Solo Diving: It's time to set the record straight

[adventure dude]

I'm leaving in about an hour to teach a PDIC Solo Diver class to a NJ wreck diver. During our phone conversation he stated that everyone dives solo off NJ because you can't stay with your buddy in those conditions. After I discussed team procedures for no vis and lost mask situations, we agreed that divers choose to dive solo and that there are no conditions which force solo diving.

Divers either believe they must dive solo because they don't possess the team skills needed when task-loaded or in poor visibility. Boat operators may choose buddy teams as easily as asking, "Who here doesn't have a buddy?" But, team diving is a skill much the same way as other team sports require practice and discipline. Solo divers who choose to solo because of poor team skills paint solo divers as undisciplined the same way team divers are often branded as being incapable of going it alone. There is a lot of ignorance surrounding team and solo diving. During the first dive in solo class, the diver learns the benefit of diving as a unified buddy team while we examine critical skills. Some divers have never been exposed to disciplined team diving and it is a chance to present the option to remove some ignorance from the mind of a prospective solo diver so he or she can choose to solo dive for right reasons rather than wrong ones.

What is a right reason? Much the same as choosing to go hiking, to the mall, to shoot baskets, or for a walk on the beach by oneself. You simply wish to enjoy doing something without company. You could get mauled by a bear, robbed at a mall, encounter gang members by choosing the wrong hoops, or knocked over by an unexpected wave. Having friends with you at all times during life makes us safer. If we are mauled by a bear a friend can administer first aid and get help. If we are with two or three friends at a mall, we are less likely to be targeted by a robber. If we are shooting baskets with friends and gang members are unhappy about our choice of courts, there may be less chance of violence because there is strength in numbers. If we get knocked into the sea by a wave, a friend can rescue us or find a lifeguard.

Scuba diving is just another part of our world and our daily lives. As much as it may seem to be separate and unusual, it isn't. While you are at your computer this moment, imagine all the dive boats in all the world that went our today either loaded or partially loaded with divers. Right now, someone is probably diving alone or with a buddy. Sometimes accidents happen while alone and sometimes they happen with a buddy. A woman is probably safer being escorted by a big burly bodyguard as she goes about her daily life. Her chances of being a victim of crime are greatly reduced. But, how many of us would say that women don't have the right to choose to live their lives without escort? Or, women who choose to go to the mall alone or for a run in the park in the middle of the day are stupid? It's unrealistic for a woman to live her life paranoid and to abandon her personal space and freedoms for fear of encountering a serial killer or out of fear that she may find herself in a dangerous situation. Having to have a companion when she wants to do an activity alone, would take away from the joy of that activity. There is an elevated risk for a woman running alone in a park, but many women do just that every day and find joy and peace of mind on the bricks alone. All of us are slightly more vulnerable underwater, but many divers find joy in being there alone.

Nice post. Well thought out.

 

[adventure dude]

I find your analysis superficial. Here is a technically accurate fact: The vast majority of people who die in the US are on Medicare. Unsupported conclusion: Medicare will kill you. Quoting your blog:

What you will find is that most of the accident commentaries begin with something like this, “The body was found or recovered at …..” You see, it is very, very rare for a diver to die in a diving accident when their buddy is with them. Conversely, the vast majority of people who die in diving accidents are alone – without a buddy.​

What percentage of deaths while diving start with a buddy? Let's say we are diving in 20' of visibility. You find something interesting at the moment I have a heart attach, cerebral hemorrhage, or stroke just outside of your field of view. You turn around in 20 seconds and find me gone. Was I diving alone, solo, is it your fault? If deaths occur when a dive begins with a buddy, is the buddy system dangerous?

What percentage of deaths are actual diving accidents versus medical conditions that erupt while doing a physical activity? Is there anyway to determine if a buddy had you on the surface under 2 minutes, onshore in 15 minutes, and in a ambulance or on a helicopter in 20 minutes that the outcome would likely be different?

How many diving deaths are caused by a panicked buddy? Ask a life guard about the risks. What percentage of deaths occur on solo walks in the park versus when with a companion? How many partners wake to find their spouse dead and cold. Just because you are not alone does not necessarily make an activity measurably safer. Solo training courses don’t make up for physically out of condition divers who are not very competent in the water to start with.

You can find the answers to almost all those questions in DANs Annual Report and Diving Fatality Statistics.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

So for everyone that has responded so far: do you or do you not have a redundant air source when you solo dive. Thanks for your answers.

Actually, I do ... but there's a great deal more that needs to go into preparation for solo diving than simply using a redundant air source.

A couple years ago I wrote my own article on the subject ... it focuses more on the thought process behind solo diving than it does on pushing people to getting another C-card ... NWGratefulDiver.com

This isn't right. The dive industry and specifically shops, resorts and boats need to step up and acknowledge any certification from an accredited agency - especially Solo Diver. That's no different than not allowing someone to deco dive who has the training and cert. Not good from the industry.

I'll disagree ... dive charters should have the right to set their own criteria, based on their own goals and risk assessments. As long as they're clear and consistent, they are under no obligation to recognize anyone's certification.

Exactly. Its all about having the training and experience. Cave, deco and wreck penetration all teach a more advanced form of solo diving, because they are. In many instances, buddy diving in those environments is either impractical or impossible.

I think you're confusing solo diving and self-sufficiency ... they are not the same thing.

There are a number of solo divers in this forum that have been solo diving long before a cert existed for it - me included. In fact, I began diving in 1977 and didn't get an O/W cert until '88, so I certainly know what you mean. But what about someone coming into it today? Someone who is just building their experience? Is the message that we want to send to them, "don't worry about training or certification, if you're a good diver you'll be OK?"

No ... the message I want to send them is that getting certified to dive in a particular way doesn't necessarily make you qualified to do that dive. A great many people who get certified find that out on their own ... sometimes the hard way.

I know a number of u/w photogs that make great buddies but a lot more that don't.

That's because they were never taught how. Oddly, a great many of those who don't started out by taking an u/w photography class. So what did their C-card gain them? Some basic knowledge in taking pictures, perhaps ... but there's more to underwater photography than taking pictures. Buoyancy control and situational awareness are basic skills that any u/w photographer needs. And if you're diving with a buddy, you have to know something about how to set expectations, communicate, and position yourself to BE a buddy.

I also wrote an article on the subject of being a photographer's dive buddy. It identifies the methods and mentality that any diver can use to develop those skills.

You statement simply re-affirms my point ... which is that taking a class doesn't guarantee you will come out of it with the skills to do that particular type of diving properly ... you still need to work on proficiency. Sadly, too many classes don't even provide you with the basic tools to get started down that path.

It is important that we address the new solo diver and this does that. Also, I see a lot of current solo divers diving without a redundant air supply.

I have no issue with telling someone who is considering solo diving that they should take the class. I have a problem with assuming that the class will be sufficient to make them into a solo diver.

If there is no "formalized" training for this, where do you think people should get the experience?

Mentors work great ... they are, and have always been, a legitimate way to learn diving skills.

Bob, you are correct in saying that a number of fatalities occur every year when buddies become separated and don't follow lost buddy procedures. It is also fact that a number of undertrained and under prepared solo divers die every year. Its all in DANs Annual Report and their fatality statistics. The original post was factually and statistically correct.

You can find the answers to almost all those questions in DANs Annual Report and Diving Fatality Statistics.

The statistics aren't as meaningful as you suggest ... because they only tell you the proximate cause of the accident ... not the root cause. It's usually the case that accidents aren't the result of inadequate training so much as inadequate decision-making ... often the root cause can be traced back to decisions that were made before the diver(s) ever got in the water.

Training doesn't really address that much, because most training classes feed their students full of platitudes like "Plan your dive and dive your plan" ... or "End the dive with 500 psi" ... without ever providing the knowledge of how to actually DO it.

Training often doesn't provide sufficient knowledge ... solo diving is one of those areas where I firmly believe that is so ... at best it provides the student with enough information to help them ask the right questions and identify the requisite skills. Where I think promoting certification falls short is that it provides the student with a false sense of security by making them think they're actually qualified once the class is over.

We see it all the time with new divers who get rushed from OW into AOW and come out with 9 or 10 dives thinking that they're OK to jump in the water and go notch that 100-foot dive ... not even realizing they haven't yet learned anything about gas management and can barely control their buoyancy. Sure, if nothing goes wrong they're probably OK ... but at the least sign of a problem they can find themselves in a really bad situation that they are completely unprepared to deal with.

Suggesting that a solo diving certification is going to make you somehow "qualified" for solo diving isn't much different ... because the things that the class doesn't quantify are the student's ability to deal with stress in a rational way, or to manage their awareness to avoid "focusing" on a small issue while not noticing the bigger one that's in the process of becoming a serious problem.

Like any other type of diving, it's less about getting "certified" than it is about learning how to think through what you're doing, why you're doing it, and whether you've prepared for it properly. The c-card's just one step in the process ... and not necessarily the most important one. In fact, whether it's useful at all will really depend on the diver.

FWIW - no one taught me how to solo dive. I've had a handful of great instructors and mentors who've taught me how to think through my dive before I get in the water. Once those skills were acquired, I found that they were directly applicable to diving solo ... as they were to many other types of diving that I do.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[AfterDark]

There are a number of solo divers in this forum that have been solo diving long before a cert existed for it - me included. In fact, I began diving in 1977 and didn't get an O/W cert until '88, so I certainly know what you mean. But what about someone coming into it today? Someone who is just building their experience? Is the message that we want to send to them, "don't worry about training or certification, if you're a good diver you'll be OK?"

That is the problem, the new divers. The training of new divers IMO has gone down hill over the years in general. There are instructors some posted here that are fighting the decline but that only helps a small % of divers. When I was certified it was a 12 week course 2 nights per week four hours per night, with four open water dives one of which was a simulated deco dive. When I got my C-card it was worth something and I was ready to dive.
These 4 day wonder courses only prepare the student for more training and IMO it is outrageous and irresponsible that a C-card is issued to these people. I know for a fact that some people after a 4 day course are offered an AOW course before their new unearned OW C-card is even in their wallets. They haven't one hour of real world diving and yet they are ready for AOW? Outrageous! Dangerous!

IMO as long as the current training model is in use we will continue to have new "divers" that are ill prepared to do any diving, solo or otherwise.

Yes I do have a redundant air supply as well as a redundant depth gauge and compass, and timepiece. I carry my tables in my BC pocket in case my computer fails.
I leave a dive plan similar to a float plan for boating on my PC monitor and a hard copy in my car parked at the dive site and on my kitchen table. It's called being prepared. Diving is only fun if you come back.

 

[Puffer Fish]

First, thanks to everyone that has weighed in on this subject with a thoughtful or lucid comment. Soliciting feedback wasn't just lip service. This is a community and that's about conversation, not just one person's opinion. I'll respond personally to all the comments that were either thoughtful or lucid. For those of you that don't think training or certifications are necessary and that you should be able to do anything you want to do on any dive, we'll just have to agree to disagree and leave it at that. Someone asked who certified the first solo diver? To that, we might all ask who certified the first diver period. According the accident statistics in DAN's annual report, its clear that (some or most) solo divers need more training.

So for everyone that has responded so far: do you or do you not have a redundant air source when you solo dive. Thanks for your answers.

I dive with an attached pony when doing shallow (above 100 ft) dives, and two bottles if deeper (one with 50% in it).

Use a mulitgas computer and plan the dive so neither the bottle is necessary to safely complete the dive.

 

[Puffer Fish]

The boat I dive off of a lot requires new divers to the gulf to have a dive master with them. They believe that as the diving here is not easy OW diving that they need to make sure that people are safe. Having a pocket full of cards would not deter them.

They also require people who are experienced to have a buddy.. unless they know for a fact that you are capable of safely doing solo diving. Not sure on the number, but it would have to be 20 or 30 people that they let dive solo off their boat.

So if someone shows up with a solo certification card, how would they react? I would guess it would depend on how much experience they have with current/bad vis/deep conditions, but my guess is they would first require them to make a normal dive with someone.

 

[adventure dude]

That is the problem, the new divers. The training of new divers IMO has gone down hill over the years in general. There are instructors some posted here that are fighting the decline but that only helps a small % of divers. When I was certified it was a 12 week course 2 nights per week four hours per night, with four open water dives one of which was a simulated deco dive. When I got my C-card it was worth something and I was ready to dive.

Absolutely. In our rush to get as many new divers into the sport and make it as accessible as possible, diver preparedness has suffered considerably.

 

[AfterDark]

The boat I dive off of a lot requires new divers to the gulf to have a dive master with them. They believe that as the diving here is not easy OW diving that they need to make sure that people are safe. Having a pocket full of cards would not deter them.

They also require people who are experienced to have a buddy.. unless they know for a fact that you are capable of safely doing solo diving. Not sure on the number, but it would have to be 20 or 30 people that they let dive solo off their boat.

So if someone shows up with a solo certification card, how would they react? I would guess it would depend on how much experience they have with current/bad vis/deep conditions, but my guess is they would first require them to make a normal dive with someone.

I agree, go to my 1st post I stated there a checkout dive should be the norm.
Cards only mean for sure that you paid your money. Everything else is still an unknown until you prove yourself. There is also of course the limits set by agencies that those certified as professionals must follow.

 

[adventure dude]

Actually, I do ... but there's a great deal more that needs to go into preparation for solo diving than simply using a redundant air source.

Of course there is but a redundant air source is a key component and one that is often missing.

A couple years ago I wrote my own article on the subject ... it focuses more on the thought process behind solo diving than it does on pushing people to getting another C-card

Bob, you seem to be missing a significant point in the post. Whenever certification is talked about, it is in the context of proper training, mindset, self sufficiency & procedures. The certification is only a piece and in and of itself doesn't not constitute the final answer.

I think you're confusing solo diving and self-sufficiency ... they are not the same thing.

self sufficency is a piece of solo diving as it is for the other diving disciplines mentioned

You statement simply re-affirms my point ... which is that taking a class doesn't guarantee you will come out of it with the skills to do that particular type of diving properly

agreed

I have no issue with telling someone who is considering solo diving that they should take the class. I have a problem with assuming that the class will be sufficient to make them into a solo diver.

But its the best place to start for someone wanting to begin solo diving. Most people not following this route are just out there doing it with no training and very little if any planning.

The statistics aren't as meaningful as you suggest ... because they only tell you the proximate cause of the accident ... not the root cause. It's usually the case that accidents aren't the result of inadequate training so much as inadequate decision-making ... often the root cause can be traced back to decisions that were made before the diver(s) ever got in the water.

Actually, the stats are very meaningful. And many accidents are absolutely caused by poor training because a big part of training is the decision making and decision tree process. You have it completely backwards. Why do you think any elite military unit drills and drills and drills? - So they don't have to invent a response for a specific action when it happens. Learning both a decision making framework and the best decisions for specific situations is exactly what training is for.

Training often doesn't provide sufficient knowledge.

Bob, we will just have to agree to disagree on that one. When done well, that is precisely what training is for. Its it whole purpose.

We see it all the time with new divers who get rushed from OW into AOW and come out with 9 or 10 dives thinking that they're OK to jump in the water and go notch that 100-foot dive ... not even realizing they haven't yet learned anything about gas management and can barely control their buoyancy. Sure, if nothing goes wrong they're probably OK ... but at the least sign of a problem they can find themselves in a really bad situation that they are completely unprepared to deal with.

This is true. But again you're confusing "training" with a poor or incomplete certification.

FWIW - no one taught me how to solo dive. I've had a handful of great instructors and mentors who've taught me how to think through my dive before I get in the water.

That's great and it looks like this training has served you well - especially for a guy that doesn't seem to believe in training.

P.S. Its nice to see that you have a fan section

 

[AndyNZ]

During the inception of the PDIC Solo class, I really wanted to allow students to have the experience of being trained for solo diving at their highest levels. Many technical divers do dive alone and I felt that it would benefit them to be able to find value in learning lessons in the disciplines they may choose to dive. I also wanted all such training in caves, wrecks, deep dives, or using while rebreathers to be allowed according to standards.

I wish I'd done the same with my Self Reliant class, Trace. I was very defensive in it to get it past PADI and one of the exclusions was overhead environments... yet I now realise that a lot of the wreck divers in our area would benefit from a bit more of an overhead-orientated course. C'est la vie, maybe I'll just start running post-class non-certification workshops.

My course sounds like yours, in the sense that the early parts are very much about having a unified team of like-minded divers, but preparing them for the situation when the fan is fully clogged with manure and they have to deal with it alone. As I understand the SDI course, the intent of the course is much the same - it's not to prepare people to solo dive, but to get them thinking about the implications of solo diving. it is interesting the degree of variation in attitude amongst the SDI solo instructors I know, mind you, so there is little consistency.





I will also throw my voice into the arguments against the "divers are often found dead alone, therefore solo diving is unsafe" view. You've just got to look at the DAN reports that goes into a lot more detail of known incidents. Buddy separation is way more statistically significant. Saying that "a dead diver was found alone" is about as useful as saying "most scuba diving deaths are caused by drowning"... which is entirely true, yet utterly misleading. You need to know what the trigger event was to know how to mitigate the risks.