Bob, I don't want to speak for others but I can't imagine that anybody else does either. But your comments, which as an instructor really surprise me, throw training as a general institution under the bus. Maybe you intended to say "bad" training instead of just training? I don't think anyone would disagree with that.
Hmmm ... I think you do. Let's get back to the closing statements in your article ...
adventure dude:
So What is the Answer to the Solo Diving Debate
Simple really. If you are a diver who wants to dive solo, you don’t have to be inconvenienced but you do have to be trained, have a solo diving certification and use the correct techniques and equipment – especially a redundant air supply. Dive resorts, operators, instructors and divemasters need to step up and promote solo diving training and not allow people without the necessary training and equipment to dive without buddies. Then, when someone shows up to dive and flashes their solo diving c-card, we need to say, “That’s awesome; have fun. Enjoy your solo dive.”
So you would deny someone with 40 years and thousands of dives worth of experience the right to solo dive, while saying "That's awesome; have fun" to the person who's been diving for six months and has a shiny new c-card.
My issue with not just the content of your article, but the implications of it, are the assumption that a c-card is somehow going to magically transform someone into a qualified solo diver, and that without it you aren't qualified.
The problem with a solo course is exactly the same as it is with other courses ... which is that while there are some well-intentioned standards and some reasonably good material included in the class, there is little in the way of consistency in the quality of the training, which pretty much boils down to who's teaching it.
You can get away with that for most recreational classes, because ... let's face it ... an awful lot can go wrong during a typical recreational dive and you can still get out of it pretty much intact. But once you start removing the safety net ... which is exactly what you're doing when you decide to solo dive ... you reduce the degree of what can go wrong before it leads to a tragic event.
So let's talk about that class for a moment. How do they teach gas management? Carry a pony? Do they go into how to plan their dives with adequate gas reserves based on the dive plan? Or does it just boil down to "if anything goes wrong, switch to your reserve gas and go?" Stress management? Does the class give them any exercises that will determine how well they will function when they're task loaded and something goes wrong and there's nobody around to help? Do they learn ditch and don? Lost mask? Can they reach behind them and manipulate their tank valve? Can they reach their pony valve? Do they know how to make sure their redundant air is deployable if it's needed? Just carrying it won't do a damn bit of good if they can't assure it's accessible when needed.
And when do they get introduced to the notion that once they've learned a skill, they only get proficient at it by PRACTICING the skill?
And when does the class teach them anything about the importance of exercising good judgement?
Another thing that bothers me about how you're promoting it ... I really don't think the course should be promoted as a "shortcut" to learning proper buddy skills.
adventure dude:
Given the above facts from DAN, why would anyone want to solo dive? I’ve read all the Zen and hocus pocus reasons for solo diving and for the vast majority of solo divers it’s a much simpler explanation. And here it is –
It can be inconvenient to dive with a buddy.
It’s really that simple. Most divers that dive solo don’t want to be bothered with having a buddy, keeping track of another person, taking care of a less experienced diver or adjusting their dive plan for somebody else that may run low on air faster or doesn’t want to spend an hour watching a mimic octopus. Its just the way that they chose to make their dive and there’s nothing wrong with it.
What you're saying is that solo diving can substitute for diver awareness and self-discipline ... two skills that a solo diver needs MORE ... not less ... than someone who dives with a buddy.
And that's, really, what's making me uncomfortable about what you're promoting ... you're trying to sell people the course as a substitute for developing skills that they're going to need anyway.
Solo diving isn't about avoiding "inconvenience", or not having to keep track of what's going on around you, or not having to adjust your dive plan. Are you kidding me? If anything, the solo diver damn well better be more prepared than ever to do those things.
You've missed the whole point of solo diving ... which has nothing at all to do with the perceived inadequacies of the buddy system. Most people solo dive for one reason only ... because they want to. Why they want to is irrelevent. And how they can best learn the skills needed will depend on the diver. For some ... particularly newer ... divers, a class can be helpful. For others, it's a complete waste of time.
But even for the newer diver, providing them with inadequate training for the wrong reasons can, and eventually will, do more harm than good ... because it'll leave them with a false sense of security that they're more qualified than they really are. And as long as nothing goes wrong, they'll probably be OK ... but the whole point of training is to learn how to deal with things when they DO go wrong ... and being down there all alone when an o-ring blows or you get entangled in a coil of steel leader that some fisherman thoughtfully left in your way is a helluva a bad time to find out that you aren't as prepared to deal with it as you thought you were.
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
