Solo wreck diving

[MikeFerrara]

I thought this thread was about recreational, non-penetration, NDL, recreational dives. Whats OXTOX have to do with that?
Solo diving is no more dangerous when properly trained and executed than any other extreme form of diving, cave, wreck, deco etc. Someone have some stats? How many solo diver accidents from people who are trained equipped for the dive?
Lumping all solo accidents together is like saying how dangerous cave diving is. Yes many have perished when not properly prepared. But the incidents of cave fatalities still occur no matter how trained prepared the divers are. So what's so different?

cheers,

Would some one please define for me this "properly trained for solo diving" thing you all keep refering to?

I only know of one solo class and I've read the standards (at least what's on the web site) and I think it's total BS.

 

[O-ring]

Would some one please define for me this "properly trained for solo diving" thing you all keep refering to?

I only know of one solo class and I've read the standards (at least what's on the web site) and I think it's total BS.

Mike, I'll tell you what they do in my area. You go to the quarry and tow a float around in a triangle pattern while the instructor watches from shore. You get out, eat a few hundred cheeseburgers and swig a couple Buds and then get in and do it again. Then they issue you a card and sell you a window tag. A window tag looks like those "Do Not Disturb" signs in hotels, but hangs on the rearview mirror of your car. It says something like this:

SOLO DIVER
Time In:
Run Time:
Emergency Contact Information:
(etc...you get the idea).

That way, if you don't show up and the lady is locking the quarry, she will see your car, walk over, read the sign, and call 911 so they can dispatch someone to retrieve your body.

 

[jdelprete]

thats just too funny....

Mike, I'll tell you what they do in my area. You go to the quarry and tow a float around in a triangle pattern while the instructor watches from shore. You get out, eat a few hundred cheeseburgers and swig a couple Buds and then get in and do it again. Then they issue you a card and sell you a window tag. A window tag looks like those "Do Not Disturb" signs in hotels, but hangs on the rearview mirror of your car. It says something like this:

SOLO DIVER
Time In:
Run Time:
Emergency Contact Information:
(etc...you get the idea).

That way, if you don't show up and the lady is locking the quarry, she will see your car, walk over, read the sign, and call 911 so they can dispatch someone to retrieve your body.

 

[O-ring]

thats just too funny....

The only thing not funny about it is that the only part I made up was the "few hundred cheeseburgers" bit.. The rest is all legit..

 

[jdelprete]

and i don't disagree. that's the sad part. I kind of feel diving alone is similar to when these guys hike hundreds of feet on rock ledges without ropes. Surely one can be good I don't deny or doubt that, but one mistake is all it takes and at those heights or the depths some of us are at, death is almost inevitable

The only thing not funny about it is that the only part I made up was the "few hundred cheeseburgers" bit.. The rest is all legit..

 

[Charlie99]

Don't you think walking and sailing have just a wee bit different consequences should something go wrong?

Not really as different as it might seem at first glance, particularly if you substitute "hiking" for walking.

"Solo hiking" might also be something that divers could analyze without getting as emotional.

I solo hike, solo sail, and solo dive. In each case, there are advantages and disadvantages. I can have the very best hiking gear and the very best training and hiking skills, but in the case of a medical problem or an accident such as breaking a leg; having a companion along is a great asset. I do the vast majority of my daysailing solo and do fine, but no matter how skilled I am, I still have only two hands.

I do most shore dives (perhaps 1/3 of all my dives) solo, but I refuse to try and rationalize that this is the best or safest way to do these dives. Safe enough -- yes. Safest possible way --no. (Of course, not doing the dive at all is the very safest.)

Pipedope's ranking of rec dives for safety hits the target.

If you are mature enough to be doing solo dives, you should also be mature enough to honestly and objectively analyze the risks and make your own decisions without having to get others to approve your decision.

 

[jdelprete]

interesting, cant agree but interesting. be safe...

Not really as different as it might seem at first glance, particularly if you substitute "hiking" for walking.

"Solo hiking" might also be something that divers could analyze without getting as emotional.

I solo hike, solo sail, and solo dive. In each case, there are advantages and disadvantages. I can have the very best hiking gear and the very best training and hiking skills, but in the case of a medical problem or an accident such as breaking a leg; having a companion along is a great asset. I do the vast majority of my daysailing solo and do fine, but no matter how skilled I am, I still have only two hands.

I do most shore dives (perhaps 1/3 of all my dives) solo, but I refuse to try and rationalize that this is the best or safest way to do these dives. Safe enough -- yes. Safest possible way --no. (Of course, not doing the dive at all is the very safest.)

Pipedope's ranking of rec dives for safety hits the target.

If you are mature enough to be doing solo dives, you should also be mature enough to honestly and objectively analyze the risks and make your own decisions without having to get others to approve your decision.

 

[scuba-punk]

In my mind now, I NEED a buddy to make the dive as safe as it can be, INCASE the poop hits the fan. I've even had a few, what I call a "ZEN" feeling with a few buddies on a dive......the times when everything clicks and I feel we are ONE.....and that's WAY better than any solo feeling I've ever had.

Right on buddy. I've had my share of well planned (well, I thought they were well planned at the time), moderately executed solo dives. Mostly because I couldn't find any buddies that I would trust my life with. But I since given that up. I find it much more rewarding to dive as part of a well practiced team. Including those ZEN moments that Steve mentioned (I was there for one, I should know). Do I dive with less experienced divers? Sure, at least once, on a very limited dive. If they can't handle a simple dive plan, I never dive with them again. If it's a good dive, I invite them to dive with my regulars and we work on the team stuff. In fact, I was helping with an AOW this weekend and one of the students in the pair that I was assigned to dive with thumbed the dive because of a probelm. He thumbed the dive about 6 minutes into it and we all thumbed and came up. When we got to the surface, he appolgised for 'ruining' the dive by calling it too early. I told him that having to drag his dead body up from the bottom while keeping an eye on another student would have ruined my dive. Diving with somebody who realised he'd had enough and remained calm, it was a deep dive so we did our stops without incident, was a wonderful thing.

Just my 2psi, continue your lucid conversations...
-Frank

 

[ShakaZulu]

I like the term "Dive Team", why coin a new phrase for "Dive Buddy", the same fundamental principles should be adhered too........ You'll find rebels in every sport, go you Solo doods, have fun. The extra pain of answering all the "what-if's" will drive me insane.

 

[wedivebc]

Would some one please define for me this "properly trained for solo diving" thing you all keep refering to?

I only know of one solo class and I've read the standards (at least what's on the web site) and I think it's total BS.

So why is it total BS? Every aspect of diving involves risk managment. All dive training came about from people messing up and learing from their mistakes and bringing that information to others. Solo training addresses the large number of divers who are doing it anyway for whatever reason and sometimes there are accidents. If TDI had the foresight to train people to do it in a safer manner, why would it be BS? Cave diving has a terrible safety record if you include everyone who has perished in a cave but there is training in place to REDUCE the risk.
If we all dive the same way using the same kit, doing the same things this sport will stagnate.

cheers,