I dive solo frequently and enjoy it immensely.
Solo Diving
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trymixdiver
Guest
Solo Diving is an acceptable risk for me.
I feel just as safe diving solo as i do when my buddy comes along. We dive together but unless there is a total gas failure ( not gonna happen with 4 regs, manifolded doubles, a stage and deco bottle) i dont really need him for gas. if i become incapacitated and he needs to get me out of the water thats a different story, but risk is acceptable to me.
IF i convulse i have a chance with the FFM on so thats not an issue for me. So other than me getting hit by a passing Submarine theres not much to worry about in terms of mye being unable to self rescue.
Fire away folks
Andy
I feel just as safe diving solo as i do when my buddy comes along. We dive together but unless there is a total gas failure ( not gonna happen with 4 regs, manifolded doubles, a stage and deco bottle) i dont really need him for gas. if i become incapacitated and he needs to get me out of the water thats a different story, but risk is acceptable to me.
IF i convulse i have a chance with the FFM on so thats not an issue for me. So other than me getting hit by a passing Submarine theres not much to worry about in terms of mye being unable to self rescue.
Fire away folks
Andy
Dolphinus
Registered
Solo diving has its risks, when you get into a difficult situation you have nobody to ask for help but yourself. Meticulous preparation and planning, redundancy in equipment, a well fit body and mind, and experience will help a diver be sucessful with solo diving.
I myself tried solo diving and I was so conservative when I dive solo. I double checked my equipment and made sure that I have all I need in an emergency situation, but still in the back of my mind I have some questions like, "who will help me if I get narcosis?" "what will I do if my equipment fails on me including my back up?" "What will happen if I pass out underwater?". All these questions are unanswered because I never encountered these situations, Thank God.
Diving with a buddy also is not an assurance that you will be helped when an emergency situation arises. If you have a buddy that panics or is just plain stupid then you are doomed. Just remember, whether you dive solo or dive with a buddy, be prepared and expect the unexpected. Accidents happen when you least expect it. Dive safe, Dive deep, but continue diving.
I myself tried solo diving and I was so conservative when I dive solo. I double checked my equipment and made sure that I have all I need in an emergency situation, but still in the back of my mind I have some questions like, "who will help me if I get narcosis?" "what will I do if my equipment fails on me including my back up?" "What will happen if I pass out underwater?". All these questions are unanswered because I never encountered these situations, Thank God.
Diving with a buddy also is not an assurance that you will be helped when an emergency situation arises. If you have a buddy that panics or is just plain stupid then you are doomed. Just remember, whether you dive solo or dive with a buddy, be prepared and expect the unexpected. Accidents happen when you least expect it. Dive safe, Dive deep, but continue diving.
Arduous
Contributor
Solo diving
I do it all the time. Looking at my log before replying to this thread, I see that the vast majority of my diving is done solo. There is nothing wrong with an experienced competent diver going solo as long as he is properly trained & equipped. I enjoy diving with people, but I also very much enjoy my solo dives.When Im solo I control the dive. I stay longer or go deeper or terminated the dive earlier with out inconveniencing or pressuring anyone else. I can do what interests me and not worry about what someone else is doing or where theyre wandering off too. At 100 fsw a friend is hard to find in an emergency. Can you really count on your buddy to do what is needed ? Anyone can talk a good game, but when the moment of truth comes, what will they do ? I work for a small government agency in Massachusetts. In a crisis situation, I have seen highly trained professionals turn tail and run and I have seen the average Joe public do the most heroic of things. Bottom line is in an under water emergency, will your buddy be any good to you, or no good to you at all. When and if the time comes you had better be self sufficient and be able to rescue yourself. Solo diving isnt for everyone. There are some people who should never solo dive. There are also some people who should never dive period ! ( Ever ) If you are comfortable, confident & competent, there is no reason why you cant solo dive. If you have any doubts DONT. When it comes to either diving solo or not diving at all, Im going solo
Arduous
Arduous
CuriousMe
Guest
I'm pretty newly certified, so I can only speak for my OW class, but we did everything in buddy teams. We were a pretty small class, just 5 of us...so one person was always buddied with the instructor. (that person changed each time)
Every time we got on the boat (our confined water was in a bay, so we still took the dive boat out to it) we were buddied (hmm is that a word?) up. We did a buddy check before entering the water each time, descended stuck together, and performed our skills together (obviously with the instructor watching) assended together and got on the boat again. We even filled out our logs together as we spoke about what we learned or saw or were thinking while we were under.
We weren't great at first (that whole thinking about someone as well as your self)...in the begining you're just trying to figure out how to use the gear you've got strapped on you <grin> but we got better with gentle reminders from our very patient instructor.
I still dive with folks from my class...in a lot of ways, I prefer them as buddies since I know more of how they'll react to a situation....and we have the same idea of what being a buddy means.
Just my .02 sorry if it's off topic from the original post of this thread.
Good for you Cathie, that's the way it should be.
Kayla
Contributor
diving alone is pretty ridiculous, and pretty stupid. if something was to go wrong, you would be all alone under there, with no one to turn too. i know a lot of people do it, but i wouldn't reccommend it at all. just seems to me that if you value your life at all, you will wait to dive until you have a partner.
Kayla
Kayla
Dear Kayla:
I respectfully disagree with your suggestion that solo diving is stupid and dangerous.
Diving, whether with or without a buddy, is about risk management. How else can you explain your octopus if not to manage the risk of primary failure, whether yours or your buddy's? Similarly, weights are dumpable in order to manage the risk of losing buoyancy.
It is possible for an experienced diver to manage the risks of solo diving by planning a conservative dive and carrying fully redundant systems. That doesn't mean the stuff they give you in OW class. It means an independent backup for every single system that keeps me alive.
I respectfully disagree with your suggestion that solo diving is stupid and dangerous.
Diving, whether with or without a buddy, is about risk management. How else can you explain your octopus if not to manage the risk of primary failure, whether yours or your buddy's? Similarly, weights are dumpable in order to manage the risk of losing buoyancy.
It is possible for an experienced diver to manage the risks of solo diving by planning a conservative dive and carrying fully redundant systems. That doesn't mean the stuff they give you in OW class. It means an independent backup for every single system that keeps me alive.
"How else can you explain your octopus if not to manage the risk of primary failure, whether yours or your buddy's?"
What can possibly happen to a downstream system that you would want to throw away your prime in mid water to use the octopus yourself?
What can possibly happen to a downstream system that you would want to throw away your prime in mid water to use the octopus yourself?
Devilfish,
A free flow comes to mind. Of course all of us should be able to manage that problem however if I found myself in that situation I would drop the primary and use the octo while making my ascent to the surface to end the dive. I could ascend on the free flowing primary but IMHO switching to the octo would provide less task loading for the ascent.
My $.02
jbd
A free flow comes to mind. Of course all of us should be able to manage that problem however if I found myself in that situation I would drop the primary and use the octo while making my ascent to the surface to end the dive. I could ascend on the free flowing primary but IMHO switching to the octo would provide less task loading for the ascent.
My $.02
jbd
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