Above all else, at least in my opinion, it's worth working on problem avoidance skills. Good trim, buoyancy control, maneouvering (stopping with fins, back kick, helicopter turns) and something that you can't really practice in the pool - good situational awareness.
Progression to solo diving
- Thread starter tedtim
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Hi Ted
I solo dive everyday. I have some minimum rules for myself which I adhere to religiously. My equipment is the same for a buddied dive, except I carry a pony bottle and an extra knife.
I do not recommend losing the occy as in a dive recently I found a barracudda was very attracted to the silver on my legend mouthpiece, after quickly recognising why it was seeking to suck faces with me I changed to my occy (which is yellow) and my new found friend disappeared.
The critters are my biggest obstacle to my diving. Making sure I am fully covered is one of my solo diving rules I set for myself. I dive in tropical waters where Lion, stone, and other potentially nasties are bountiful and it is very easy to brush up against one.
I also have a small bottle of vinegar in my BCD.
The best skill I would recommend is navigation. I never dive solo on a site unless I have been on it before. Keeping surprises to a minimum should be considered. overall being very confortable with your gear is extremely important.
safe diving
\
I solo dive everyday. I have some minimum rules for myself which I adhere to religiously. My equipment is the same for a buddied dive, except I carry a pony bottle and an extra knife.
I do not recommend losing the occy as in a dive recently I found a barracudda was very attracted to the silver on my legend mouthpiece, after quickly recognising why it was seeking to suck faces with me I changed to my occy (which is yellow) and my new found friend disappeared.
The critters are my biggest obstacle to my diving. Making sure I am fully covered is one of my solo diving rules I set for myself. I dive in tropical waters where Lion, stone, and other potentially nasties are bountiful and it is very easy to brush up against one.
I also have a small bottle of vinegar in my BCD.
The best skill I would recommend is navigation. I never dive solo on a site unless I have been on it before. Keeping surprises to a minimum should be considered. overall being very confortable with your gear is extremely important.
safe diving
\
dpbishop
Contributor
You also need to work out an information plan. Someone should know where you are going to be diving and when you should be back. Make sure you carry some identification and contact numbers with you on your dive.
EagleDiver
Registered
TedTim - When I began regularly diving solo I made sure I always had my pony bottle with me. I learned early on that it was important to practice using and managing the pony bottle. My rig has the reg looped under an elastic tie down, and I keep the reg pressurized but with the air turned off during the dive (to avoid losing air unintentionally). I practiced until I was sure I could turn the air on and use the rig properly. I even marked a white arrow on the valve handle to indicate which direction to turn it.
I've become so used to carrying the pony bottle that I will sometimes take it with me on a buddy dive (still the majority of my dives), especially if diving with a relatively new diver (who might run out of air) or when diving below 60 feet with any buddy I have limited experience with.
As others have already suggested, I always carry a spare cutting tool, and practice reaching and extracting it. I also practiced (in a pool) underwater removal and re-donning of my bcd. I feel it important to practice this in case of a gear entanglement that is hard to reach. Like many others I use integrated weights which makes this maneuver trickier, so practice is a must.
On occasion, you may find yourself diving solo when you had planned a buddy dive. I don't like it this way, and don't recommend it, but there have been times when I've made a dive when my buddy decided to sit out. In these situations it is important to know the dive site well, to keep your dive shallow (within reasonable CESA limits), and to have practiced all the basic self-rescue techniques. I practice breathing from a free-flowing reg and also switching from my reg to the air2 alternate on my bcd's low-pressure inflator.
Best of Luck with your solo cert classes! Although I still prefer diving with a trusted buddy, solo diving has provided me with many of my most relaxed moments under water. Solo experiences happen all the time, whether the industry wants to admit it or not. Taking classes and taking the time to visit this forum for advice says a lot about your seriousness and dedication to diving safely.
I've become so used to carrying the pony bottle that I will sometimes take it with me on a buddy dive (still the majority of my dives), especially if diving with a relatively new diver (who might run out of air) or when diving below 60 feet with any buddy I have limited experience with.
As others have already suggested, I always carry a spare cutting tool, and practice reaching and extracting it. I also practiced (in a pool) underwater removal and re-donning of my bcd. I feel it important to practice this in case of a gear entanglement that is hard to reach. Like many others I use integrated weights which makes this maneuver trickier, so practice is a must.
On occasion, you may find yourself diving solo when you had planned a buddy dive. I don't like it this way, and don't recommend it, but there have been times when I've made a dive when my buddy decided to sit out. In these situations it is important to know the dive site well, to keep your dive shallow (within reasonable CESA limits), and to have practiced all the basic self-rescue techniques. I practice breathing from a free-flowing reg and also switching from my reg to the air2 alternate on my bcd's low-pressure inflator.
Best of Luck with your solo cert classes! Although I still prefer diving with a trusted buddy, solo diving has provided me with many of my most relaxed moments under water. Solo experiences happen all the time, whether the industry wants to admit it or not. Taking classes and taking the time to visit this forum for advice says a lot about your seriousness and dedication to diving safely.
seaducer
Contributor
Coming in late here, apologies...
This is important. It is not enough to have the gear, you need to practice with anything new, whether it be gear or gear placement. If your pony bottle displaces some other gear, you need to get used to the idea it is somewhere else, while also learning the pony.
As for pony bottles, I think slinging is the best option for a solo diver, as if there is a problem with that gas supply you can see and fix it quickly. If it is on your back you may be SOL.
Learn to think about your gear more than you may already be doing. Alot of gear has multiple uses. For example, when diving on a wreck offshore, or in an area I might encounter boat traffic, I like to bring at least two surface markers. One of those might be a flag I leave at the entrance/exit, but the other(s) I take with me. One of them is a standard safety sausage, the other a lift bag. The LB does 3 jobs. First, it lifts stuff like bags of mussels and other stuff. Second, it is a redundant source of bouyancy if my wing should fail. Third it is redundant SMB should I lose my primary. So redundant gear does not mean you need to take 30 pounds of crap down with you, here one item counts as two sources of redundant gear.
My kit is based on conditions, not whether I solo or buddy dive. Certain sites I always bring certain gear. This IMO reduces confusion since you are not having to reach for something you had last dive, only to remember it isn't there now. I don't carry the pony on a 15 foot inlet dive, but I do on all deeper dives.
For me, solo diving is 30% gear, 30% skills, and 100% mental. (yeah, I know, I stink at math
)Bottom line is, can you rely on yourself to A) avoid trouble, B)recognize and solve problems when they do happen. Would you trust yourself in a major butt puckering situation? What I mean is, knowing yourself as you do, would you buddy up with a clone of yourself if you were a new diver?
Gear helps out some. Skills practiced in a pool, sheltered area, on a safety stop help some. But when it really counts, what is in your head is all you can really rely on. If you have never been in an emergency situation, well, make your best guess. Then plan and hope you never find out...
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