Solo diving comfort and # siblings poll

[Slamfire]

I'm the oldest one. 2 brothers and 2 sisters. Sometimes it just feels nice to get away from all the hecticness surrounding you. You learn to appreciate moments of solitude and relaxation.

As far as being more relaxed during solo dives, I can totally relate to that. I believe that even when diving with a buddy you should still be totally self reliant. Therefore, diving with a buddy simply adds to the task load. Now, instead of just worrying about you, you have to worry about your buddy as well. If you make a decision to go in this direction instead of that, you have to consider your buddy and maybe even consult him about it. You have to be worrying about keeping enough gas in reserve for you and your buddy in case of him having total gas failure, so throughout the dive the clock is ticking louder. If your buddy takes the role of navigator and you see he's making a slight navigational error you have to debate the bearings under water or just live up with the fact that you'll have to make a longer walk out to your car.

 

[Guy Alcala]

I'm the oldest one. 2 brothers and 2 sisters. Sometimes it just feels nice to get away from all the hecticness surrounding you. You learn to appreciate moments of solitude and relaxation.

As far as being more relaxed during solo dives, I can totally relate to that. I believe that even when diving with a buddy you should still be totally self reliant. Therefore, diving with a buddy simply adds to the task load. Now, instead of just worrying about you, you have to worry about your buddy as well. If you make a decision to go in this direction instead of that, you have to consider your buddy and maybe even consult him about it. You have to be worrying about keeping enough gas in reserve for you and your buddy in case of him having total gas failure, so throughout the dive the clock is ticking louder. If your buddy takes the role of navigator and you see he's making a slight navigational error you have to debate the bearings under water or just live up with the fact that you'll have to make a longer walk out to your car.

You've pretty much stated all the reasons that were given in that earlier thread as to why (those of us who choose to) are more relaxed and have lower SACs while diving solo.

I think I should have designed the poll better, keeping track of siblings by how close they are to you in age, as well as whether or not they are the same gender.

Guy

 

[Slamfire]

I promise I haven't read the thread you are referring to. In fact I think that was my very first post in the solo section. I joined this section not so long ago. What can I tell you... great minds think alike.

Me -> 2.5 yrs -> my brother -> 3yrs -> my sister -> 4 yrs -> my brother -> 3 years my sister.

 

[Quero]

What about birth order instead of simply sibs/no-sibs?
I'm not a psychologist, but from what I've read as a layperson (and as a mom I've been interested in this for decades!), birth order has an immense effect on a person's personality and behavioral choices. First borns are supposedly very detail oriented, are high achievers, and are natural leaders. People with no sibs are, of course, "very" firstborns.

 

[Guy Alcala]

I promise I haven't read the thread you are referring to. In fact I think that was my very first post in the solo section. I joined this section not so long ago. What can I tell you... great minds think alike.

Me -> 2.5 yrs -> my brother -> 3yrs -> my sister -> 4 yrs -> my brother -> 3 years my sister.

Apologies if you felt that was aimed at you, I just wanted to get people (who didn't see that thread) up to speed on the generally agreed reasons why we liked soloing, so that we wouldn't use a bunch of bandwidth going over the same ground. And as suggested by the post that follows yours, birth order should also be included in any poll, although we're somewhat limited in the number of questions (12, I think) that we can include.

Edit: My knowledge of statistics is slim to non-existent, but looking at the data so far I see no clear indication that only children are more likely to be solo divers. Of course, for a real statisical analysis it would be necessary to get data on the number of siblings in the U.S. population as a whole (better yet would be restricting the population to divers, but I doubt the Census bureau has that kind of info), and see if there were statiscally significant deviations. I did find this after some cursory googling:

Dr Michael Cook:
Hi Ms Kent,
Australian data shows that a disproportionate share of the nation's children are born to women with 3 or more children. As I recall, more than 50 of the total fertility rate is due to the 27% who have 3 or more. Is the situation the same in the US? Where can I get figures? Many thanks.
Mary Mederios Kent:
I’m not familiar with Australian birth data, but in the United States, the large majority of annual births are 1st and 2nd births. In 2005, 72 % of U.S. births were first- or second-born children. About 28 percent of babies born had two or more siblings.

Thus, the U.S. birth rate is driven by more women having 1 or 2 children, not fewer women having a larger number of children. Among American women ages 40 to 44 in 2004, less than 30 percent had three or more children, while 51 percent had 1 or 2 children. Nineteen percent had never had children.

The birth data are easily obtainable from the National Center for Health Statistics website (http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/births.htm). Statistics on the women by the number of children ever born are available from the U.S. Census Bureau’s website (http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/fertility.html
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Guy

 

[Stoo]

I am quite a bit younger than my siblings. I think I was an accident~

My sisters used to treat me like a doll. They would dress me up in girls clothes whenever they could. In spite of this, I turned out reasonably well-adjusted.

I dive solo so they can't find me.

And no I won't post pics, although I was really cute. :shocked2:

I've never told anyone this before. Please don't tell anyone else.

 

[fire_diver]

What about birth order instead of simply sibs/no-sibs?
I'm not a psychologist, but from what I've read as a layperson (and as a mom I've been interested in this for decades!), birth order has an immense effect on a person's personality and behavioral choices. First borns are supposedly very detail oriented, are high achievers, and are natural leaders. People with no sibs are, of course, "very" firstborns.

Yeah, but it's more a function of the parents attitude than anything. Your first child, you tend to worry and fret over constantly. The next one is more of a "known" so the parents are more relaxed and leanient.

I think where you grew up plays a part as well. Growing up in a large city, parents would tend to be more protective. Growing up in a more rural area, kids tend to walk out the door after breakfast and not be heard from again until dinner.

 

[Guy Alcala]

Yeah, but it's more a function of the parents attitude than anything. Your first child, you tend to worry and fret over constantly. The next one is more of a "known" so the parents are more relaxed and leanient.

I think where you grew up plays a part as well. Growing up in a large city, parents would tend to be more protective. Growing up in a more rural area, kids tend to walk out the door after breakfast and not be heard from again until dinner.

It used to be like that in the city, too. Oddly enough, most of were neither abducted, molested or murdered. Which isn't to say those weren't issues (we had our local 'Chester the Molester' that the kids all knew to stay away from), but our parents seemed to assume that they'd given us enough info to survive most of the city's threats. The rules were pretty straightforward and sensible - don't go into a building or get into a car with any adult (other than a police officer/police car) unless they know the secret word, be aware of your surroundings, etc. Seemed to work pretty well.

Guy

 

[Bob DBF]

I started solo diving because (1) there weren't buddies available where I lived in the early 60s and (2) if buddies were available, we only had one set of gear to use so we traded off using it!

My story exactly, were you watching. As a matter of fact, my dad trained me on the gear and my first dive without buddy breathing with him on a double hose was Solo. About a year or so later I ran across another kid with dive gear and we both got to actually buddy dive on a fairly regular basis.


I was the oldest of 4 and I love(ed) the quiet and adventure of diving. None of my siblings showed any real intrest in SCUBA although all were good swimmers and freedivers growing up. Probably the Old Man's teaching methods put them off and I was to hardheaded to quit.



Bob
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I may be old but I’m not dead yet.

 

[nielsent]

Oldest of two and we fought like cats and dogs. My parents both worked all the time, and we lived an hour from the nearest general store on a small farm. I had a better relationship with the animals than anyone i went to school with, which meant i was a bit of a loner. Ended up being quite comfortable being alone and very independent. Father is a mechanical engineer and always had little side projects going on at home, so i spent a lot of time tinkering with a whole assortment of mechanical bits and pieces when I was home. Grandfather and uncle taught me how to hunt and fish and that's what i did when i wasn't needed around the house. Used leave with a pack on Friday afternoon and start walking into the several thousand acres of forest around my house with some supplies and come home Sunday evening when I wanted to come home.

Being comfortable alone + skilled and calm enough to look after myself in an unknown environment with minimal supplies + fascination with all things mechanical + a passion for exploring = the transition from buddy to solo diving for me was quick and enjoyable.