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

[Rick Murchison]

First off, theres a section on solo diving on the board, probably the best place for this discussion.

No, the solo diving forum is to discuss solo diving techniques, not its efficacy. This is the right place

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.

Not really. The risks in those situations are different - not necessarily less, just different. Just being in the water, whether swimming, snorkeling or diving all by yourself carries a unique set of risks that can't be removed by anything other than another person. That doesn't mean you can't manage to make having another person around "more dangerous" - you can... but you can't reduce the risk of solo diving by changing the subject to bad buddies or lousy conditions. That risk is just a part of solo diving, and if you choose to solo dive then you're choosing to take it.
I'm not about to tell you "don't solo dive."
I'm just telling you that you need to keep your eyes open about it - if you have a debilitating event under water, whatever it is, and you don't have someone there to haul your hide out, you die. That's the risk. The choice to take it or not is all part of the dive/don't dive decision.
Rick

 

[Boogie711]

I think you all make valid points - many of the accidents in Scuba are at least partially preventable. (But for the record, anyone who claims you can hear a JetSki before it's virtually on top of you has never dove cold water with Jetski's in the area.)

But there's an even stronger point that needs to be made here. It's mentioned but I think it tends to get sluffed off and thrown onto a pile of stuff to be justified later...

If you dive carefully, and avoid all opportunity for accidents, stuff can still happen to you. I think everyone agrees on that.

When that 'stuff' happens, if you are diving solo... you DIE. Dead. Funeral time. Grieving widow, life insurance claims, shopping for caskets, writeups in the newspaper, children who never knew their father, dead.

Not hurt, not "wow, that was close..." Dead. Final. Kaput. Friends dropping by the house to claim gear, a loved one sending out an email to everyone in the address book because she doesn't know who all your friends are... deceased dead.

Whereas if you're with a buddy, you are alive.

To me, there's nothing out there that won't wait another day until my buddy's schedule free's up to go do that dive.

 

[MikeFerrara]

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.

Dives with an unknown buddy should be easy dives for the purpose of getting to know them. Doing otherwise is asking for trouble.

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:

Having an agency certification as a DM or instructor does NOT insure that the person is a good buddy or even a good diver.

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.

If jet ski riders know what a dive flag is, they must aim for them on purpose. In one lake I dive they have one or two deths like this every year but I've never heard of both divers being hit at the same time by the same jet ski.

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.

Not that unlikely. Every person I know who has been bent was the only person in the team to get bent. They were all able to get themselves out of the water though.

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

I'm with Rick on this one. Dive solo if you want but rationalizing it is a wast of time...especially by comparing it to diving with a bad buddy. Don't ever dive with a bad buddy. BTW, I think following along on charters is a great way to get in trouble if you let others plan your dives and pick your buddies. I wouldn't say we should stay away from tha until we have thousands of dives. I'd say we should stay away from that for our entire diving career!

 

[cnctina]

If you are diving with a buddy and have a minor problem that you fix yourself, does this mean you are diving solo?

 

[Rick Murchison]

If you are diving with a buddy and have a minor problem that you fix yourself, does this mean you are diving solo?

uh, no....
Rick

 

[MikeFerrara]

Another thing I would note here is that some of our local quarries have some of the highest accident rates. A few are regular slaughter houses some years. Even though they lack things like tides, currents and rough seas, some are deep, cold and amoung the few places that average divers actually dive without some level of supervision.

We are training an entire race of resort divers many of which don't do well at all on their own. They need some one else to pick the sight, plan the dive and set limits for them or they get into trouble.

 

[ScubaSixString]

Dive solo if you want but rationalizing it is a wast of time...especially by comparing it to diving with a bad buddy. Don't ever dive with a bad buddy. BTW, I think following along on charters is a great way to get in trouble if you let others plan your dives and pick your buddies.

And unfortunantly thats what happens. I'm not trying to rationalize soloing. Just trying to point out that people who would turn pale at the thought of *BUM BUM BUUUUUUMMMMMMM* solo diving... are completly fine with hopping in the water with someone they met 10 minutes ago on their one dive of the year.

BTW, i meant to add earlier, If you solo dive, let someone know where you are, when you're coming back, planned depth, etc. It won't save you if something goes wrong, but at least they'll know where to begin the search.

 

[wedivebc]

I think you all make valid points - many of the accidents in Scuba are at least partially preventable. (But for the record, anyone who claims you can hear a JetSki before it's virtually on top of you has never dove cold water with Jetski's in the area.)

But there's an even stronger point that needs to be made here. It's mentioned but I think it tends to get sluffed off and thrown onto a pile of stuff to be justified later...

If you dive carefully, and avoid all opportunity for accidents, stuff can still happen to you. I think everyone agrees on that.

When that 'stuff' happens, if you are diving solo... you DIE. Dead. Funeral time. Grieving widow, life insurance claims, shopping for caskets, writeups in the newspaper, children who never knew their father, dead.

Not hurt, not "wow, that was close..." Dead. Final. Kaput. Friends dropping by the house to claim gear, a loved one sending out an email to everyone in the address book because she doesn't know who all your friends are... deceased dead.

Whereas if you're with a buddy, you are alive.

To me, there's nothing out there that won't wait another day until my buddy's schedule free's up to go do that dive.

Can you be more specific as to the definition of stuff. I think the original poster wants to know what stuff can happen that a buddy is essential for survival. (me too)

 

[Rick Murchison]

Can you be more specific as to the definition of stuff. I think the original poster wants to know what stuff can happen that a buddy is essential for survival. (me too)

"Stuff" is any debilitating event.
Heart attack.
Stroke.
Embolism.
Seizure.
Severe Injury.
Entanglement.
Entrapment.
Severe Hypothermia.
Box-jelly sting.
Shark bite.
'Cuda bite.
"Stuff" happens. We bury one with far too much regularity.
Rick

 

[ScubaSixString]

No, the solo diving forum is to discuss solo diving techniques, not its efficacy. This is the right place

Yeah...now that i think of it, i haven't seen too many...."Hey guys ...should i do this" in there

Not really. The risks in those situations are different - not necessarily less, just different. Just being in the water, whether swimming, snorkeling or diving all by yourself carries a unique set of risks that can't be removed by anything other than another person. That doesn't mean you can't manage to make having another person around "more dangerous" - you can... but you can't reduce the risk of solo diving by changing the subject to bad buddies or lousy conditions. That risk is just a part of solo diving, and if you choose to solo dive then you're choosing to take it.
I'm not about to tell you "don't solo dive."
I'm just telling you that you need to keep your eyes open about it - if you have a debilitating event under water, whatever it is, and you don't have someone there to haul your hide out, you die. That's the risk. The choice to take it or not is all part of the dive/don't dive decision.
Rick

For the most part, i'd agree. As i said, its a choice. And its one you should make with a full knowledge of the risks.