Bingo! I personally like to scope out sites and have a good understanding of them, way before I get involved with a buddy dive. I guess that comes from being an instructor and wanting to know your sites very well before brining students there.
Solo - sticking to recreational limits?
- Thread starter Dive Bug Bit Me
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Bingo! I personally like to scope out sites and have a good understanding of them, way before I get involved with a buddy dive. I guess that comes from being an instructor and wanting to know your sites very well before brining students there.
flots am
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Whenever I dive solo, it's always well within the recreational no-deco limits and never in any sort of overhead.
I want to know that when Something Bad happens that additional air won't fix (stroke, heart-attack, other disagreeable medical event) as a final resort, I can ditch my weights and end up on the surface where I might be seen.
Having a deco obligation or being in an overhead means that if something non-fixable happens, I'm probably going to die, which is just more of a risk than I'm willing to take.
flots.
DevonDiver
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flots am
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The difference is that if the diver has a medical event that's debilitating but non-fatal, a qualified buddy can bring the diver safely to the surface, following the dive plan.
Your mileage may vary, but I like knowing that if there's nobody I can rely on for assistance, that I have a solid, easily workable, reliable plan for safely getting back to the surface.
This is why I don't do overheads solo.
flots
OldNSalty
Contributor
Your results might not paint a true picture. I hold no cave, deep or wreck certs or training so I don't do those things rather solo or in a group.
DevonDiver
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JamesK
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I do solo cave dives with limited decompression. Sometimes I jut enjoy going in by myself.
markmud
Self Reliant Diver--On All Dives.
Hello All,
I may have screwed-up the results of the poll as I am not tech certified nor mentally capable of diving in overhead environments or in staged decompression scenarios. Don't get me wrong, I am not mentally defective, I just don't have the time or money to gain the training required to perform that type of diving. I know my limitations.
My deepest solo dive was 105' at Sripps Canyon, San Diego, CA. It was not an intentional solo dive. I was having trouble clearing my ears. I took too long for the group, so they abandoned me. I arrived at the bottom and they were gone.
I knew they went in a northeasterly direction, so I tried to catch up. No luck. I saw some rock scallops on the wall and dove down to them. I was well aware of my depth and I had redundant gear including my pony bottle rig. At 105' I decided to perform a pony bottle practice ascent. Everything worked perfectly.
I feel totally comfortable solo diving to 100'. I always carry safety gear/redundant gear no matter if I am solo diving or not. No big deal. I am the dufus you laughed at because I had my pony rig, safety sausage, coast guard whistle, strobe light, laminated deco table (incase my computer broke or incase I found myself in staged decompression accidently), a knife, and a pair of diving scissors.
Yep, you were the one laughing at me while we were gearing-up on that dive-boat!
I still like you.
markm
I may have screwed-up the results of the poll as I am not tech certified nor mentally capable of diving in overhead environments or in staged decompression scenarios. Don't get me wrong, I am not mentally defective, I just don't have the time or money to gain the training required to perform that type of diving. I know my limitations.
My deepest solo dive was 105' at Sripps Canyon, San Diego, CA. It was not an intentional solo dive. I was having trouble clearing my ears. I took too long for the group, so they abandoned me. I arrived at the bottom and they were gone.
I knew they went in a northeasterly direction, so I tried to catch up. No luck. I saw some rock scallops on the wall and dove down to them. I was well aware of my depth and I had redundant gear including my pony bottle rig. At 105' I decided to perform a pony bottle practice ascent. Everything worked perfectly.
I feel totally comfortable solo diving to 100'. I always carry safety gear/redundant gear no matter if I am solo diving or not. No big deal. I am the dufus you laughed at because I had my pony rig, safety sausage, coast guard whistle, strobe light, laminated deco table (incase my computer broke or incase I found myself in staged decompression accidently), a knife, and a pair of diving scissors.
Yep, you were the one laughing at me while we were gearing-up on that dive-boat!
I still like you.
markm
I chose to tick off "overhead with deco" because most of my solo cave diving involves deco.
I tend to dive more aggressively when solo diving because I have timing down to an art. I can go deeper, travel farther, move faster when alone, and have much more gas reserves left and far less deco than when team diving.
Even in the best teams getting everyone's attention, swimming, getting prepped to ascend, and decompressing are all slower than when solo.
I hate ... hate ... hate not having plenty of deco and back gas in reserve for contingencies and my experience with even well-trained DIR divers is that these things get a little too close. Alone, I can carry the contingency gases that make the most sense and plan my swim speeds and deco strategy to my gas reserve comfort. Real world "come out of the water with reserves", not just planned.
BUT ... Solo technical & cave diving is not without risk. A friend of mine and a former solo student perished recently while solo diving using a rebreather. In class, he was bullet-proof on open-circuit and handled challenges with ease. Something went wrong on a 140 foot dive that to him was a walk in the park as far as depth is concerned. Deep 300+ team cave dives and solo 400+ foot wreck dives were in his resume. He'll be missed. He was a truly great guy.
When deep or far I remember all of those friends who have died alone or with others over the years and realize that despite experience and training, "with the grace of God go I."
I tend to dive more aggressively when solo diving because I have timing down to an art. I can go deeper, travel farther, move faster when alone, and have much more gas reserves left and far less deco than when team diving.
Even in the best teams getting everyone's attention, swimming, getting prepped to ascend, and decompressing are all slower than when solo.
I hate ... hate ... hate not having plenty of deco and back gas in reserve for contingencies and my experience with even well-trained DIR divers is that these things get a little too close. Alone, I can carry the contingency gases that make the most sense and plan my swim speeds and deco strategy to my gas reserve comfort. Real world "come out of the water with reserves", not just planned.
BUT ... Solo technical & cave diving is not without risk. A friend of mine and a former solo student perished recently while solo diving using a rebreather. In class, he was bullet-proof on open-circuit and handled challenges with ease. Something went wrong on a 140 foot dive that to him was a walk in the park as far as depth is concerned. Deep 300+ team cave dives and solo 400+ foot wreck dives were in his resume. He'll be missed. He was a truly great guy.
When deep or far I remember all of those friends who have died alone or with others over the years and realize that despite experience and training, "with the grace of God go I."
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