ranger979:
What I find interesting is why the diving industry makes it such a taboo while other equally or more dangerous activities don't seem to make a big deal of it, climbing, flying, backcountry hiking, etc.
There is an elevation of risk in some circumstances , but it is not an issue if the risk is managed and is not deemed excessive. Also sometimes what appears to be riskier really is not.
For example single engine aircraft accident rates have historically always been better than twin engine aircraft accident rates. This is conunter intuitive if you restrict yourself to only looking at the obvious fact that a twin engine aircraft has one more engine and the theoretical ability to continue flying in the event of an engine failure.
But there are other less obvious factors at work. A pilot in a single engine aircraft has a more limited set of options when the engine quits and if they are unable to get a restart, they quickly move to identify a spot to make an emergency landing as there is never any remaining doubt they are going down. And during that emergency landing, they are in a lighter aircraft that lands at a slower speed which reduces the energy that needs to be dissipated and improves surviveability exponentially.
In constrast in a twin, there is usually a belief that you can stay in the air, but this is often more a case of being able to extend your glide at higher altitudes, higher temps, and/or higher loaded weights. Flying a twin on one engine is also more demanding with a much increased potential to depart from controlled flight if you screw it up. So when an engine fails on a twin, you often have a pilot in denial trying to keep a twin in the air when they really ought to be finding a place to put it down. I know of at least one case with airframe damage accompanying an engine/propeller failure where the pilots would have been far better off pulling the power back on both engines rather than attempting to fly on one.
If you want to get really counter intuitive, one year a single engine helicopter, the Bell 206, had the best overall safety rate (and it usually ranks up there as being one of the safest aircraft anyway). Most uninformed people think helicopters just more or less fall out of the sky when the engine fails.
I think the same types of misconceptions and limited views are at work in the solo/buddy diving argument and I think we also tend to ignore or downplay the increased risks in some circumstances in buddy diving.
And Personally, I get very careful about legislating or mandating what anyone else does. For example, people on motorcyles are more likely to be killed in the event of an accident. Conversely, people who drive SUV's are 3 times more likely to kill someone else in a smaller vehicle in an accident. Other than some elements insisting on helmet laws, no one is restricting motor cycle use or sales and absolutely no one is pointing out safety risks associated on what is the largest becoming the largest segments of the US auto market. So as long as successful middle aged men are buying harleys for themselves and sending their teen age daughters out on the roads in SUV's, I think we can live with solo (or buddy) diving.
No matter what you do, it is probably dangerous from someone's point of view, but I would much rather accept an elevated level of personal risk than a reduced level of personal freedom.
ranger979:
The buddy system is generally a great system and could eliminate a lot of unnecessary death if used throughout your life. Let's face it, heart attack, stroke, hitting your head on a rock could happen as you walk to the bathroom, well maybe not the rock thing, having a buddy could potentially save your life...The point is, you need to look at the risks and decide what risks you are willing to take. Some of these risks you are going to think to minor to worry about and take.
I agree with you everywere but the heart attack. If you have a heart attack underwater during a dive, your chance of survival is still very small even with a buddy along to "help". The odds are good that the buddy's help will essentially be one of recovering your body and there is always the risk of a double fatality if the buddy panicks and or is stressed and is in an equally poor cardiovascular situation. In the case of a solo diver, the dive rescue team will at least get some valuable experience in body recovery.
