Solo Diving Checklist? Musts?

[Peter_C]

So no1 has answered my actual question yet? Assuming I do not take the SDI course what training can I do my own and what gear should I have?

Like others have stated I dive the same gear whether I am team diving or solo diving. Nothing changes so I know where everything is. I already carry two cutting devices, and have dual regs/valves for redundancy.

Take the SDI course! If you have to ask you are not ready to solo.

FWIW I have found a lot of great buddies I call friends, and would rather share the experience with them. Solo is for when they are not available.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

Gear for solo: In my case, is the exact same as my gear for buddy dives. In the environments I dive here in Hawaii, entanglement risks are very small, I stay shallowish, and all my dives are a fairly short surface swim from shore in good to excellent conditions.

Typically no redundancy in any piece of gear, except a 2nd knife. The surface is my air redundancy.

Skills for solo: I might be the exception in this opinion, but I'd say it is a mindset, not a skillset that is different for solo. Can you plan and safely lead a dive at your current skill level? Could you plan and lead a dive at a new location?

Finally, I think clearly understanding the difference between "risks" and "outcomes" in and around the water while solo versus with a buddy is important.

We all try to plan for that exceedingly unlikely regulator failure that leads to a castrophic total loss of air, while entangled in a fishing net and fighting off a giant squid.... And we overlook the mundane but far more likely slip and falls getting into or out of the water with nobody around to help, or a muscle cramp, or illness, or goofing with navigation and missing your exit point....

You need to think through some of the common pitfalls and how you might avoid or possibly handle them without the assistance of a good buddy.

But other than that.... be safe and have fun.

Best wishes.

 

[Dive-aholic]

So no1 has answered my actual question yet? Assuming I do not take the SDI course what training can I do my own and what gear should I have?

That's what the class is designed to answer. And it's an individual thing that's dependent on your diving. The gear I use for my solo cave dives is too much for a solo dive on a 30' reef.

 

[copter53]

Maybe I can add a little more info.

I am very comfortable diving alone. In fact my plan with my buddy is if we get separated to continue the dive alone and not go up to the surface this has happened a couple of times. I have dove alone at night as well and did not feel nervous or anything. I take it very slow and relaxed. Check all my gear on the sand and as a descend. So far I have only encountered two problems when solo. (1) Dive flag line getting caught around my valve happened twice and I was able to calmly get it off. (2) Fishermen line hooking me also calmly cut it with my knife.

The specific dive that I want to solo is a 40 minute shore dive at St. Andrews jetty in Panama City Beach. The avg depth is 55 ft going down to 70ft max. When I do this dive I usually come up with air to spare at least 800psi if not 1000psi+. I have dove this site about 100 times in all conditions. (Inches of vis, bad current, changing current, jelly fish on my reg,night, choppy as well, 10 ft waves entering the water). I know the site very well and the compass headings at different points throughout the dive.

So it seems that you guys are saying I do not need a pony tank/redundant air supply as long as I know how to do a free ascent?

Yet, in previous threads people were saying diving solo without a redundant is stupid.

 

[Dive-aholic]

Do you really want to rely on a free ascent to the surface through a boating channel without having a back up air source?

 

[sylpha]

I think if you read what i said in my post you will find that the only difference in equipment between me solo diving & me buddy diving is a buddy line. That does not mean i do not carry 2 different sources of gas. i dive on an independent twin set ALL THE TIME.

Reading through the posts it seems that we are all saying that we are all different and recognising that, we are all comfortable with our configurations, but are interested in what other people dive with because it may be something we could be more comfortable with in the future.

yes i have a checklist, but it includes stuff you wouldn't want because i'm a girl!

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I dive solo all the time. You need a pony bottle. I now always dive with 2 knives. I dive with one light in the day and two at night. I carry a smb marker.

The most important skills is to be able to remove the tank, clear entanglements and continue the dive. As you found out, diving around a jetty, especailly at night will mean getting tangled. I have never carried a second mask and have had it knocked off my face a few times by fish, but have always been able to recover it. In 50 feet of water, loss of a mask would not be a huge problem, just come up.

I started diving solo in inlets at night when I was 14 I think.

 

[Dsix36]

Solo diving gear is dependant upon the dive. Night dive will need a light and a backup light. Etc. Etc.

You can plan for all kinds of contigencies, but the one that will get you is the one that you didn't think about. It goes with the saying "You don't know, what you don't know".

The equipment is not near as important as your mental state. The only way to dive solo safely is to MAKE SURE THAT YOUR ARE NOT DIVING WITH AN IDIOT.

 

[NorthernShrinkage]

. The only way to dive solo safely is to MAKE SURE THAT YOUR ARE NOT DIVING WITH AN IDIOT.

Thats the best line ever

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

So no1 has answered my actual question yet? Assuming I do not take the SDI course what training can I do my own and what gear should I have?

The answer really depends on you ... many people solo safely without ever having taken the SDI course. I do, regularly ... but I learned what I needed to know by doing a couple thousand dives first, and taking a bunch of courses along the way that really focused on problem-solving skills. Solo diving isn't just about taking the right equipment ... that's important, but even more important are (a) knowing how to keep a calm head and resolving problems in stressful situations, and (b) knowing how to minimize the potential for finding yourself in a stressful situation in the first place. When I solo dive, my preparation begins by asking myself what can go wrong on this dive, and mentally making sure I'm adequately equipped to deal with it. Preparation for a 20-foot dive isn't necessarily going to be the same as for a 100-foot dive ... or for a 175-foot solo dive in current. I ask myself if I'm mentally up for the dive ... if that one doesn't get an enthusiastic YES, I don't go ... solo isn't the time to be non-chalant, or to push yourself into doing something you aren't really up for doing. I have less tolerance for errors before saying "not today" and beginning an ascent before those errors can start piling up.

It's a mental game ... and the rules for winning are to keep it as stress-free as possible.

I've written an article that describes what I think it takes to adequately prepare for solo diving ... perhaps you can find it helpful ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)