Self Reliant Diving Required?

[scubadude223]

Dr Mike, I am not trying to troll. I just wanted to explain myself and my choice of equipment.

I don't want to offend anyone.

 

[nimoh]

I do believe that when you are diving alone there is no room or place for failure.

There is lots of room for failure, I'll provide some examples:

1. navigational error? turn around and go back, or just go to the surface and look around
2. broken fin? lost fin? go to the surface without it
3. broken regulator? breathe from your other one, isn't that why you carry a redundant gas source?
4. lost all of your equipment during the dive? do a CESA and swim back to shore

 

[redacted]

I do believe that when you are diving alone there is no room or place for failure.

The point that I had been trying to make is simple and it is based solely on my opinion.

When you are diving with a buddy, you can afford to have less than the best equipment. If you have a failure with on of your products you can simply turn to your buddy, breath off is Octopus and all is dandy. Where one runs into issues is when they are alone with no buddy, the question that comes into play is, is your equipment up to par to save you if you have a failure.

This is the equipment that I bring on a Solo Dive

Two Stage bottle setups. one AL 40 and another AL 80 Both rigged on a Halcyon Stage bottle Setup
Two Twist Style Backup Lights
One Canister Halcyon LED Light with a Goodman Handle
Emergency Transmitter
Drysuit with an Argon Bottle Setup
Three Knifes
BackPlate and Wing setup with a Twinset and a High Lift
Two Masks
High End Regulator both first and Second Stage


I don't take any chances diving alone.

I do realise that there are some people who don't take these steps to protect themselves on a Solo Dive. I am ok with that.

This is just the way that I Protect Myself on a dive.

It might appear to some that you have very little confidence in your gas management skills. Is the AL80 stage part of your primary gas plan or is it just for backup? If so, why so much backup gas? Are you doing solo planned deco?

 

[scubadude223]

The AL 80 and AL 40 are for emergency purposes and not counted into dive gas.

its for the unknown.

trapped in seaweed or a storm at the surface

I can't be sure that's why I carry a redundant

 

[Basking Ridge Diver]

The AL 80 and AL 40 are for emergency purposes and not counted into dive gas.
its for the unknown.
trapped in seaweed or a storm at the surface
I can't be sure that's why I carry a redundant

Can you be sure that 120 cu feet is enough for redundancy or do you cave fill?

 

[nimoh]

Can you be sure that 120 cu feet is enough for redundancy or do you cave fill?

the 40 leaks 500psi every 10 minutes, so it's only used for problems in the first 60 minutes.

 

[scubadude223]

Nimoh,

You could take some tips from my gear selection.

 

[doctormike]

Dr Mike, I am not trying to troll. I just wanted to explain myself and my choice of equipment.

I don't want to offend anyone.

No offense taken, and I am assuming that you aren't trolling, that's why I responded.

You actually haven't explained your choice of equipment very much at all, you just stated that this is what you dive with and have been recommending it as an appropriate kit. Maybe you want to specifically address these things? We could learn something from your approach...

For example, you have yet to explain what a dry suit has to do with solo diving or redundancy.

You have what most people would consider to be an excessive amount of redundant gas for a dive without physical or virtual overhead (I'm assuming that is what we are talking about, since SDI doesn't recommend solo deco). Maybe you are talking about cave diving or something? Again, when you present this as a general recommendation for solo diving, it seems inappropriate.

Finally, there is such a thing as too much gear (entanglement, work of breathing, failure points, etc...). Your extra bottles aren't stage bottles or deco bottles, they are pony bottles. While many people argue about whether a 19 is enough for a pony or if you really need a 40, carrying a 40 AND an 80 is a lot of redundancy for a single tank diver, let alone for a diver with redundancy build into their back gas configuration.

 

[nimoh]

Nimoh,

You could take some tips from my gear selection.

I haven't seen anything in your gear selection that I am not already doing, other than taking two pony bottles. I commonly take multiple stages, but never a pony when I'm using doubles as there is no need for the extra redundancy. I have expensive regs, a drysuit, an expensive can light and backups, redundant gas, etc. I don't have any problem with your gear selection except that most of it is unnecessary for recreational solo diving (contrary to your opinion).

 

[ams511]

I do believe that when you are diving alone there is no room or place for failure.

The point that I had been trying to make is simple and it is based solely on my opinion.

When you are diving with a buddy, you can afford to have less than the best equipment. If you have a failure with on of your products you can simply turn to your buddy, breath off is Octopus and all is dandy. Where one runs into issues is when they are alone with no buddy, the question that comes into play is, is your equipment up to par to save you if you have a failure.

For some reason you seem to equate price with reliability. Do you have any evidence to support that? Usually the best value in a manufacturer's line up is in the middle. Also lower-end regulators are usually less complicated with less things that can go wrong.