other side to be balanced. If I handed off the pony to another diver and forgot to deflate I would start to ascend because I am very overweighted with the pony right now. I will probably be looking into sidemounting
I think you may be doing something wrong with the pony. (It is aluminum,yes?)
Are you slinging it off left shoulder and left hip?

I often sling an 80. It does not affect balance and its only maybe 4 pounds negative. A 13 should be hardly noticeable.
A sidemount rig would probably work very well for you but would require buying a lot more gear

3. What is the lift bag and reel for? Am I holding the reel, shoot the bag, and then ascend the line? Sounds like a good idea if I am hearing it right.
You got it. Might not be the prettiest way to ascend but better than being stuck in thick silt at the bottom of the lake!


4. The main entanglement I am worried about are that SS fishing line, cables, tree limbs. I actually got my valve caught once in a loop of wire/cable. Does anyone carry wirecutters or PVC cutters while diving? I intend to go back one day and cut that loop of cable. I know exactly where to find it in Mansfield Dam.


I carry a z knife and a pair of shears. The shears would work on wire fishing line.Had a buddy get entangled in one of the buoy cables once.Would have needed a big pair of bolt cutters to cut that!!

I would suggest the first thing to do is get someone to take a look at what you are doing with the pony,might be a simple fix.

 

[RumBum]

Thanks everyone for your answers! Of course, I have more questions...
So I was reading the Solo Equipment thread and it got me to thinking about failures.
If you blow a LP hose could you kink it to slow/stop air loss?
Can you cut the SPG off of the HP hose and breath the hose?
Blown tank O-ring. Would the valve still operate?

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Kinking a burst LP hose probably would not work. The most common failures I see are Lp hose ruptures just past the first stage hose fitting - no hose left to kink. besides, they start to bubble long before they catastrophically fail and a smart solo diver does a very thorough gear and reg check on the boat and then, will occasionally pause and listen for leaks and perhpas every few dives, roll over on their back and do a bubble check during a long pause.

The flow rate through a HP hose is very restricted and is even further restricted inside the HP port on the first stage where the hole feeding air to the SPG is more or less a pinhole in size.

If you blow a tank o-ring, the reg will still function normally, you will just lose gas at a moderate to high rate. Blowing a burst disc is more common and that will still leave you with a few minutes of gas for ascent even if you are down to a 1/3rd reserve.

Use a 1/3rd reserve if solo, as a normal 500 psi rec reserve is not enough.

I think you should double the mildly stressed/excercising SAC and plan accordingly. The math always sounds good, but in practice you'll never regret having more gas. A Luxfer AL 30 or AL 40 is hardly noticeable underwater and even an AL80 is not hard to handle or swim with underwater (Catalina tanks tend to run heavier and are less well suited to stage use).

So at a minimum, I'd take a 30 if you don't go the doubles route. The thing is though, once you commit to enough gas with a 30, a set of normal sized double 72's or double 80's is only 15-20 lbs heavier than an AL 80 and large pony. If you can do one, you can certainly do the other.

As for not being able to carry the weight, it is mostly a matter of technique and I have seen 100 lb females manage doubles and other tech gear that weigh as much as they do.

A reel may not be ideal, but a finger spool is very handy to have and is easier to shoot at depth with no risk of jamming as the bag goes up. Get a 150' finger spool and a 50-100 lb liftbag. In low viz it will offer you a reference for a mid water ascent. I like to carry a bag rolled up and bungeed to the bottom of the back plate and the reel fits nicely in just about any pocket.

In a pinch the bag can also be used as an alternate source of bouyancy. You'll need a BP/Wing or BC with a suitable D ring and you wiull need a bag with a dump valve that you can reach when the bag is inflated. You also need to practice with it.

But in general if you are properly configured and not over weighted, swimming off the bottom with no air in the wing is normally not a problem.

 

[IslandFrog]

RumBum,

Thanks for the great review and the post on the Solo Diving Book. I was reading this and a post by Doc Harry about the Solo Diver course from SDI, and it led to a question that I have posted in his thread. The question is if the course provided any reference material that a new Solo diver might find useful? Below is the link to Doc Harry's thread, hopefully this will provide some good feedback.

Regards,