Solo diving.

[Kim]

Hi all-
There is another thread runnng that has some comments about solo diving - but not some of the things that I would like to know. As a photographer I have considered solo diving before - but have never done it. Could someone illuminate the following?

What certifications are there to learn how to solo dive?
What level of redundancy is required?
What level of training/number of dives etc. would be the entry point requirement to start solo training?
If possible - does anyone know the closest place to Japan that I could do such a course?

Any additional comments that I have not covered with the questions but are pertinant would also be welcome!

 

[in_cavediver]

Hi all-
There is another thread runnng that has some comments about solo diving - but not some of the things that I would like to know. As a photographer I have considered solo diving before - but have never done it. Could someone illuminate the following?

What certifications are there to learn how to solo dive?
What level of redundancy is required?
What level of training/number of dives etc. would be the entry point requirement to start solo training?
If possible - does anyone know the closest place to Japan that I could do such a course?

Any additional comments that I have not covered with the questions but are pertinant would also be welcome!

First, understand solo diving is not about getting the right gear. It's about taking complete and total responsibility for yourself underwater. I personally think the solo certs are a terrible idea. It just appeals to the card collectors and generates a false sense of security.

You'll know when you are ready, if ever to solo dive. The more expierence I get, the more I think solo diving has a very limited place in diving.

For redundancy, all critical equipment must be backed up. You would be totally on your own to deal with problems.

Just for the record, I believe SDI's logbook minimun is 100 dives. More info should be available on thier website.

Mike

 

[oleras]

Quote:
KimLeece
Photographer

Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Kyushu, Japan
Posts: 56

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The closest I came to dying underwater was while doing skills practice on a line in preparation for the IANTD Overhead environment cert. I was practicing with my wife and we had strung a cave line about 15ft deep in open water just off the beach. The skill in question was doing a tank shutdown and swimming a distance along the line holding your breath before opening the tank back up. When I tried to turn my tank back on I realised I had turned it off a little too tight and it wouldn't budge! My wife had been ahead of me on the line so she didn't notice what was happening. As I had already been holding my breath for the practice I really needed the air and it was extremely hard not to panic. Luckily I managed to turn it on the third attempt - I really don't know if I could of made the emergency ascent - and I really don't know what would have happened if I'd been solo - and couldn't get it back on. Like an earlier post - Murphy's Law is not to be ****ed with!. Just my 2 cents!
__________________
Kim.

A picture's worth a thousand bubbles......
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Kim....your earlier post on the solo diving thread....Why the change of heart, or do you know something about Murphy i dont ? ( My tounge may be slightly pressed against my cheek on this one...lol)

 

[quimby]

The closest I came to dying underwater was while doing skills practice on a line in preparation for the IANTD Overhead environment cert. I was practicing with my wife and we had strung a cave line about 15ft deep in open water just off the beach. The skill in question was doing a tank shutdown and swimming a distance along the line holding your breath before opening the tank back up. When I tried to turn my tank back on I realised I had turned it off a little too tight and it wouldn't budge! My wife had been ahead of me on the line so she didn't notice what was happening. As I had already been holding my breath for the practice I really needed the air and it was extremely hard not to panic. Luckily I managed to turn it on the third attempt - I really don't know if I could of made the emergency ascent - and I really don't know what would have happened if I'd been solo - and couldn't get it back on. Like an earlier post - Murphy's Law is not to be ****ed with!. Just my 2 cents!

Just as a point of interest You were solo: same ocean diving is solo. You dont sound ready for it, because you dont write as if you have the self confidence to handle it yet. My comment from that thread still stands and get more experience as solo is not something that you learn from a course or book, I believe thats a bad joke. As you gain experience and think about it, in your rig, your actions, and your planning and suddenly you are becoming more self reliant. You may at whatever time have intrepidations, but you will know that solo is acceptable for you not your ego

 

[pipedope]

Photographers really need someone looking out for them.

With a camera in hand you are likely to be focusing on the shot and not so much on the dive and/or a buddy. The best answer might be a tender rather than a buddy.
Perhaps a buddy who is an assistant to the photog, just like in a studio, only the assistant also is looking out for the diving hazards.

To photographers together are rarely going to really be buddies, unless they do something out of the ordinary. One thing that might work is one diver is taking pictures of the normal underwater subjects, the buddy is taking pictures of the first diver. The divers trade roles at times.

 

[Kim]

Kim....your earlier post on the solo diving thread....Why the change of heart, or do you know something about Murphy i dont ? ( My tounge may be slightly pressed against my cheek on this one...lol)

My earler thread is exactly the point! It's not so much a question of change of heart but presumably to get round Murphy you need to make sure that nothing CAN go wrong - i.e. critical equipment redundancy/proper training etc. The only reason that I am asking questions like these is that I know for a fact that a LOT of photographers dive solo because:
a. They know they are lousy buddies anyway
b. They are often not really 'touring' but content to stay in a very small area trying to get 'that shot'
c. Other divers can often mess up the shot they are trying to get - be it stirring up debris, or frightening the subjects.

I don't dive solo - I never have. It is obviously adding dangers into an already potentially dangerous situation. What I am trying to find out is how much those dangers can be reduced with proper training but have still not completely decided that I want that training.
I have cavern training - but wether I want to extend that to full cave is another matter. It's another example of something VERY dangerous which people still learn how to do safely - or at least supposedly (there are still lots of accidents!) - do I want to learn how to do it? Not really.

 

[glbirch]

Hi all-
There is another thread runnng that has some comments about solo diving - but not some of the things that I would like to know. As a photographer I have considered solo diving before - but have never done it. Could someone illuminate the following?

What certifications are there to learn how to solo dive?
What level of redundancy is required?
What level of training/number of dives etc. would be the entry point requirement to start solo training?
If possible - does anyone know the closest place to Japan that I could do such a course?

Any additional comments that I have not covered with the questions but are pertinant would also be welcome!

Course requirements and most of your questions should be answered in this pdf: http://www.tdicanada.com/courses/sdi/solo.pdf

Just thinking about the combination of a solo diving underwater photographer gives me the willies. At best most photographers are only giving 20% of their attention to what's going on around them, and in an emergency the first thing you should do will always be the last thing you want to do.

 

[Kim]

Just as a point of interest You were solo:

Please re-read my original post! I was practicing with my wife! The only point I was trying to make is that things CAN go wrong.
Your points about experience are noted - I have around 130 dives which is not a lot compared to many - but is way beyond beginner! I feel very confident in the water. Before I started diving - when I was younger - I did lifeguard training and did the British Royal Life Saving awards up to and including Gold. This training probably gave me my healthy respect for water that I have to this day. I also believe that you have never learned it all and need to continually practise - refine - and learn. I'm sorry if that came across as 'inexperience' - it was meant more as a form of humility as I am aware that there are so many people on this board who know so much more than I do!

 

[Boogie711]

Please re-read my original post! I was practicing with my wife!

Kim - reread Quimby's response. YOU WERE SOLO. You may have been in the water at the same time with a buddy, but unless you're diving as a team, you were solo. Like it or not. That's all he's trying to point out.

 

[Kim]

Kim - reread Quimby's response. YOU WERE SOLO. You may have been in the water at the same time with a buddy, but unless you're diving as a team, you were solo. Like it or not. That's all he's trying to point out.

OK - maybe it's a definition thing. My wife was about a meter ahead of me on the same line but she didn't glance round and notice my problem. I agree that I might just have well have been! And maybe you are correct and I was!!