Solo Technical Why?

[Aotus]

I know its semantics,,,, and too many make arguements based on semantics ,,,,when they know the intent.
Solo means by your self. There are also those that define solo as diving with no one around. IE you cant dive solo in a lake with other divers. if you dont have a buddy you are by your self. by your self is solo.

There IS value in semantics. It permits us to package additional meaning into a word. An argument about semantics is not trivial, it is important if everyone is not taking the same meaning from the term used. "too many make arguments based on semantics" can be rephrased, "too many people value the meaning of words." The argument is ridiculous.

It is not a certification for "by yourself diving" it is "solo diving." The semantics make the distinction, and your post illustrates beautifully the nonsensical mess of possible meanings that come with overlooking the semantics in this case.

 

[NAM001]

I just called 4 divers in the area and told them i was out today solo diving. They all asked me why i didn't call them so they could have went and I would have had to dive alone. One of them a recreational rebreather diver. I suggest the semantics are wasted on the end user ( the diver) and are of value more to the business/marketing end of formal training side of solo diving. IE I asked my lds ears ago about asolo course and they told me they could not teach it, They could only teach rec courses. Now assume that ther are 2 million seasoned AOWs that want to take solo at 200 a class, you can bet the agency will Move that class to the rec side with prereq's to allow only the most seasoned to take the class. Kinda sounds familiar. Its often about money ad no one will pass up 200 mil by refusing to catagorize of a course in a mannor that provides minimum liability.

I measure it as to the required equipment and skill sets required to properly do the dive. If it uses the same skills, with in reason, to that needed for rec diving then i see it as a rec course. If it requires special skills then i compare the skills to a number of courses and determine if it is comparable to rec or tech. Over time things will move form tech to rec, such as nitrox. It was once magic stuff (in the trimix arena) and over years it has become the norm for diving with no special training skills required beyond basic OW other than setting your computer for FO2.

I see solo diving as a border line rec/tech course or high end rec / low end tech. I think the same type of argument would exist when talking as to whether diving at 100-130' is a rec dive or a tech dive. Those that want to call it a rec dive will do so because of the 130 limit. those that want to call it a tech dive will do so because of a desire to require trimix below 100. I see it as rec because of the rec training to date with AOW prepares a diver to survive problems at that depth with an assisting buddy. Loose the buddy and you are not trained or prepared to handle a problem at depth, hence the dive changes. Perhaps not to a tech catagory but it changes to something other than basic. If given 2 options of rec or tech and its not pure rec then the answer is clear based on the limited options. The day that Rec diving classes teach the use of redundant gas supplies and all that goes with solo skills in its basic and AOW courses, will be the day i call SOLO a rec course. BTW cavern is another one of those courses that ride the border of the rec/tec fence and probably would draw a variety of opinions of whether it is rec or tech.

If i remember correctly a while back discussion was gong on about moving solo into the rec area. Not because it was felt that it was a rec style of diving but to give rec divers a place to go to to learn the hazzards involved in solo diving on a website vs inthe water.. I strongly suspect that cavern is also that way, To somewhat educate those untrained explorers, that dont know what they dont know, when they consider entering a cavern or diving solo. With solo there was a great concern as to whether a ow would read the threads and consider themselves self trained and prepared to do solo diving perhaps by simply strapping on a pony bottle.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I would disagree. When you loose your buddy you are no longer buddy diving,,, you are solo. Rec divers upon loosing their buddy do a quick search and go to the surface as to not continue in a solo (non buddy supported) dive. When you reunite with your now solo buddy at the surface, you can commence the remainder of the buddy dive. Agencies don not exactly word it that way, but their proceedures reflect it.

No ... this is a misunderstanding of what solo diving is.

Solo diving begins with the presumption of not diving with a buddy. Your plan is based on diving alone. You prepare to handle your own emergencies. You carry the equipment necessary to deal with them if you should have to, and that includes ... but is not limited to ... a redundant supply of breathing gas.

When you lose your dive buddy you are usually completely unprepared for solo diving, because you weren't planning to dive solo. Not only are you lacking the equipment needed for a solo dive, but also the mental demeanor to do so. You're usually stressing over losing your dive buddy ... which means you aren't even thinking about your dive. You're neither physically nor mentally prepared to dive solo. At that point, your best option is to head for the surface ... and remain there until such time as you can either hook back up with your dive buddy or summon assistance. You are in no way a solo diver. You are, instead, a diver who through mishap has found yourself diving alone.

The two have very little to do with each other. One's a plan ... the other's a screw-up.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

My intent of the comment was when you loose you buddy you are now solo and untrained to do so
as opposed to the solo trained diver that plans to be solo. Recreational diving mostly implies a buddy system. When things go wrong the solution in the rec world is to rely on your buddy. Many divers say they would not do solo diving and therefore the training is moot to them. Hense the comment about the lost buddy and being solo. Train for the environment you may be diving in. SOLO is definitely an environment everyone falls into more often that most would admit to.

Which would be fine if common dive instruction included training people how to be a dive buddy. Sadly it rarely goes into more detail than teaching people to get in the water together and try to remain in the same general vicinity to each other. There's way more to being a dive buddy that doesn't get taught ... which is why diving with a buddy is often stressful, and why lost buddies are com commonplace.

The answer to that problem isn't to teach divers self-reliance so much as it is to teach them adequate buddy skills ... either that or stop emphasizing why it's important to dive with a buddy, because all too often the buddy becomes more of a liability than someone you could rely on to help you out of a problem.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[NAM001]

Bob I agree with you totally. You are saying what I have said. solo is not a recreational off set that you fall into. It is a set of skills and mental outlook that is not received in recreational training. when you are buddy diving and you loose your buddy you find your self in a solo condition/environment that you are not prepared to deal with when things go south. The words can be picked to death but is all means the same. When you are buddy diving and you loose him you are technally still buddy diving with out a buddy. You are alone and solo in the dive till you get to gether again. The only difference between lost buddy and a planned solo dive is that one was planned or you got thrust into the situation. Either way you are solo and you are either prepared or not.