Some thoughts about diving alone

[Ana]

IMHO I think you simply being stupid diving deeper than 25 feet solo.

I solo dive myself and been in a number of uncomfortable situations diving solo, where everything that could had gone wrong did, but at 20' it was an easy shrug off and barely note worthy. Had I been at 40+ I'm sure I would have likely hurt myself badly.

Follow the 20 feet rule and you'll survive to love another day.

Unless it's your J O B, solo diving at 40+ feet is simply an unnecessary risk (like driving 90 on the freeway-- yea, you can do it... but should you).

Find a nice spot for shallow solo diving and enjoy yourself. Diving does not have to be dangerous.

Dying is for dummies, unless you are a risk taker-- then each to his own I guess.

Obviously a perfect example of an open minded person. What is not right for you is not right for anyone else, yep .....one person's thoughts should be used for the whole world.

 

[lamont]

This isn't about solo diving at all. It is about a buddy team which did not stay together.

In this case, I'm not sure that changes much.

In the case of a newly certified OW diver who gets separated and fails to follow separated buddy procedure, continues the dive and winds up drowned due to OOG or something, we can say that the dive wasn't a planned solo dive and the diver wasn't capable of or trained to solo and that it was relevant to the accident.

In this case, Wes knew what he was doing and what choice he was making, and he made a decision to ascend as a solo dive. I doubt it would have turned out any different had he planned the whole dive solo.

 

[DaleC]

IMHO I think you simply being stupid diving deeper than 25 feet solo.

I solo dive myself and been in a number of uncomfortable situations diving solo, where everything that could had gone wrong did, but at 20' it was an easy shrug off and barely note worthy. Had I been at 40+ I'm sure I would have likely hurt myself badly.

Follow the 20 feet rule and you'll survive to love another day.

Unless it's your J O B, solo diving at 40+ feet is simply an unnecessary risk (like driving 90 on the freeway-- yea, you can do it... but should you).

Find a nice spot for shallow solo diving and enjoy yourself. Diving does not have to be dangerous.

Dying is for dummies, unless you are a risk taker-- then each to his own I guess.

Do you also suggest waiting an hour after eating before entering the water?

If twenty feet of water means the difference between an easy shrug off and getting hurt badly I would say you are not ready to solo dive anywhere. Probably that was your problem.

And, psst... This may come as a great shock but you're gonna die one day so... what does that make you again?

I think the OP framed the issue very well when she said:

" -- If a buddy was there, and did all he could, then we know that what could have been done was done. Otherwise, the torment is the thought that something could have been done, and wasn't. I don't want my family tortured with that."

I think that is a well meaning sentiment but I wonder how it translates into real life.
In the end I don't know how much more comfort there will be knowing I died of a MI at 100' beside my buddy or that I died of unknown causes while solo diving. I think the coulda woulda shoulda's are just phases of denial/bargaining along the grief pathway or a way we humans have of trying to inoculate ourselves from a similar fate. The incident and accident forum is populated by people trying to place a buffer between themselves and death. Which can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how obsessed one becomes. The thing is, avoiding one form of death just opens the door for another form to enter.


For a different perspective:

From a Buddhist standpoint, solo diving can be seen as being extremely beneficial. The Tibetan tradition describes the state immediately after death as being a time of great confusion and fear (the Bardo). It is during this time, alone, that we reach out in desperation for our next rebirth. This seeking of identity is motivated by both our presence of mind at the time of death and our overall karma. Solo diving can help to train the mind to be calm while alone during somewhat similar times of uncertainty. If one can thus maintain this "mind" during their travel through the Bardo states, one has a far better chance of choosing a beneficial rebirth.
That's my justification and I'm sticking to it!
I see life as a continuum that does not end with death, it just transitions. Like a diver who trains for the next dive I train throughout this life for the one that's coming next.

 

[sansky]

Being a certified "Solo Diver" means you should be able to take care of yourself. I am Solo Diver certified, but usually dive with others. I shoot underwater photos and sometimes get separated from the group or my "buddy" ... most photographers do ....

I believe if a situation occurs and you have no control over it and there is no way out of the situation no matter how much you are trained ... then a higher power takes over at that point and He is in control. A diver who dies diving - doing the thing he loves most ... well, he was doing what he loved .... It is tragic and his loved ones are the ones suffering ... not him. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and loved ones, so they may get through this ....

 

[MaxBottomtime]

No matter what happened, I believe Wes was more skilled and able to perform a self-rescue than most. I don't believe a buddy could have done more for him than he likely attempted himself. If you read the annual DAN accident reports you will find many instances of fatalities when a buddy did all he could.
A diver making his 101st dives drowned at Laguna Beach, California a couple of years ago. He dropped a fin, then began struggling. His buddies grabed him but he managed to slip under water. His Mother sued his buddies. Sometimes families are not comforted by the buddy's story.

 

[hudson]

I did not realize until later posts that he was on a rebreather. Such an event with an experienced diver like that on conventional scuba suggests a medical problem which should be revealed in an autopsy. But the rebreather opens up other possibilities which may not be so clear.

It looks like (based on RBW) he was diving a borrowed Optima that he wasn't trained on and had no bailout whatsoever. Doesn't sound good.

 

[lamont]

It looks like (based on RBW) he was diving a borrowed Optima that he wasn't trained on and had no bailout whatsoever. Doesn't sound good.

There's also information that the Optima was his unit and that he borrowed it back from a diver that he sold it to (in which case it was technically a "borrowed Optima" so the person who posted the information you had wouldn't be technically incorrect about that point, but i think that it kind of changes the entire tone of that information).

The information that he had no bailout would be more troubling, but considering the conflicting information coming from that source, I'm going to wait for better information on that.

Also, there's no reason to trust someone just because they were at or close to the scene of the accident or otherwise involved in it. Having been through one accident scene, I can tell you that some things I thought I knew to be true I later found out weren't, and some people at the scene drew conclusions that were at odds with facts that I had which were pretty irrefutable. Emotionally charged accidents are weird that way.

 

[Scott L]

This isn't about solo diving at all. It is about a buddy team which did not stay together.

You are assuming there was an agreement of a traditional buddy system on the dive. Far more often than not, photographers and spear-fisherman maintain a loose buddy team practice, if at all.

Professional photographers are often dropped (alone/solo) away from the remaining divers on local charters and are not to be disturbed if sighted during the dive. The incident in question occurred in only 75ft of depth highlighting the above observations...

 

[Superlyte27]

Being a certified "Solo Diver" means you should be able to take care of yourself. I am Solo Diver certified, but usually dive with others. I shoot underwater photos and sometimes get separated from the group or my "buddy" ... most photographers do ....

.

There's actually a certification for Solo Diver? Holy crap, what's next, a certification to wear split fins? Phucking ludacrous.

I meet people constantly who have 20 differt C-Card and they are morons in the water.

Anyway, Solo vs. Buddy has no bearing on this. Blanket statements like "you're an idiot if...." is just stupid. For the 5th time this week: What works for you doesn't mean it's the only way. It doesn't even mean it's the best way.

 

[Hank49]

I believe that when you die, you die alone, no matter who is there.
If one of my family died with 100 people as witnesses it wouldn't make me feel better hearing how it happened. If one of my children died alone doing anything, it wouldn't make me feel any worse. Either way, they're gone.