Solo Diving, How about WHY we should not instead of just NO you should not.

[DavidHickey]

I probably should have kept this on the post below, but I'm just curious guys I'm really new to diving, and I've read alot on the horrors of solo diving here on the board. I've read how dangerous it is and how you should have 1000's of dives before ever attempting it and should by NO means EVER consider it unless you can snatch the pebble out of the masters hand. BUT I have never read any reasons why people are so strongly against it. For instance my dives to date have been in shallow gravel pits 30' or so and in shallow tropical areas about the same depth. From these depths in good dive conditions can you explain the dangers you may face that would make this any more dangerous than snorkeling solo in the same waters? I am by NO means trying to say there are not dangers but being new and naive, I think to myself that in a worse case scenario you simply do a CESA inflate your BCD and swim to shore. Once again I'm not advocating solo diving, just wondering what hidden dangers await that basic scuba skills we are all taught could not remedy at these shallower depths. Most the answers I've read are to the extent of "If you have to ask your not ready" well thats not a real informative answer.

 

[jonnythan]

Because if ANYTHING happens underwater that would require a buddy's help, you're dead.

Hit your head on a rock, get knocked out by a jetski when trying to surface, get badly stung by some sea creature, get tangled up in some fishing line or net, have a runaway ascent that leaves you unsconscious on the surface, get bent on the surface and find yourself unable to swim back, whatever.

 

[cornfed]

Hit your head on a rock,

Dive Rite makes nice helmets...

 

[Rick Murchison]

Three years ago I lost a friend to drowning in less than six feet of water. We don't know why, because no one was with him to pull him out until after he was dead.
Certainly there are things you can do to improve your chances while diving solo. Redundancy, training, experience, good health.. But the bottom line remains that debilitating events can and do happen. If you have one under water and there's no one there to pull you out, you're dead.
Rick

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Because if ANYTHING happens underwater that would require a buddy's help, you're dead.

Hit your head on a rock, get knocked out by a jetski when trying to surface, get badly stung by some sea creature, get tangled up in some fishing line or net, have a runaway ascent that leaves you unsconscious on the surface, get bent on the surface and find yourself unable to swim back, whatever.

Hitting your head on a rock is preventable as is getting hit by a jet ski (you can hear them in the area and you should be looking for boat traffic when you surface anyway), gettin stung by sea creatures, getting badly bent etc. If you are having runaway ascents, you should not be diving, let alone solo diving, and diving long and deep enough to get an immediate incapacitating hit from the bends upon surfacing is beyond the scope of anything anyone should be doing in a basic scuba discussion.

Getting tanlged is generally avoidable and when it occurs, the inital reaction of the diver is what prevents them from getting "badly tangled".

So in short there are two ways to look at it. Some divers choose to believe that having a buddy provides additioanl resources to get you out of a mess once you get into it. Other divers tend to be more self reliant and focus on avoiding problems in the first place and increasing their self help skills to resove them individually.

The second catagory of divers tend to be those who solo dive. Even when diving with a buddy, those divers are in a better position to avoid or get out of trouble in the event of a buddy separation. And, you with solo diving you donlt tent o have the muliple fatalities that occur whennthe buddy systme goes south and the panicked budy ensares or other wise does something stupid that results in the death of the buddy trying to assist.

Solo divign is not with out risk. In some instances that risk will be elevated compared to buddy diving and in some instnaces the trisk will be reduced. The ability to assess the conditions and conservativly remain within mangeable limits is a critical solo diving skill, and the one that most peopel will say requries experience.

I'd argue a more middle of road approach and say that properly equipped, many divers of average experience and training could solo dive in excellent conditons (shallow water, no surf or surge, good visibility, no overheads, no entanglement hazards etc) and do it safely. Expanding thise limits is where more experience is required.

 

[m3830431]

I don't see any reason why you can not dive solo if you don't go anywhere close to you limit.

I probably wouldn't go more than what you are doing (30 ft.) let people know where your going and maybe have someone at the surface

 

[Rick Murchison]

Lost another friend - a youngster; only 38 - in a swimming pool about two years ago. In this case we do know what happened. He was practicing his breath-holding without a safety man, passed out on the bottom and drowned.
The general rule to "never swim alone" is a good one.
If you want to solo dive, great. Just don't try to rationalize away the increased risk of not having anyone around should your ability to get out of the water be compromised.
Rick

 

[ScubaSixString]

Because if ANYTHING happens underwater that would require a buddy's help, you're dead.

Hit your head on a rock, get knocked out by a jetski when trying to surface, get badly stung by some sea creature, get tangled up in some fishing line or net, have a runaway ascent that leaves you unsconscious on the surface, get bent on the surface and find yourself unable to swim back, whatever.

First off, theres a section on solo diving on the board, probably the best place for this discussion. That being said, you run these same risks in diving on a boat with a buddy you don't know, diving low viz, or diving in any situation where it is possible to lose sight of a buddy.

If you are a newbie, it really makes sense to dive with someone else THAT YOU TRUST. Read a few of the accidents/incidents in that section and count how many times a dive master or equivilant has nearly killed someone and ask yourself if those folks might not have been better off on their own (equipped properly). For what its worth, i'd much rather dive by myself than with someone i don't know/know is an accident waiting to happen. Please consider:

1>Smack your head on a rock (resulting in unconciousness). Learn buoyancy/stay out of overhead environments until you are trained for them. You get knocked out with a diver you don't know and he may decide to help you by inflating your bc fully and watching you shoot to the surface......

2>get knocked out by a jetski. Dive with a dive flag and surface near it. You get hit by a jetski and there might be little a dive buddy can do. If you're surfacing near each other the odds are he'll be hit too.

3>badly stung by some sea creature. Leave them alone. Barring that, a buddy might be helpful here. Assuming they know whats happened to you.

4>get tangled up in some fishing line or net. This one actually does help to have a buddy. They can see behind you and help you cut yourself free. Slashing a sharp object around behind your head near reg, spg, and inflator hoses probably isnt the smartest of ideas.

5>get bent on the surface and find yourself unable to swim back. In the unlikely event that you get severely bent on the surface and your buddy doesnt, then its probably best to have a buddy that can tow you back and get help.

An OOA situation was not mentioned here. Thats because the risk of one can be mitigated to an acceptable level by carrying a completely redundant air source. All of the risks above can be mitagated. But only if you know what you are doing, plan your dives better than most do, and dive that plan.

Thats one of the reasons they say not to solo before you've been diving for awhile. But I stand by my original point. Diving with a buddy you don't know is just as risky/riskier than soloing. Should we stay away from dive charters until we have 1000s of dives?

Just my 2 cents

 

[ScubaSixString]

I don't see any reason why you can not dive solo if you don't go anywhere close to you limit.

I probably wouldn't go more than what you are doing (30 ft.) let people know where your going and maybe have someone at the surface

Depth is a factor. But people have drowned in bathtubs. One's capacity to deal with underwater emergencies is the biggest factor in a solo determination, followed by the individual's willingness to figure out the risks and accept the ones they can't mitigate

 

[Rick Murchison]

Getting tanlged is generally avoidable and when it occurs, the inital reaction of the diver is what prevents them from getting "badly tangled".

About four years ago we lost a (very experienced) spearfisherman off Gulf shores. His buddies had had equipment problems and he'd decided to head on down solo. Suddenly the guys on the boat saw a huge boil of bubbles, followed a minute or so later by the body of the now dead spearfisherman.
He probably speared a big Amberjack who probably wrapped him up and knocked the regulator out of his mouth while at the same time preventing his ability to reach his octopus before he'd drowned. He apparently was able to reach his power inflator to put some air in his BC but not bring it to his mouth.
We'll never know for sure because by the time he hit the surface the fish and the spear and most of the line were gone.
While spearfishing is usually pretty much an "every man for himself" endeavor, having a buddy in the vicinity ain't a bad idea.
Rick