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

[DA Aquamaster]

i've done two solo dives just to see what was up with the taboo.

lessons learned:

- you must have your **** together on entry and exit. this is probably one of the most dangerous points of the dive for the solo diver.

And it is one of the areas that requires careful assessment and adequate judgement to recongnize when solo may not be the way to go.

- nobody is there to give you a bubble check, you have to be good at planning and monitoring your gas supply. if you can't look at your SPG 20 mins into the dive and determine that you don't have any leaks, imo, you don't have any place solo diving.

A leak check is actually easy to perform. You just drop down about 10 feet, hover, stop breathing long enough for the last exhalation to reach the surface, and look up to see if you there are any bubbles coming from behind your head. It will catch all but the really really slow leaks, which arguably are not going to be an issue on the dive. And this should actually be the second leak check. The first occurs on the boat or shore when you set up your equipment. Pressurize the system, note the pressure when it stabilizes and turn the valve off. If the pressure does not hold over 5 minutes or so, you have a leak.

This does admittedly create the potential to jump in with the valve still off if you blow off the subsequent checks, but being able to reach back and turn the valve on should be a required skill for solo diving. Worst case, you surface on the pony bottle/back up reg on the manifold/indpenedent doubles, etc and start over.

- if you run out of gas you will not be able to inflate your BC.

This is only true if either your mouth or your oral inflator is broken. You have to remember if you are solo and properly equipped, you still have the pony bottle, which needs to be large enough to handle all aspects of the ascent. If you are diving with properly configured doubles and a drysuit or redundant wing, you don't even need to orally inflate.

Then of course there is the larger argument that if you run out of gas in the first place, you probably don't have either the experience or situational awareness needed to solo dive. You should be very good at gas planning, be experienced enough to know whether you are using more gas than planned, check the SPG often enough to know how much you have left even if the SPG failed since you looked at it last (and be able to tell if it is stuck) and carry and reach the surface with an ample reserve (not including the pony bottle).

- even on a super weenie solo dive with good gas management you could still have IP creep in your first stage cause catastrophic gas loss. recovery from this is not elegant if you are solo with only a single air source.

IP creep is caused by a very slow and progressive failure of the HP seat. It should be noticeable on the boat or shore after a minute or two with the reg being re-pressurized (after the valve is turned back on from the surface leak check) as it will result in a slight hiss and freeflow from one of the second stages. Consequently you have several dives to catch the problem, and even if you screw that up, you will encounter a slight freeflow between breaths long before it develops to catastrophic freeflow levels. And if for some reason you let it get to that point, you still have a redundant air source.

- downsides in addition to it being more risky, you don't have an extra set of eyes spotting cool stuff for you, and you don't have opportunity for feedback ("was i head down? did i have any air in my wing on that stop?", etc).

The upside is that you do not have twice the movement and bubbles to scare fish away and you can hover or settle on the sand and breathe slowly and quietly until the residents come right up to you. That seldom happens with a buddy thrashing around in the water or rototilling the bottom. Things like trim should be self evident and not require input from a buddy. Self awareness is a key component of solo diving.

the bigger issues that are more likely to kill you are probably related to air and buoyancy. its going to be an uncontrolled free flow, or a valve rolled off, or a regulator that you can't get at, or a BC/wing dump that is stuck open.

None of the above are anything more than routine failures that proper redundancy and a proper response by the diver can address. If any of those failures are "likely to kill you" you have no business solo diving.

your pre-dive checks need to be flawless and your gas management needs to be excellent. in retrospect i've got considerably less confidence in my skills to solo dive now than i did when i did those two dives.

I agree with you completely and I'd concur with your self assessment that you are not ready to dive solo.

 

[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.
QUOTE]

This may be a little off the point but it sounds like you have experience with quarries, so beyond the above: What would you consider the major risk/cause of accidents associated with quarries?

I've been taught since childhood to respect them because they're cold - but so is the winter sea where I live (I'm aware of the salt/temperature difference).

regards

Good question. I think the problems we sometimes see at local site has more to do with the overall situation than any specific or unique hazards. When a novice diver goes on a charter he is hopefully taken to an appropriate site. Some of our quarries have appropriate sites right next to 350 ft of water. In mid summer when surface temps my be 80 F, novice divers equiped for warm water may end up in fairly deep cold water. While cold water is common, summer fresh water conditions in this part of the country/world have very warm water and very cold water as well as very shallow water and very deep water all located within a few feet of each other. Combine that with the fact that many of these divers are novices and you can have touble.

We've seen a fair number of accidents and near misses occure during classes like AOW deep dives. Often you'll see an 80 ft training dive planned in 120 ft of water. Free flows and buoyancy control problems are pretty common and sometimes result in rapid ascents and injury. Just such an accident happened a couple years ago and was discussed here on this site. As I recall a student on an AOW deep dive lost a fin at about 80 ft with the bottom at 120 or so. He lost control of his buoyancy, may have panicked, sunk and shot to the surface. I don't remember if a free flow was involved or not but he shot to the surface and hit the surface unconciouse and not breathing. This one was revived and lived.

Another incedent that was discused on the board involving a board member was an AOW deep dive where the student had a free flow and the student, buddy and the instructor all ended up in an unintentional rapid ascent from like 80 ft. There were no injuries in this case.

Those are just a couple of examples of the kinds of things that happen. I think training standards complicate the issue in several ways. First a student can be doing a "deep" training dive on their 5th lifetime dive and with an instructor who isn't a very experienced deep diver. Again, the students who can't dive for a couple of minutes without a fin or manage a free flow while maintaining pocition and buddy contact.

A specific hazard I haven't mentioned is vis. Most quarries are very silty, at least in places, and we have sulfer clouds sometimes too. Divers are taught finning techniques that might work fine for diving over sand but the majority leave a nasty silt trail behind them in a quarry. The result is that you may have great vis one second and ZERO the next. Entry level dive training just seems too often to be tailored for warm water resorts. I think most quarries are really easy, calm dives but you see lots of divers there who are still ill-prepared for the environment skillwise.


Recreational solo diving...
Unfortunately it's often these same skill challanged divers who get miffed when they aren't alowed to dive alone. I know lots of divers who dive in caves, deep wrecks or wherever else alone. They don't ask any ones permission or opinion and no one argues with them. They just do it. Except for the fact that some are friends and I worry about them it doesn't bother me much. OTOH hand when the subject of solo diving comes up in a recreational diving context, I can't help but get nervouse knowing how divers are being trained and what the average skill level is. Shoot, we've pulled at least 2 solo divers out of the drink. One never even started his dive before getting into trouble. he got himselfe chicken winged trying to get his bc on in shallow water and fell over. My wife reached in and lifted his head out of the water when it started to look like he wasn't comming back up on his own. Ther depth was less than 3 feet. The other was one that I left a rescue class I was teaching to go after. He surfaced in the middle of the quarry with his tank falling off and jerking the reg out of his mouth. Niether of these should have needed any help but they did and the one with the tank comming off got mad when I wouldn't put it back on for him so he could continue his dive.

The decision to solo dive or not is just another choice that divers should have the right to make for themselves. What I have trouble swallowing is that dive training today is designed to get divers to the resort as fast as possible. The jump from what they are trained for to solo diving is HUGE, IMO. I also have trouble believing that a short little 2-dive solo class is going to change anything.

 

[drbill]

That depends on who you're diving with. I dive regularly with photographers. Some view the entire dive through the lens of a camera, and if I ceased to exist, they would not even notice till the dive was over. Others ... including one professional photographer I dive with regularly ... have training that enables them to keep a watchful eye out for both photography subjects and dive buddies ... of course, I have the same training, and make sure to keep myself where I can be seen in his peripheral vision at all times. Sometimes I even dive as part of a 3-person team where both of my dive buddies are engaged in photography ... and we all keep an eye on each other just fine.

As a videographer, my eye is usually on the viewfinder through most of my dive. Several of my regular buddies are still photographers so our styles are comfortable. When I dive with a buddy who is not a regular one, my attention is constantly diverted towards them since I recognize the responsibility. That is why I don't like pick-up buddies or diving with people still new to the sport and developing their skills. It requires me to focus attention on them rather than the reason for 99% of my diving... to gather imagery to use in educational programs. If I agree to dive with a new diver (which I do), I focus on them and only use the camera for those "Sony" moments.

Dr. Bill

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

When you see folks who on SB say the have 16-50 dives asking about going solo and more experianced folks telling them its even safer than having a buddy, that makes them think about it more and more. How many divers w/ 50-100 dives have you met that think they are allready "seasoned vets". I had a guy walk into the shop who was cert the month prior (4 day class), he dives solo now but can barely set up his gear. He thinks that people who have accidents are stupid.

You see them here too ... folks who say they have 16-50 dives and some percentage of them have already been solo dives.

Those folks haven't yet enough experience to realize how little they know ... and they're just asking for trouble. In scuba, ignorance and overconfidence can be a deadly combination ...

... Bob (Grateful diver)

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

As a videographer, my eye is usually on the viewfinder through most of my dive. Several of my regular buddies are still photographers so our styles are comfortable. When I dive with a buddy who is not a regular one, my attention is constantly diverted towards them since I recognize the responsibility. That is why I don't like pick-up buddies or diving with people still new to the sport and developing their skills. It requires me to focus attention on them rather than the reason for 99% of my diving... to gather imagery to use in educational programs. If I agree to dive with a new diver (which I do), I focus on them and only use the camera for those "Sony" moments.

Dr. Bill

By developing good situational awareness skills, you can do both comfortably. One of my favorite dive buddies is a videographer (in fact, one of her vids was featured at the San Diego film festival last year), and yet her awareness of her surroundings ... which include her dive buddy ... is quite sufficient for me to say that I trust her with my life and safety while we're diving together. Certainly, part of it is familiarity ... but part is also how you apply your skills to fulfill your own responsibilities as a dive buddy.

Let's be honest here ... the vast majority of the time people complain about bad dive buddies, what they're really talking about is that person's lack of situational awareness. This is a skill that can be learned ... but the diver has to be willing to put in the effort to learn it ... and often the "bad buddy" doesn't even realize that it's something they should know about.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Finatik]

Being new and all to the sport I find that the comments about never diving with someone who isn't an experianced buddy perplexing. How if you're new could you ever go diving if this was followed? Isn't part of diving giving back and teaching those that are willing and want to learn?

I'm an avid camper and backpacker. I always go out of my way to teach people who want to learn outdoor technique and skills (in the right situation). Many people spent time teaching me. It's my way of giving back or paying it forward so to speak. Maybe it's a little off topic but so many posts I read say something to the effect "never dive with someone who isn't a dive master" (my interpretation - I could be wrong it happened one time before LoL).

Eventually the sport would die (thoretically) because no one would dive with someone new. Just a thought.

 

[diverbrian]

Being new and all to the sport I find that the comments about never diving with someone who isn't an experianced buddy perplexing. How if you're new could you ever go diving if this was followed? Isn't part of diving giving back and teaching those that are willing and want to learn?

I'm an avid camper and backpacker. I always go out of my way to teach people who want to learn outdoor technique and skills (in the right situation). Many people spent time teaching me. It's my way of giving back or paying it forward so to speak. Maybe it's a little off topic but so many posts I read say something to the effect "never dive with someone who isn't a dive master" (my interpretation - I could be wrong it happened one time before LoL).

Eventually the sport would die (thoretically) because no one would dive with someone new. Just a thought.

Actually, there are a lot of newer, OW divers that I would dive with sooner than some DM's/Instructors that I know of. The way that I am taught is to not dive as a dependent dive buddy. Also, dive with competent dive buddies who stay within the limits of the team. This makes life far easier than diving with someone that will:

a) go into a situation where you have to be responsible for them and isn't within their limits.

or

b) ask you to dive in a situation where you are not comfortable and are dependent on them to guide you through.

 

[Jim Ernst]

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

ill take that to the bank, i do a lot of solo diving sense the GF and i split a few months ago, what can i say i love to solo dive and doing a lot of photography that i do, solo is the only way to go,

 

[in_cavediver]

Being new and all to the sport I find that the comments about never diving with someone who isn't an experianced buddy perplexing. How if you're new could you ever go diving if this was followed? Isn't part of diving giving back and teaching those that are willing and want to learn?

I'm an avid camper and backpacker. I always go out of my way to teach people who want to learn outdoor technique and skills (in the right situation). Many people spent time teaching me. It's my way of giving back or paying it forward so to speak. Maybe it's a little off topic but so many posts I read say something to the effect "never dive with someone who isn't a dive master" (my interpretation - I could be wrong it happened one time before LoL).

Eventually the sport would die (thoretically) because no one would dive with someone new. Just a thought.

The key to your comment is expierence and what is considered appropriate expierence. This should be measured for each dive. I consider myself to be a fairly expierenced diver (in some environments but no all) and collected numerous cards to clutter my wallet. I can be very picky on who I dive with for some dives. I also am willing to dive with just about anyone on other dives. This flexibility would allow a newer diver to dive with a more expierenced diver given the dive is appropriate for the new diver.

The other option is for a newer diver to go and buy more cards with an instructor to build expierence. Or pay a divemaster etc.

 

[Snowbear]

Being new and all to the sport I find that the comments about never diving with someone who isn't an experianced buddy perplexing.

Who said that?

Most folks comment about never diving with a buddy who has proved unsafe or who has a poor attitude toward buddy diving. I must have missed the comments about never diving with inexperienced buddies..... most of us are more than willing to do that, as long as the new guy has a good attitude and is willing to work on being a good buddy.