Solo gear configuration

[Nemrod]

You said it, not me Captain.

But since you brought it up, why don't you employ redundancy? I read your argument that your reg has a zero failure rate (which I find hard to believe) and that you believe in redundancy enough to carry a second cutting tool. Why nothing else?

Captain was solo spearfishing the rigs before some of you were born.

Aqua Masters like he and I use are very robust and have minimal parts counts and very few O rings to fail or leak. We don't have a BC or any of that to fail, we don't rely on computers that might fail, we don't carry lights we don't need on a daylight non overhead dive to fail. Doubles are not needed for no deco diving and an octapus is not redundancy and since there is nobody to share air with since we are SOLO diving therefore eliminating it also reduces yet another failure point or several failure points in fact. One knife is enough unless your diving an environment known for entanglment and two masks are not needed because you can go straight away to the surface and you don't need a mask to accomplish that which ulitmately to mention it--the surface is your redundancy. In fact, if we use a J valve we can eliminate the spg as a failure point so pretty much there is nothing left to fail that would end a life, end a dive--yes--end a life--no.

Simple and robust beats complex and failure prone.

N

 

[Doc Harry]

Doc,

Sorry, but it sounds more like Xmass tree diving.

Dale

The only thing difference between my DIR/Hogarthian configuration and my solo configuration that you'll see is an extra compass on the left wrist and an extra dive watch on the right wrist. Everything else is compliant with strict DIR configuration.

Diving doubles with an isolator manifold in a dry suit is the same whether solo or team diving.

Diving with an spare mask and spare cutting device in right thigh pocket is normal DIR.

A can light on the right hip and a backup light on the shoulder strap is normal DIR.

Far from "Xtree tree diving." It's DIR with an extra compass and and extra watch.

Yeah, I know solo is not DIR but there isn't a big DIR group out here in West Pennsyltucky. I'm not going to change configurations for solo diving since the DIR configuration almost does it all, even for solo diving.

The first time I dove with a spare compass, I got turned around in the dark and in flat, featureless terrain. Then my primary compass failed. I didn't want to surface in a boating lane to find out where I was, so a spare compass was crucial to getting me back to shore.

I don't buy the logic of "just surfacing" if things go bad. I'm not interested in surfacing in a shipping lane because I decided not to carry a spare compass or a spare mask. In the case of failures, I want to have the option of continuing my dive until I decide when it's safe to head for the surface.

I like hearing everyone's opinion, it's food for thought.

 

[captain]

You said it, not me Captain.

But since you brought it up, why don't you employ redundancy? I read your argument that your reg has a zero failure rate (which I find hard to believe) and that you believe in redundancy enough to carry a second cutting tool. Why nothing else?

In my life time of diving I have never had a regulator fail. Lucky, maybe but I think not. I have been rebuilding them myself since it started diving, I trust my regulator and my ability to service it and like N mentioned I keep things simple.
I carry redundant cutting tools because no one type will work in all cirumstances. Sometimes I have 3 different types, knife, shears and wire cutting pliers, especially when spearfihing.
The pony bottle serves no purpose other than a place to put another regulator that I don't need.

 

[Dive-aholic]

Just what all solo divers should do, wiggle into extremely tight spaces. And I'm a fool because I don't use redundancy.

Everyone has their pleasure. Mine is pushing passages in caves. Besides, it wouldn't be real smart to wiggle into those places with another diver. Those are strictly solo dives. To buddy up for that type of penetration is foolish.

OTOH, I think it's foolish to leash yourself to a fish bigger than you and let it take you on rapid descents to unknown depths just to bring it home. I realize not all spearfishing is like this, but there are quite a few spearfishers that will do that.

 

[captain]

Everyone has their pleasure. Mine is pushing passages in caves. Besides, it wouldn't be real smart to wiggle into those places with another diver. Those are strictly solo dives. To buddy up for that type of penetration is foolish.

OTOH, I think it's foolish to leash yourself to a fish bigger than you and let it take you on rapid descents to unknown depths just to bring it home. I realize not all spearfishing is like this, but there are quite a few spearfishers that will do that.

I can let that fish go anytime I feel it is taking me someplace I don't want to go. Which is why rig spearfishermen developed the riding rig which allows a quick release of the speared fish without losing the whole speargun only the spearshaft.

 

[ClayJar]

I can let that fish go anytime I feel it is taking me someplace I don't want to go. Which is why rig spearfishermen developed the riding rig which allows a quick release of the speared fish without losing the whole speargun only the spearshaft.

Interesting. I hadn't heard of the riding rig before, but a quick look at YouTube filled me in.

​

Anyway, as for my gear configuration, for where I dive and my personal preferences, I have redundant everything (pony, two computers, two compasses, BC/lift bag/drysuit, etc...). I don't have anything dangling, but I also think "streamlining" can get a bit out of proportion, at least for dives like mine.

(It would be a lot different if I were soloing against a 0.75-knot current, I imagine.)

 

[yakandjak]

In my life time of diving I have never had a regulator fail. Lucky, maybe but I think not.

The flaw in this logic is your assumption that because you have never had a reg fail that it won’t happen to you. Applying that same logic I should go without a seatbelt and an airbag because I have never been in a car accident. Just because things haven’t happened to us yet, doesn’t mean they won’t.

Aqua Masters like he and I use are very robust and have minimal parts counts and very few O rings to fail or leak. Simple and robust beats complex and failure prone.

You are also making an assumption here, that backup or redundant systems imply some deficiency with the primary systems' integrity or quality. That isn’t the case. What redundancy does speak to is the criticality of the primary system. It may never fail but if it does, it is an essential system so we have it backed up.

If you Aqua Masters are comfortable diving the way you do that’s great and, frankly, I find your minimalist approach kinda cool. That your regs are probably older than me is way cool. But the argument that your setup would be less safe if you were carrying a pony is only valid with the assumption that it is impossible for your way cool reg to fail. You and I both know that isn’t true.

Further for you Aqua Masters, the rest of us here understand and look up to your considerable experience. That is why we are here asking our questions. And that is why I would prefer to see you qualify your remarks that your setup isn’t the norm (because it absolutely is not), and that it does assume more risk (because it undeniably does, particularly for those of us who aren’t diving your zero failure setups). This way us younger divers might take away more from your experience than your opinion that my pony bottle is unnecessary. I get enough of that attitude on the dive boats.

 

[yakandjak]

I don't have anything dangling, but I also think "streamlining" can get a bit out of proportion, at least for dives like mine.

Out of proportion, how so? I just don't think I follow your meaning.

 

[nereas]

What are your considerations with regard to:

-essential equipment

-accessibility

-redundancy

-streamlining

Thanks in advance.

I will take these in order of priority.

Streamlining is critical due to entering/exiting shipwrecks, so it must take precedence. It is also relevant to scootering efficiently, or else you will draw excess current from your DPV battery(ies).

Essential equipment normally consists of whatever you need to give you peace of mind and self assurance that you can handle any situation that may come up during your dive plan.

Usually when I dive solo, I wear my twin 72s. If not, then I will make sure to stay close enough to the surface so that I can ESA for NDL diving. Two of everything else. Two lights, two gauges, etc.

Gear accessibility is a general rule for all scuba. If I cannot reach it, then it does me no good.

The main consideration for a solo dive is KISS, to keep it simple.

Another thing is that I prefer to have my DPV with me on any solo dive. It can tow me better than any buddy, and as such it is a valuable friend. And it never leaves my side nor gets lost or separated.

 

[ClayJar]

Out of proportion, how so? I just don't think I follow your meaning.

The classic example is a diver who has an unhealthy aversion to hoses, believing that if he can but find a way to remove a single hose from his rig, his "streamlining" will improve. If that diver makes an uninformed gear decision based on a practically religious devotion to "streamlining", that would be what I refer to as out of proportion.

I know divers who swim through the water upright, dangling their console and octo, wearing gargantuan-topped dry snorkels, carrying cameras, and so on. Meanwhile, they just spent quite a bit of money on a Vytec to replace their Cobra so they'll be more streamlined. If they correct all the glaring problems first, they will almost certainly find that the single hose is background noise in the whole streamlining thing. It's perfectly acceptable, then, to get wireless AI because you want it, but what small decrease in drag it may yield is, at best, lagniappe.

As for me, I have my hoses routed so they don't stick out like hula hoops. I have my pony slung so that it doesn't hang a foot below me. I have my lights, SPG, and such clipped off and not dangling. I dive in trim and spend most of my time coasting or hovering. After all that, although I *could* improve my streamlining (perhaps by buying a smaller wing for when I dive warm water or by removing an SPG and going wireless), the improvements I could make by streamlining are simply not of considerable enough magnitude to be worth it for the way I dive.

(Hehe, did I explain it better? Basically, I love streamlining, but I'm not a stranger to the concepts of low-hanging fruit and of diminishing returns, i.e. fix the *big* problems *first* and don't assume that because something is *better* it must be *worthwhile*.)