Robert Von Maier's book - Solo Diving

[TomP]

True, of course, this board always has lots of good current info.

I know Robert. He took a bit of heat when he first published SOLO DIVING. We have had several good discussions about the whole thing. I love solo diving. Robert was one of the first to "come out" about a practice that is widely used by many divers worldwide. For me, there is just something calm and pure about being in the ocean with just the sea and sea life as companions. I do not want to do skills and drills, talk about the "team" etc. just be in the water and diving. Robert was out front about all that.

Context is a beautiful thing, thanks Mdb.

JimLap - Did you get a discount off the $1.99 price listed at the Amazon link Dave4868 posted?

Dave4868 - I do think its about limitation of liability, or as someone put it - Buying access. This is a double edged sword. For a fee, capable solo divers can do so openly and not have to worry about having a for-show buddy. On the flip side, agencies may start cranking out certified but i'll prepared card holders. Ironically, if the incident rate among the mass produced soloists starts to climb i'd bet the agencies will pull it and we'll be right back where we started, or worse.

 

[dave4868]

Dave4868 - I do think its about limitation of liability, or as someone put it - Buying access. This is a double edged sword. For a fee, capable solo divers can do so openly and not have to worry about having a for-show buddy.

TomP, great point about limitation of liability.

If you're referring to why a dive charter might require the solo cert prior to "allowing" a diver to dive without a buddy, I agree completely.

You refer to the "fee", the cost of solo cert I assume, and I agree, it's a double-edged sword, in that the knowledge gained really doesn't give a diver the ability to handle solo diving.

For divers who like to collect badges, but don't have much experience, this solo badge may create false confidence.

I also think limiting liability is a motivation for scuba cert agencies to keep their instruction as basic as possible. Maybe that's a reason the solo cert course used someone else's book and not their own.

On the flip side, agencies may start cranking out certified but i'll prepared card holders. Ironically, if the incident rate among the mass produced soloists starts to climb i'd bet the agencies will pull it and we'll be right back where we started, or worse.

Well put, but hopefully they've covered the liability bases, since accidents are still expected to happen, even to trained divers.

Nevertheless, this is why I appreciate the "Release form" on dive charters.

As far as the cert agencies "cranking out certified but ill-prepared card holders", arguably, the lower level courses generally only provide a very basic starting point, and reliable ability only comes with experience.

I have to give the agencies credit for at least reminding the student not only to dive within their training, but also within their personal abilities, which will lag behind the training.

Solo diving ability is interesting isn't it?

Wouldn't you agree it's less about technique and more about level-headed self-sufficiency under stress?

It's hard for a course to impart level-headedness, so I suppose the best thing a solo course could do is to help a diver learn how to evaluate his own problem-solving ability under stress.

I wonder if the solo course has a section called "You might not be cut out to be a solo diver"?

Did you find your solo course worthwhile or was it just a fee for access?

Dave C

 

[TomP]

Solo diving ability is interesting isn't it?

Wouldn't you agree it's less about technique and more about level-headed self-sufficiency under stress?

Absolutely agree. Technique is important too but on balance the right mindset is the thing that will help you avoid trouble and survive if it finds you anyway.

It's hard for a course to impart level-headedness, so I suppose the best thing a solo course could do is to help a diver learn how to evaluate his own problem-solving ability under stress.

I wonder if the solo course has a section called "You might not be cut out to be a solo diver"?

Did you find your solo course worthwhile or was it just a fee for access?

Dave C

I did my class primarily to be able to dive solo at a relatively near by quarry. I like to do drills and skills in the quarry and that bores a lot of 'buddies' to tears. Solo on Atlantic dive boats hasn't been an issue for me. In any case, to my mind th most important component in any training is the instructor and i did mine with the same instructor i did my DSAT Tec Deep class with. We didn't use the book unless he worked from it. The high point for me were his sneak attacks which simulated real life situations. Because he was on a rebreather it was pretty easy for him to sneak up and close a valve or start wrapping line around me and so on. If you're going to learn solo it's going to happen in the water and not in a classroom. I had a lot of fun.

 

[dave4868]

Absolutely agree. Technique is important too but on balance the right mindset is the thing that will help you avoid trouble and survive if it finds you anyway.

I did my class primarily to be able to dive solo at a relatively near by quarry. I like to do drills and skills in the quarry and that bores a lot of 'buddies' to tears. Solo on Atlantic dive boats hasn't been an issue for me. In any case, to my mind th most important component in any training is the instructor and i did mine with the same instructor i did my DSAT Tec Deep class with. We didn't use the book unless he worked from it. The high point for me were his sneak attacks which simulated real life situations. Because he was on a rebreather it was pretty easy for him to sneak up and close a valve or start wrapping line around me and so on. If you're going to learn solo it's going to happen in the water and not in a classroom. I had a lot of fun.

Sounds like an excellent instructor, Tom!

Let me pick your brain a little, just out of curiosity.

Those stress drills sound like excellent training; were they part of SDI's suggested course procedures, or were they extras improvised by your instructor?

I'm interested in whether SDI is aggressive or cautious in this course.

Did SDI provide any other written materials other than Von Maier's book?

In other words, regarding this SDI solo course, did your instructor make a silk purse out of a sow's ear?

Regards,

Dave C

 

[TomP]

Sounds like an excellent instructor, Tom!

Let me pick your brain a little, just out of curiosity.

Those stress drills sound like excellent training; were they part of SDI's suggested course procedures, or were they extras improvised by your instructor?

I'm interested in whether SDI is aggressive or cautious in this course.

Did SDI provide any other written materials other than Von Maier's book?

In other words, regarding this SDI solo course, did your instructor make a silk purse out of a sow's ear?

Regards,

Dave C

Dave - I didn't really drill into the curriculum because i felt i was pretty well prepared for whatever it might entail. I don't think the sneak attack approach would work if the instuctor was on open circuit so even if its part of the training, which i doubt, i think the probability of detection is too high to make it effective.

Bottom line - yeah I think he made a difference. And in general, when it comes to training I'm more concerned about the instructor than the agency.

Edit to add: We didn't use the Von Maier book, at least I didn't see it and honestly hadn't heard of it until this thread was spun up. He did have some written material in a binder but based on the descriptions of the book from this thread i'm not sure it would be a good teaching aide.