Self-sufficiency

[uspap]

Please correct me if I'm wrong but wouldn't you have a BC or BP/W you could manualy inflate even with a dry suit?

 

[Charlie99]

Link to original source article in the Yorkshire Post: http://www.yorkshiretoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=1084&ArticleID=1775374

Please correct me if I'm wrong but wouldn't you have a BC or BP/W you could manualy inflate even with a dry suit?

In the article there is speculation that he couldn't reach his inflator because of other gear he was carrying, and that when he attempted to drop weights that he instead released his BP/W harness waist buckle.

The article also reports that other divers saw him ascend towards the surface and since he signalled "OK", assumed that he was OK.

It sounds like a whole series of things went wrong.

 

[Cacia]

Well, the OP is assuming his buddy would have fixed all his problems...which might be a stretch. I hate it when everyone assumes a death would never have occured if only the diver had "buddy extraordiaire" along to save the day.

Hey...since this IS the SOLO forum, I think I can even say that!

 

[Charlie99]

I hate it when everyone assumes a death would never have occured if only the diver had "buddy extraordiaire" along to save the day.

Hey...since this IS the SOLO forum, I think I can even say that!

I AM a SOLO diver for about 1/3 of my dives, but even so, Hey, I think I can say that it is much more likely that the diver would have survived had one of his buddies gone up with him.

Like most accidents, it is only an accident because several things happened in a row. A buddy could have easily just reached over and hit the guys wing inflator button, or if air was off or something, then he could have helped hold him up on the surface, or reached in and popped the correct buckle after he had opened his harness waist bucke instead of the weight belt buckle. No "buddy extraordiaire" required. Just somebody that isn't panicked and is thinking clearly.

I don't see any contradiction between deciding to solo dive and believing that, in most cases, a buddy is an additional safety factor.

If I truly wanted to fully minimize my scuba related risk, the simplest way is to stay out of the water. By choosing to do any form of diving, I have decided to assume some additional risk compared to staying dry. IMO, when I choose to dive solo, there is some (obviously acceptable to me) additional risk. I don't have any need to try and convince myself otherwise.

 

[Cacia]

Good points, but...

knowing that person is not going to be around makes you more likely to not dive alone unless you are sure you can handle that better. It is the people who are in between in their thinking that get into the most trouble, IMV.

So..are you saying

IMO, when I choose to dive solo, there is some (obviously acceptable to me) additional risk.

to double think it if you are doing it just for convenience, or what?

Obviously, he should not have been alone but does that mean I shouldn't?

I had a pretty serious mishap yesterday. Someone inadvertently turned my air off helping me off the boat. My hose sure got sucked dry a lot faster than a tank, I can vouch for that. I had descended like a rock so this presented a sudden issue. My inflator has been disconnected for awhile now because of the stupid misfunction. I honestly can say that I think a buddy option might have slowed down my problem solving. I did a CESA and had I messed around looking for my buddy. I might not have made it to the surface as neatly. I am not saying people should solo. I am saying that it is a state of mind and my best scenario usually just includes myself. It was a stupid mishap, I learned a lesson. Better for me to keep other divers away from me and my gear too. No hard feelings towards anyone, just reinforced my bias that others will mess you up if you are a strong diver. If you are a new diver, then they will more likely benefit you.

What did I learn? Do not be in reach of helpers as you stride off. Also, don't drop so fast out of greed to get to the site before the critters leave. Take a little time and check your gear in case you have a problem. duh...complacency I guess.

On the other hand, I had been focused on safety ALL DAY. I would not even let JB freedive for the bouy without putting a SMB (his is oral inflate) in his board short's pocket. Sorry not to highjack...

 

[Whale Whisperer]

I had a pretty serious mishap yesterday. Someone inadvertently turned my air off helping me off the boat. My hose sure got sucked dry a lot faster than a tank, I can vouch for that. I had descended like a rock so this presented a sudden issue. My inflator has been disconnected for awhile now because of the stupid misfunction. I honestly can say that I think a buddy option might have slowed down my problem solving. I did a CESA and had I messed around looking for my buddy. I might not have made it to the surface as neatly. I am not saying people should solo. I am saying that it is a state of mind and my best scenario usually just includes myself. It was a stupid mishap, I learned a lesson. Better for me to keep other divers away from me and my gear too. No hard feelings towards anyone, just reinforced my bias that others will mess you up if you are a strong diver. If you are a new diver, then they will more likely benefit you.

I agree with Catherine and this is why I'm all about self sufficiency. I had a similar situation where someone helped me off the boat. I think they closed my valve first then cracked it open. On the surface I breathed fine, but when I dropped down to about 60 feet breathing from my regulator was nearly impossible. The first thing I did was look up at the surface for obstructions to perform CESA. Instead I stopped to take a quick look at my SPG and it indicated I had plenty of air, it just that every breath I took reduced the pressure to zero psi right when I inhaled. So I reached behind my back to the single 80 I was using and opened up the valve (I wished I had my doubles at the time, it's alot easier to do with doubles!!!). I'm not sure where my buddy was at the time, I was preoccupied with my situation and I have a bad habit of keeping my problems to myself but I was hoping he was near by juuuust in case. He was a last minute dive buddy on the boat and was visiting the island so I didn't know his skill level either. He commented later that as soon as he saw me reach for my valve he knew something was wrong but it looked like I had it under control.

I am sorry to hear about the mishap...

 

[Charlie99]

are doing it <solo diving> just for convenience, or what?

Several different reasons. The most common one is convenience ...... I'll be sitting on the lanai of my Kihei condo having breakfast and say "what a lovely day for a dive" and will be splashing in a half hour later. Typically a very mild swim around a benign site like Makena Landing or Ulua. I'm an early riser and also like to do pre-dawn dives, which aren't very popular with other divers. I'll gladly dive with others, and have gone out with several visiting Scubaboarders, but most of my shore diving is very spur of the moment.

With one particular dive op I also used to often do 10 or 15 minutes solo at the beginning of dives at Molokini. The owner would give me the 10 second dive brief of "Reef's End drift, meet you somewhere around the Orange Grove or the garden eels in about 10 minutes", then I'd splash in while the rest of the customers on the 6 pack got the full briefing and finished gearing up. Again, just a convenience sort of item.
I've done this sort of "15 minute solo segment" on Cozumel DM-led dives also. Typically, it's only after diving with a particular DM for 2 or 3 days so he's comfortable with me staying in the water for 10 or 15 minutes after he and everyone else has gotten out of the water. I have a fairly low SAC and still get back on the boat with lots of air, and the usual agreement is that the 1 hour SI before the next dive starts when the DM gets back on the boat. 45 minute SIs are fine when he's diving air and I'm on nitrox. By the point I go solo, we are back on the shallow reef system, and I'm doing it just because I don't feel like getting out of the water yet.

My solo dives in SE Florida (Boynton Beach/Lantana/WPB mostly) are the more traditional sort of "getting away from everyone and doing my own thing" sort of dives. There I just grab a float ball, do my thing for 60 minutes and surface. If the grouping of divers onboard are such that someone wants to come with me, fine, but I don't actively seek out a buddy.

--------------------

In most of my dives, the lack of buddy increases risk, but only a small amount and an acceptable tradeoff for the convenience or solitude.

OTOH, I see "bad buddies" as an excuse, rather than a valid reason for going solo.

I strongly suspect that most divers that loudly complain about bad and dangerous buddies are not doing very good as buddies themselves. Although I have had buddies go wandering off from 3 and 4 person groups, a single buddy has never ever been able to escape.

If the other 2 people in a 3 person buddy group wander apart so far that you can no longer see both, even positioned midway, there isn't much you can do, but to have a single buddy disappear (particularly in the typically good Hawaii viz) means that one's buddy awareness is sorely lacking.

/soapbox OFF.

 

[hilti]

I have had inflator hoses (both BC and drysuit inflator) pop off while I was in the water,I have a method for assembly of my gear before I dive and a sequence I follow after I'm in the water ( most of the reason I found the problems before the dive) I make a habit of tugging pretty sharply on these connections during assembly now as sometimes they are fully engaged, and sometimes they are not. I think it's possible that this diver had that problem (those quick connects are very difficult at best when you're underwater with gloved hands) and that it contributed to the cause of his death. I don't think that this is a solo V buddy diving issue, he was a buddy diver, and I think similar situations are handled the same way as this occurrence elsewhere~ I have the deepest regrets for his family, Jim

 

[Cacia]

I am just saying that one person's convenience (like not wanting to get out yet....not wanting to miss a dive) is a good reason for those of us who value that a lot. Someone else thinks it is a silly risk to take.

I honestly feel that most of my real problems underwater have been when my judgement gets diluted by "team think". You need to compromise to be a good buddy or to be able to think alike and agree 99% of the time. That is just not a good way to develop good instincts, IMV. I can call a dive so easily diving alone. Once it involves another person's schedule, feelings, desires, objectives, ..thats what messes me up.

I know it sounds strange, but I am usually more worried, more compromised diving with a buddy. What they might do, what could happen to them, what they know or don't know...it can overwhelm me. I have to hand it to dive guides who deal with a new flock of unknowns day in day out. Very stressful job. I think it is harder than teaching OW actually, leading larger numbers of unknown certed divers around. shudder. I helped with a large group of Intros not too long ago. Med students, bright, strong, youngish guys. They all took off in different directions. We were having little breakdowns..like herding cats.

Dry suits are serious business it seems.

 

[Charlie99]

I honestly feel that most of my real problems underwater have been when my judgement gets diluted by "team think". You need to compromise to be a good buddy or to be able to think alike and agree 99% of the time. That is just not a good way to develop good instincts, IMV. I can call a dive so easily diving alone. Once it involves another person's schedule, feelings, desires, objectives, ..thats what messes me up.

I know it sounds strange, but I am usually more worried, more compromised diving with a buddy. What they might do, what could happen to them, what they know or don't know...it can overwhelm me.

"Peer pressure" isn't a just a problem for teenagers.

Another problem is the old problem of "if 6 people have the responsibility for something, then often none of them take on the responsibility." Each person assumes that, if xxxx (insert weather, current, surf conditions, short-filled tanks, etc.) were too bad to dive, then someone else in the group would be objecting to going. A solo diver, or just a single buddy pair would be more likely to call the dive or modify the plan.

The biggest step in solving these sorts of problems is just simply recognizing their existence and their danger.

Buddy teams don't have to be a bunch of dependent divers. Ideally, a buddy team is a bunch of self reliant, self sufficient, divers that are ready to lend assistance to each other if needed.