Split from A&I Yukon thread: Gas Rules in OW Solo Dives

[Jax]

I cannot help but think I am describing my adoption of the rule of thirds badly. That is on me, so don't think SDI is failing on their training and gas management. Yes, I can plan my dive to the nit-noid with consumption for the descent, bottom, ascent, etc. Until I get the zillions of dives under my belt the rest of you have, I am simply more comfortable with all the reserve. As much as I'd like to think I won't make a mistake, I know better, and want to cover that base. It's more for my comfort level, at this point.

Somehow, choosing to not 'bother' with a pony or a third of a reserve just because the water is warm and clear and conditions are great is just too darned complacent for me.

 

[AfterDark]

Here's the dive I was planning until IGOR had his way with the ocean.

The dive site is 1/2 mile from the ingress point on shore. I plan to use my DPV to travel to the site on the surface using my snorkel. Upon arriving secure the DPV to the float/flag do the dive using my IDs and return the same way I arrived. There is no overhead, depth is 50' max so NDL are easy to stay within and the ascent is direct to my float and DPV.

What use is the 1/3 rule on this dive? I plan on returning with 500psi in each tank.

If the DPV fails then shore is only a couple of hundred yards away.
Its all private property but I don't think someone in distress is going to be turned away.
Anyway I'll have my cellphone in a camera case to call the appropriate party just in case.

 

[Jax]

AfterDark; I'm not disagreeing with you -- you have over a thousand dives. You have the experience and confidence to dive the plan you describe.

I do not have the experience and confidence to do the same dive . . . also, where I dive are sea lions. There are only nips as interactions with people, but that doesn't mean that at some time or another a bull might turn agressive and knock me for a loop -- throw me into surge that gets me into rocks, trapped in a rock, etc.

I am simply more comfortable with a 1/3 reserve at this point in time.

So, why isn't that okay?

 

[waterpirate]

Here is some good advice

Be true to thine self!
Diving is supposed to be fun. Enjoy your self and dive 1/2's if that makes you happy. The sooner the debate stops about right,wrong,procedure, or whatever and we go diving the sooner we all will be happy. The dives I do solo make me happy, do the dives you want to do, be happy!
Eric

 

[hudson]

I am simply more comfortable with a 1/3 reserve at this point in time.

So, why isn't that okay?

That's perfectly OK of course. What's not OK is, and correct me if I'm wrong, SDI's teaching 1/3 reserve as a rule. A rule cannot be/should not be broken, ever. In the cave, you violate your thirds, you've potentially just killed your buddy. If it's not a rule, but a guideline, then it should be stated as such and justifications should be provided so the student has the ability to adopt or reject the guideline as appropriate.

also, where I dive are sea lions

...and of course, there is a large dose of jealousy involved

 

[idive2]

another example: a certified solo diver with a 100cf tank and 40cf pony is on the deck of a 300 foot long wreck (deck at 100 feet, tied in at the bow). The diver begins heading toward the stern (no penetration). As the diver has the stern in sight he notices his spg reads 2000 PSI. At this point the solo diver "turns" the dive and begins his return to the bow and up the ascent line. The reason the solo guidelines are more stringent then with buddied up divers has been mentioned.

 

[redacted]

I am simply more comfortable with a 1/3 reserve at this point in time.

So, why isn't that okay?

I don't think anyone is suggesting it is not OK. At least you have rationalized your decision and recognize that it is quite conservative. Still wondering why SDI prescribes that a solo diver with a pony bottle for redundancy should exit an OW dive with half the gas they entered with?

 

[Dyno Bill]

In actuality there are no scuba police. We all do what we feel comfortable with and of course we all want to get back to the boat in one piece. I'm the type of guy that doesn't subscribe to rules very well, if my mom were still with us she would agree whole heartedly. When I hear sit down I tend to stand up. We all live and enjoy our lives as we personally see fit and the last thing we get to do is solo. It's passing to wherever you personally feel is correct for yourself but till then WE get to decide as individuals. I've been diving since the sixties and managed to survive all those years using the thirds concept with variations depending on dive profiles but the fact is no two dives are the same so no hard fast rule applies. That being said just do your thing and be safe.

 

[DevonDiver]

In actuality there are no scuba police. We all do what we feel comfortable with and of course we all want to get back to the boat in one piece. That being said just do your thing and be safe.

Which is fine...if we were talking about how people conduct their dives. The primary debate here however, is how an agency formulates and conducts its training courses.

 

[waterpirate]

Which is fine...if we were talking about how people conduct their dives. The primary debate here however, is how an agency formulates and conducts its training courses.

Let me help you out. A bunch of people got really drunk, wrote down a lot of crap. Half that crap made it to the standards, was approved by people with hangovers, and the motion was carried. A certification standard is only a standard to those who subscribe to it. Get it?
They do not have to defend themselves, they wrote the standard. They will change the standard as it suits them. Debating this is crazy. If you need the "standard" to feel safe diving solo, maybe you should not be diving solo.
Eric