Solo Kit setup: the required, redundant, optional, and hell-no items

[34109411]

i did solo diving ssi class i could not tell you about padi you could check the content of the course and compare both. I assume they are similar.

The class either with padi or ssi will check you skills to see if you are up to it. This include among other things(might forget stuff...) navigation, mask removal, deployment of dsmb, using a redundant system in most case in the course a pony bottle, demonstrate the ability to use it and so on.

After the certification it s up to you to continue to dive solo or not. I think the best training is to go out there alone.

Be safe and enjoy the class

 

[RIHappyDiver]

Do you recommend doing the PADI self reliant or doing the SSI variant? I have done everything through padi in the past.

I, basically, combined them. There is no SDI shop that does the solo course in our area, so I bought, and read, their manual. Then, I talked a local PADI shop into teaching the Self Reliant course. I got more out of the SDI manual than the PADI, and my instructor was teaching the class for the first time.
I need to say, though, that the only reason I took the course was my wife. She didn’t like me diving by myself without some sort of training. I don’t know that I learned a whole lot more than I already knew. The class definitely didn’t teach me any more than the manuals, but, again, first time instructor. So it has really come down to experience.
One last thing, at least for the class. If your “I just don’t log dives” isn’t just for fun, you may want to start. Some instructors, by no means all, do check your log for the 100 minimum dives.

Hope that helps,

Erik

By the way @34109411 , you took the SDI course, not SSI. I’m looking forward to the spring to follow more of your solo sidemount journey!

 

[Wallowa]

That wasn't my question. I was asking if one agency is better for learning this particular certification for the fundamentals. Obviously, the experience and judgment is on the individual, but do either of these agencies have more a rigorous training vs the other? I prefer to go with the more difficult one that has higher standards. From the past, I have heard it was SSI but want real world input.

I avoided answering the question of which agency would provide superior education for a reason....I was a PADI Master Instructor and a NAUI Instructor for 25+ years....which of these two or any other agency will provide you with the "best" experience and development is entirely dependent on the quality of the instructor and not the agency; curriculum is secondary to excellence of instruction....sometimes a fellow diver with the good judgement I referred to and lots of water time would be your best bet....patches and certs do not signify competency nor level of watermanship....just my opinion and I could be wrong...

 

[tursiops]

i did solo diving ssi class i could not tell you about padi you could check the content of the course and compare both. I assume they are similar.

The class either with padi or ssi will check you skills to see if you are up to it. This include among other things(might forget stuff...) navigation, mask removal, deployment of dsmb, using a redundant system in most case in the course a pony bottle, demonstrate the ability to use it and so on.

After the certification it s up to you to continue to dive solo or not. I think the best training is to go out there alone.

Be safe and enjoy the class

What is the actual name of the SSI solo class? I cannot find it. Do you have a link?

ADDED: I can find some shops hat offer "SSI Independent Diver" training, but the specialty course (and associated Standards) is not on the SSI webside. ??

 

[RIHappyDiver]

What is the actual name of the SSI solo class? I cannot find it. Do you have a link?

ADDED: I can find some shops hat offer "SSI Independent Diver" training, but the specialty course (and associated Standards) is not on the SSI webside. ??

I’m pretty confident that he misspoke (mistyped?). He has always mentioned SDI, and his list of certs below his posts shows SDI SOLO DIVER.

Erik

 

[rx7diver]

Do you recommend doing the PADI self reliant or doing the SSI variant? I have done everything through padi in the past.

Hmmm. I don't have an informed opinion about either. I began solo diving simply by doing it--after I had completed a bunch of recreational dives (sans dive master) under my belt. I had had very through, old-school, open water training that stressed competent buddy diving here in MO/AR freshwater lakes and quarries. Never took a class to learn solo diving.

Ten years (or so) ago, when the Solo Forum was still "opt-in", I wrote here (First Solo) about my very first solo dive: I simply decided one day to go for a solo dive.

NOTE, though, that I am NOT recommending to anyone that he/she should do what I did!!

ETA: Also, I was a Great Lakes entended range diver ("tech diver") by the time of my first solo dive. However, that first solo dive was decidedly a recreational, open water dive.

rx7diver

 

[lizardland]

I've never done a solo cert either so can't really speak of the benefits or not. The skills I learnt on deco diving courses are fairly transferable. Gas planning, gas management, self-reliance, etc. I'd lean towards doing something like that rather than a specific solo course. You learn some more advanced stuff and you gain experience that is useful in solo diving. Diving on your own isn't really that complicated. Unless you need the solo cert for insurance purposes or access to a particular site then I wouldn't bother personally.

 

[happy-diver]

If you are interested in going solo, you should have already gone solo
and if you think you need to do a course to go solo you are not ready

 

[34109411]

What is the actual name of the SSI solo class? I cannot find it. Do you have a link?

ADDED: I can find some shops hat offer "SSI Independent Diver" training, but the specialty course (and associated Standards) is not on the SSI webside. ??

oh SDI sorry

 

[Still Kicking]

If you are interested in going solo, you should have already gone solo
and if you think you need to do a course to go solo you are not ready

I started diving solo when I realized that any problems I was seeing were caused by buddies. It was a lot easier to go solo than find better buddies

Lots of freediving experience gave me more confidence for dealing with out of air situations than any class.