Solo quandary
- Thread starter craracer
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captain
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If I only solo dived places I was familiar with I never would have gotten out of the kiddie pool
I was singularly unimpressed with Von Maier's book. I also looked into the solo course. The one instructor who I could find local requires two people to take the class! What the heck!? I have no problem diving solo most places, including boats. You just have to master the art of saying I'm diving with him/her and point in the general direction of people who have no clue. Then when you splash do your own thing. I dive solo anywhere I'd dive with a buddy. I'm ok with the fact that if the crap hits the fan and I cannot solve the problem I may die or be seriously injured. ANd that's kinda what it takes. To be confident you have the skills, training, equipment, and mindset to be self sufficient. If not don;t do it. Sad thing is every diver should have this in their mind. But most agencies won't tell you that or train you so that you can be.
The thing is this is why we are solo divers. We don't completely agree on anything and in some cases not close. A fellow has a right to be as conservative as he/she wishes or as bold and daring as well. There is no accepted standard, this is not DIR or any of that and and SSI or whoever was not appointed to be our rules decider. Some like to be cautious and have redundancy and lot's of dives in the local, other's don't and have not.
Over and over though it seems we have to continue to justify solo, whisper about it under our breath as if it were some social disease, sorry, I am not of that mind. Solo should be mainstream, the buddy system is way over rated and hardly a solution to a problem that may never have existed. And besides, at some point you just gotta go for it, NO FEAR.
N
Over and over though it seems we have to continue to justify solo, whisper about it under our breath as if it were some social disease, sorry, I am not of that mind. Solo should be mainstream, the buddy system is way over rated and hardly a solution to a problem that may never have existed. And besides, at some point you just gotta go for it, NO FEAR.
N
bigken462
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craracer
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As a newbie looking at this issue from an outside perspective, maybe it's the lack of consensus and unity that helps to perpetuate the belief that solo diving is taboo.
Even within the 'traditional' diving community there is disagreement. I think that the difference lies in the fact that there are far more 'traditional' divers compared to the solo community. Therefore, there are possibly more people in agreement within the former group, which inherently creates a power of sorts.
I got to thinking about the liability incurred by a dive op in regards to a solo diver. Every time I dive, the op has me sign paperwork, which seems to become more and more lengthy as the years pass. In a nutshell, this documentation completely clears the op of any liability in the event of my injury or death.
After signing this paperwork, I would think that someone would be hard pressed to successfully sue (unless it's a case of gross negligence on their part). But then again, I'm not an attorney.
I would think that a person could safely dive a site in which they are not intimately familiar with. IMHO it all boils down to things such as: mental state, training, dive planning, site of location, conditions, abilities, physical conditioning, equipment and knowledge of that equipment, awareness of surroundings, problem solving abilities, demeanor, knowing your limitations, depths, understanding/accepting the risks involved....and a host of other concepts that I'm sure I've overlooked.
I would say that this is just my .02 cents, but I'm saving up for a new BC so I can't afford to do so.
Even within the 'traditional' diving community there is disagreement. I think that the difference lies in the fact that there are far more 'traditional' divers compared to the solo community. Therefore, there are possibly more people in agreement within the former group, which inherently creates a power of sorts.
I got to thinking about the liability incurred by a dive op in regards to a solo diver. Every time I dive, the op has me sign paperwork, which seems to become more and more lengthy as the years pass. In a nutshell, this documentation completely clears the op of any liability in the event of my injury or death.
After signing this paperwork, I would think that someone would be hard pressed to successfully sue (unless it's a case of gross negligence on their part). But then again, I'm not an attorney.
I would think that a person could safely dive a site in which they are not intimately familiar with. IMHO it all boils down to things such as: mental state, training, dive planning, site of location, conditions, abilities, physical conditioning, equipment and knowledge of that equipment, awareness of surroundings, problem solving abilities, demeanor, knowing your limitations, depths, understanding/accepting the risks involved....and a host of other concepts that I'm sure I've overlooked.
I would say that this is just my .02 cents, but I'm saving up for a new BC so I can't afford to do so.
The general sense of taboo is mostly from training agencies' guidelines for newbies to always have a buddy.
You've nailed the essence of solo diving, but it kinda splattered when the hammer hit....
It's much simpler than that, IMO.
Having a reasonable amount of safety when solo diving is just a matter of diving within one's limits as determined by all the things you mentioned.
In that sense it's just like buddy diving, but without the slight chance of benefit and the moderate chance of risk added by the buddy.
Dave C
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Divers think of a buddy as a pack mule carrying all of their extra gear. Forget all of that, all you need is a swimsuit, flippers, mask, tank and regulator. Oh heck toss in a big knife and deco gauge if you want to be fancy. You are good to go.
N, simple is good
N, simple is good
I don't have a specialty plastic Solo card nor have I completed any training for solo divers....but allot of my diving is done on a solo bases.....I learned through doing and adapted skills and materials from other diving courses to my solo diving. Be safe and have fun!
DrDuktayp
Guest
CRARACER:
In our little dive community here in SE Alaska we use the following non-approved standards for Solo diving; trained through Rescue, redundant gear (doubles or large enough pony), conditions and depths we are comfortable with, and lack of buddy for the dive. Most of us prefer to have a buddy around but unfortunately people's schedules don't always permit it. When my wife or I dive Solo we let the other know where and when.
Even when we dive together we have our contingency plans that don't include our buddies help.
I would expect there to be resistance to solo diving off of charter boats as the agencies frown on it. I've had a dive off a charter boat that my buddy didn't want to do the second dive and since I was through Rescue they buddied me up with a newbie. I expected the worse but it was a nice dive as the young fella had good bouyancy.
I'd like to also add that I am glad I have dove solo. It has made me look at my gear, training and skills in a new light. Also, it is so different being totally alone in an alien environment.
But I still prefer diving with my buddy,
Tom
In our little dive community here in SE Alaska we use the following non-approved standards for Solo diving; trained through Rescue, redundant gear (doubles or large enough pony), conditions and depths we are comfortable with, and lack of buddy for the dive. Most of us prefer to have a buddy around but unfortunately people's schedules don't always permit it. When my wife or I dive Solo we let the other know where and when.
Even when we dive together we have our contingency plans that don't include our buddies help.
I would expect there to be resistance to solo diving off of charter boats as the agencies frown on it. I've had a dive off a charter boat that my buddy didn't want to do the second dive and since I was through Rescue they buddied me up with a newbie. I expected the worse but it was a nice dive as the young fella had good bouyancy.
I'd like to also add that I am glad I have dove solo. It has made me look at my gear, training and skills in a new light. Also, it is so different being totally alone in an alien environment.
But I still prefer diving with my buddy,
Tom
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