Solo dive or not??

[Falcon99]

Pepsi once bubbled...
Anyone that is in need of a buddy either
a) Does not have the proper equipment to feel safe on there own
b) Does not have proficiant water skill to swim without someone else, or is just not in condition to save their own life- and certainly not someone elses.
c)need a buddy as a security blanket because of the unknown (a.k.a. the big shark simdrome)
d) all of the above

I'm sorry to be harsh, but I have a real problem with your comments. If you feel like Mr. Perfect Diver, fine. Don't expect to say something like that without getting flamed in return...

I dive with a buddy. I like to dive with a buddy. I feel safe with my buddy because we preplan, coordinate, and execute as planned, not because he's a security blanket. I survived Navy Water Survival school with flying colors - got the swim part covered. I do an ops check on EVERY peice of equipment I have just before stepping into the drink - not worried about that. I'm frikkin proud to say I dive with a buddy!

People with attitudes like yours SHOULD be diving solo because they tend to kill team members. There are countless accident reports and black box recordings of pilots who ignored protests from copilots and navigators and killed everyone on the plane because they thought everyone else playing by the rules were weenies. (remember the B-52 pre-airshow crash? - textbook case of arrogant ignorance of rules and crew coordination)

You have no idea how much my blood pressure rises when I read or hear comments such as yours.

If you are ever on my boat in Cozumel, please tell me who you are before departure so I can take another one!

Jim

 

[Custer]

Falcon99 once bubbled...


You have no idea how much my blood pressure rises when I read or hear comments such as yours.

If you are ever on my boat in Cozumel, please tell me who you are before departure so I can take another one!

Jim

You don't really think he could get everyone on the boat killed...?

Hmmmmmm.

You may have a point.

 

[Falcon99]

Custer once bubbled...


You don't really think he could get everyone on the boat killed...?

Hmmmmmm.

You may have a point.

I've been reading about exploding tanks as well. If the rental tank is too poor of a condition for his perfect equipment and explodes - yeah, everyone could get killed...



Jim

 

[Padipro]

Falcon99 once bubbled...

however...

It scared the absolute h*ll out of me. It wasn't a panic attack or anything, I just stayed really on edge and didn't enjoy the dive at all.

I vowed NOT to do that again. I'm used to having an aircrew in a former life, so I guess it's programmed to stay..

I guess I'm a wimp, but a secure-feeling one at that!

Jim

Jim, you're not a wimp for feeling that way. I know what you mean about the feeling of impending doom the first time you were in the water solo. I felt the exact same way the first time I dived alone. It was in a local lake and was all of about 25 feet deep. I too knew the area like the back of my hand and I'll I kept thinking was "This is wrong, I shouldn't be doing this. This goes against everything I've ever been tought especially as an Instructor." Now I'm not saying anyone is right or wrong for their views for or against solo diving, my point is just that it's gets easier the more you do it. I'm former military myself and I'm still in aviation, we're conditioned to follow the rules, read the checklist and never deviate for the established procedures. In SCUBA class we're taught to never dive alone, always have a buddy within arms reach because it's dangerous out there alone and for a new diver with little experience and rented equipment I would agree 100% with that. But for someone with extensive diving expreience, many logged dives, advanced training and the right equipment IMO it's no more dangerous then diving with a buddy that's more then that arms reach away.

Peoples views on solo diving are based primarily on what they're taught in open water class and we all feel a little out of place the first time we do something we've been taught is wrong.

I also think Pepsi's comments are a little over the top. I would susspect he's one of those dives that NO ONE wants to dive with and he's forced to dive solo, hence the reason his views are so extreme.

Just my 2 cents,

Scott

 

[WaterDawg]

Padipro once bubbled...


I would susspect he's one of those dives that NO ONE wants to dive with and he's forced to dive solo, hence the reason his views are so extreme.



Scott

Hey PadiPro!

Yeah I got that fealing as well. Maybe when he gets on the boat and sees all the other buddy teams sadness turns to anger and we get post like his. Anyways hope your doing good, Im in MOPP2 right now (exersice)!

 

[Falcon99]

WaterDawg once bubbled...


Hey PadiPro!

Yeah I got that fealing as well. Maybe when he gets on the boat and sees all the other buddy teams sadness turns to anger and we get post like his. Anyways hope your doing good, Im in MOPP2 right now (exersice)!

At least you're getting TQT covered...right?

Jim

 

[Padipro]

WaterDawg once bubbled...


Hey PadiPro!

Yeah I got that fealing as well. Maybe when he gets on the boat and sees all the other buddy teams sadness turns to anger and we get post like his. Anyways hope your doing good, Im in MOPP2 right now (exersice)!

MOPP2? Man that's gotta suck.

It rained so hard here today that I logged an hour of bottom time and never left my drive way.

Here's hopping the exersice is over soon.

Scott

 

[grouchyturtle]

I would susspect he's one of those dives that NO ONE wants to dive with and he's forced to dive solo, hence the reason his views are so extreme.

Yeah with that attitude you just know he's the token A**HOLE on every boat he gets on. There's always one!

 

[Allen42]

This is not meant to attack anyone, but haven't most of us dove solo at one time or another without having a chance to realize we were solo?

For me, it's setting the bouy for a class. Or running a line out, or hiding a recovery object. Often I go do these things without giving it much thought. *But I'm solo.* And not concerned.

However, I think If I were to go jump in the lake and swim around for 45-60 minutes, at some point, I'd get those nervous thoughts mentioned above.... "hey, this isn't right..."

I just think the psychology of it all is very interesting. Obviously, the longer down, the larger the risk, but aside from that, the risk hasn't changed at the platform, hiding the recovery object, etc.

Kinda like being in the dark... you know it's all exactly the same as it is when in the light, but you can't see it, so your mind is at unease.


Hmmm.

 

[Padipro]

Allen you're right. We all do it at some point in time. The differance is that on one hand it's "OK" to do it because it's an offical thing we do during class but on the other hand it's a "NO NO" because we're not teaching. I don't see the differance between the two.

The lake I tried it in the first time was nothing compared to the time I was working on a boat down here and had to set the line on a 90 foot deep wreck all by myself. 90 feet deep, in the ocean all alone. That was a little freaky. But that was "OK" according to the boat captian because I was working. Go figure.

Now I dive solo nearly evey time I go. Here in South Florida we have a lot of people on the boats that are on vacation from someplace else. They dive once a year, don't do Nitrox or computers and only have an 80 cuft tank. I dive with a computer on Nitrox using a 100 cuft tank. To get buddied up with someone like that would cut my bottom time in half. I'm usually the first one in and the last one out. More often then not I meet the DM coming down the line to unset it as I'm at my 15 foot stop.

Scott