Solo diving training

[DevonDiver]

I think you might try ''make belive'' solo. In this senario, you dive with a buddy but put some distance between each other. Like swimming parralle to each other just at the end of vis. This is what I will do with a buddy when we lobster dive.

Eh!?!?

You attempt to 'recreate' solo diving, through the deliberately bad buddy skills??

This will achieve the 'simulation' of not having someone to wave at during the dive.... but doesn't accurately represent the real issues inherent with solo diving... that of being alone and unassisted when the s#%t hits the fan....

This is what I will do with a buddy when we lobster dive. We periodically lose each other but if both stay on course pick each other up. Always wear a sounder on your tank for trouble. This may get your feet wet.

It amazes me how easily an excuse can be found to justify unsafe diving practices.

 

[Dive-aholic]

The Solo Diver course is an SDI course, not TDI. The course materials explicitly state no solo decompression or overhead dives.

That being said, the course standards are very watered down and any instructor who is simply teaching to the standards is doing students a disservice. Not many divers can be prepared to do solo dives in only two dives. I know I won't issue a solo card after only two dives with a student. A good solo diver course should teach you how to be a great team member before you can be a good solo diver. If you can't be aware of what's going on with your buddy, you won't be that great at detecting your own issues. If you decide to take a solo diver course, make sure you interview any potential instructors at length to get an idea of what the course will really teach you.

 

[DaleC]

I would agree that the solo course doesn't offer much more than can be gleaned by a little self study though a good instructor could make the course worthwhile.

I would also say only solo if it really speaks to you, just like cave or deep diving. All the cool kids are into the team concept these days anyways

 

[aquaregia]

If there had been a wingless diving class, I might not have tried it before taking the class. I've spent pretty close to my entire life in formal education (ages 3 to 28?), so I gravitate towards that sort of thing. However, I don't really want to waste my time on certification activities that don't offer actual training or education.

 

[Jim Malone]

I am a solo diver from time to time, they only real problem is zipping up my drysuit.
Diving solo for me is like having a meditative experience, where you are alone, focused on what you are doing. You can really enjoy the dive, stop, and swim where you want. I spend a lot of time enjoying the buoyancy part. And without a true buddy-combo , i consider all dives solo dives.
I don't rely on the fact that buddies are their to help you when an emergency occurs. all my systems are redundant, and i only solo dive within recreational limits, or on the other side of the spectrum where a buddy poses an additional risk because you have two people to worry about.
I am convinced that 75% of the insta buddies i dive with have no clue where i am, what i am doing or would be capable of helping me in a real catastrophic failure.
So solo diving is just that "solo diving", you sit down , think about your skills, plan your dive, get a kit that is double redundant and you build up your confidence to handle the situation.
Do pool training where you remove your mask and drill untill every movement turns into musscle movement, and you instinctively know where everything is. Ask other divers to shut off your air supply and train going to your back-up.
Learn to stop freeflows, learn to remove your jacket and close and open valves blindly. learn finstroke techniques with one fin. learn to cut rope, and fishnets without mask.
And keep people aware of where and when you dive, with an expected time of resurfacing, so they can start a retrieval when you fail to report.

And have fun.

 

[DevonDiver]

Off-Topic Posts

I've unapproved a bunch of off-topic posts. Let me know if you want them moved to the Pub as a new thread, otherwise I will delete them. Cheers.
​

 

[sylpha]

i have a problem with solo diving courses, i don't see how they can be assessed as by definition the instructor being present the diver is not solo.

i can see that having a card will satisfy the skipper's insurance company if anything goes wrong.

solo diving is a state of mind. you have to have the good techniques and practices which should be taught on any good course. confidence and perfection (?) of these techniques comes with practise so basically when you have learned the basics it's down to practise & a responsible attitude.

i have to say that when i have my camera i'm either a rubbish buddy or a rubbish photographer, i have a number of friends who feel the same way about themselves and in situations where we have to buddy dive we choose to dive at the same time.

 

[DevonDiver]

i have a problem with solo diving courses, i don't see how they can be assessed as by definition the instructor being present the diver is not solo.

The instructor can observe from a distance, hiding like a safety-aware Ninja.

i can see that having a card will satisfy the skipper's insurance company if anything goes wrong.

..and maybe their personal morality and ethics... when they have previously been approached by divers who clearly have no place solo diving...

 

[waterpirate]

I would also say only solo if it really speaks to you, just like cave or deep diving. All the cool kids are into the team concept these days anyways [/QUOTE]


Thank you for that, I ruined the key board on my net book.
Eric

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

I've been sort of curious about the solo diver course, for the material rather than the card. I'm not a solo diver, but it seems like the vast majority of people talking about the solo diver course are already solo divers looking to legitimize the activities they're already doing. I've been sort of curious about solo diving, but it seems that doing it to see if I want to take a course is sort of backwards. Is the course appropriate for a diver who up until this point has only been a buddied diver, assuming that the instructor is a solo diver himself rather than an instructor who has the ability to certify solo divers?

I think the statement I highlighted is a key one to consider. As others have mentioned, I think the instructor could make the solo course valuable, but I am still not certain that "solo diving" per se can really be "taught".

Skills can be taught (and hopefully learned), but judgement and experience need to be developed over time for most of us, and I feel that the skills to safely dive in a given dive environment are the same whether solo or on a "buddy" dive.

So, I'm just not sure that taking a solo course would be money well spent. Pursuing actual technical training may be the better course of action.... Sorry, I'm one of those knuckle-draggers who don't consider solo diving to automatically be "tech" diving, unless there is great depth, deco or an overhead involved.

I think just continuing to develop you core diving skills will serve you well, and if and when you decide to begin solo diving, you'll be ready.

Best wishes.