Solo Skills

[SmileMon]

Hi,

I'm looking for a list of skills I should practice on if I'm serious regarding solo.

I've talked with someone about solo'ing and they suggested I'll ask an instructor to supervise my skills and help me go through it safely, like make a list of things I want to practice on and let them be there in case I need a regulator shoved into my mouth.

So far the only thing I thought about is getting an instructor to supervise about an hour of nightmare in the pool, surprising me with mask removals, regulator removals and even taking a #24 line and trying to tie me up and see if I can get it off me, or even closing my tank valve to see if I can switch to alternative air and reopen my valves.

Is this a good idea or very bad idea?

I didn't think through it completely yet as I'm afraid the instructor will get entangled also which will look really bad in the newspapers..

Anyone has a better idea of sorting those skills out? which additional skills should I aquire in order for me to be a safer diver (solo or not)?

Thanks for your time.

 

[Diver Dennis]

There are a few questions you have to ask yourself before you solo. Why do you want to? I'm a solo diver for a number of reasons but the main reason now is that I take pictures and I need to be able to concentrate on that with out having to worry about someone else.

I did not start solo diving until I had over 400 dives. The number of dives varies with everyone but I never wanted to solo earlier than that. I knew I had the skills to do it and knew some solo divers but I was having too much fun diving with friends.

I could never tell anyone to solo until I had been diving with them. Your skill level and experience in the water? I don't know you and can't comment. There is no magic number of dives. You have to have some honest reasons for wanting to solo and they have to be valid for you.

Training is obviously another important component but no one can teach you to be calm in a stressful situation. You can learn all the drill and plan for any eventuality but if you panic, the training might not do you any good. You have to be comfortable in the water and that means a lot of diving.

 

[Jim Ernst]

i highly agree with dennis, i also solo dive for the same reason,photography, i get much better picture results when i dive alone, but i also dive in places i know very well,i also take very careful precations, i also did not start solo diving untill around 125-150 dives, and that isnt because of the number of dives, it was simply that i had recently lost my only dive buddy and I WAS VERY COMFERTABLE DOING IT!!!!!! you must be SURE you are ready and prepared for it. if you can meet all of the critieria and be ready for anything you may face, well.... then in my opinion the risk is about the same !!! but again YOU must be ready for it!!!!!!

 

[grazie42]

I think you need a pretty solid base of experience before you start considering solo.

Not just because you need to have solid skills but so that you´ve had the more common **** happen to you in the real world and so that the first time it does, you´ll have a buddy there to help you sort it out. To me that meant about two hundred dives.

I solo when I want to photograph, be alone or don´t feel up to the extra effort that insta-buddies require but I wouldn´t want to tell anyone to solo...

 

[Jim Lapenta]

If you would like a list of skills how about this: Everything you learned in ow, aow, rescue and whatever specialties you have taken. I did not start to solo till after rescue(60 some dives) and after I felt completely comfortable in the water in the places I was diving. Low vis, sometimes cold, always a little current. Then after a few dives in key largo I did some solo dives there on the reefs. Then once you are comfortable practice deploying your redundant air source, your back up buoyancy device, your smb, and removing your gear to get the mono line off of it. Then practice not getting tangled up in the first place. ie. choose your sites carefully, work on your buoyancy, then work on it some more. Then develop the mindset that no one is going to save your butt if something goes wrong. I can't tell YOU how to do this. I did it by treating every dive that way. Even if I was with a buddy I had to know that he/she was my second,third, or even fourth avenue of salvation if the stuff hit the fan. If you are not comfortable with this thought don't dive alone. The thought of having an instructor wrap me up in line is bordering on criminal. If you are doing it just to see if you can get out of it then it is a foolish exercise because he will be there if you fail to. If you solo and it happens and you fail you will die. I prepare for evry eventuality within reason. If I believe there is a real risk of entanglement I do not do the dive without or with a buddy. There are times when at some point it may happen as has already been said the main skill is not panicking. UW navigation is also helpful. The things you also talked about like having your mask ripped off, air shut off, etc sounds like too much BUDS training on the discovery channel. This is recreational diving not udt exercises. Why do you want to solo? I only do it because of a shortage of buddies in my area. I also enjoy the solitude and peacefulness. You are in south fla. If i lived there I'm sure I would not do as much soloing as I do. I'd still solo just not as much with all the potential dive buddies in your area. Get some more experience, more training, and the necessary gear. Then talk to your loved ones and be sure they are ok with the increased risk and potential results should something go wrong. Then decide.

 

[SmileMon]

Thanks for all the warnings, but I've already decided I want to do it, if for training on my photography (which currently sux because I don't take the time to stop, just use a faster shutter speed) or for other reasons, such as feeling like a morning dive before work and can't find the buddies to be crazy enough to wake up at 5:00.

I was asking about which skills I need to develop for a more comfortable experience (call it a confidence builder), right now I feel uncomfortable about currents and navigation but at the beach locations here, worse case its going to be a long walk on scuba..

JimLap, thanks for the more in-context answer, I agree this is not navy seals or something, but I do want to feel comfortable in case my reg get stuck in a fishing line and pops out, just pick up my alt-air source and breath while I get it sort out.
About the mask, same thing, I will dive complete redundant while solo, meaning double bladder, and two of everything, including mask and alt-air source.
I don't panic easily, unless the **** really hits the fan, like a shark taking off my foot (but I'll probably be too shocked to be panicked.. ).

My three major fears are diving alone in a sharky environment, unexpected currents and fishing line actually ripping the reg out of my mouth, I feel comfortable enough in s-drills (and OOA drills) and taking the reg out, but I feel some kind of warning is easy, I would like to see in a confined environment how I'll deal with mask being ripped out and the same about regulator.
I do feel comfortable taking my rig off during a dive, even for no reason, my knife is accessible to me as long as one hand can move, I didn't get a backup knife yet.

That's why I was asking about skills, because other than getting myself into a real entanglement, I feel ready (I'm not asking if I'm ready, I just want to make it safer).

I know my profile here shows I have less than 15 dives, I wasn't able to change it. actually I already did 2 solos, it was a great experience but I felt that I'm doing it wrong, as if something is missing, and I'm not talking about the buddy.

 

[ianr33]

JimLap, thanks for the more in-context answer, I agree this is not navy seals or something, but I do want to feel comfortable in case my reg get stuck in a fishing line and pops out, just pick up my alt-air source and breath while I get it sort out.
About the mask, same thing, I will dive complete redundant while solo, meaning double bladder, and two of everything, including mask and alt-air source.
I don't panic easily, unless the **** really hits the fan, like a shark taking off my foot (but I'll probably be too shocked to be panicked.. ).

My two major fears are diving alone in a sharky environment, unexpected currents and fishing line actually ripping the reg out of my mouth, I feel comfortable enough in s-drills (and OOA drills) and taking the reg out, but I feel some kind of warning is easy, I would like to see in a confined environment how I'll deal with mask being ripped out and the same about regulator.
I do feel comfortable taking my rig off during a dive, even for no reason, my knife is accessible to me as long as one hand can move, I didn't get a backup knife yet.

How do you rig your backup reg? Putting it on a bungee around your neck makes it real easy to find in a hurry. Losing your primary for whatever reason,going for the backup only to find it has fallen out of the silly holder while solo could spoil your whole day.

I really enjoy solo diving. If going deeper than about 30 feet I am a lot happier wearing doubles.

I always have 2 cutting devices (knife and shears). Will probably be carrying a spare mask in future on anything deepish.

If you have any doubt as to how you would react losing a reg or a mask you should probably not be solo.

 

[SmileMon]

Since the cavern training, I've been diving 7' so the octo is actually bungied, I guess I'll have to adapt and put the octo on the holder and the alt-air on my neck (I have a 40CF bottle, talk about paranoya).

I don't have a doubt about masks, my previous training showed me that, mask or not, I can do almost anything (except see clearly.. )

I do have a doubt about reg as I always forget there is a purge button and use my last breath to clear the reg.. sounds funny, but from now on, to feel more comfortable, I will not use this method of clearing it, I will train on the purge button (that should fix that feeling).

Thanks for helping me figure it out..

 

[Rich Courtney]

...I'm not asking if I'm ready, I just want to make it safer....

Then make sure you have 2 first stages and 2 second stages!! The best way to do this is to dive doubles, which will protect you against a neck o-ring extruding or a burst disc failing. These two failures cannot be protected against when you're diving a single tank (even if it has an H-valve!) so at the minimum sling a stage 'cause you need to make sure you can deal with everything underwater, the CESA is not an option....

Safe diving,

Rich

 

[ianr33]

Since the cavern training, I've been diving 7' so the octo is actually bungied, I guess I'll have to adapt and put the octo on the holder and the alt-air on my neck (I have a 40CF bottle, talk about paranoya).

This sentence makes no sense to me. How are you carrying the 40?

If it is bungeed is it still an "octo" or does it become a backup? !!

Nothing wrong with a 40,although I prefer 2 80's myself