Strongly considering solo diving - lets talk

[mjh]

Have to say 50% of my diving is Solo. I feel a person should have a minimum of 100 dives and should be diving on a monthly basis. You must have minimum of a 30lb bottle, independent duels better yet. Dive with two computers, two lights, safety sausage, etc… I limit my solo dives to areas I know well and dive within the tables.

My experience over 20yrs is every problem I’ve had was dealing with a buddy who got themselves in trouble. Like many I started diving long before Octo’s and as my instructor said “how comfortable are you giving someone starving for air with adrenaline pumping through their body YOUR LIFE LINE?” I must admit to once in the Turks forgetting to turn my air on and the DM catching in on the boat as I was about to hop in.

I am a big supporter of Solo diving.

 

[kramynot2000]

Like the last post, I do solo dive sometimes. I do it in lakes where I have dove a bunch of times, and so far never below 30'.... mainly because the lakes aren't that deep! What I do is go out and practice skills: shooting a bag, laying line, valve drills, slow ascents and blue (brown actually) water hangs, etc. The lakes that I solo in have very low viz, sometimes down to <5', but for drills it doesn't really matter I guess. Anyway, I go with with redundant air - doubles or a slung pony - , knife, shears & lift bag.

Would I solo in the ocean... well I don't know. I guess I do kinda when DMing a class.

 

[voop]

Like the last post, I do solo dive sometimes. I do it in lakes where I have dove a bunch of times, and so far never below 30'.... mainly because the lakes aren't that deep! What I do is go out and practice skills: shooting a bag, laying line, valve drills, slow ascents and blue (brown actually) water hangs, etc. The lakes that I solo in have very low viz, sometimes down to <5', but for drills it doesn't really matter I guess. Anyway, I go with with redundant air - doubles or a slung pony - , knife, shears & lift bag.

Would I solo in the ocean... well I don't know. I guess I do kinda when DMing a class.

Pretty much all my dives are solo.....

....for some definition of "solo". Except for a very few, that is.

If I travel and dive, I am typically travelling alone and thus find myself on a boat being assigned an insta-budy. On the last dive-trip, I was with a bunch of friends and acquaintances of the "3 day wonder cert"-type. Very very nice people -- but with boyancy skills of either a rock or a cork....

In either of such situation, I consider myself as effectlvely "solo" since should **** hit the fan, I'd have only myself to count on. Any help from insta-buddy would be purely coincidential. Concequently, I always equip for solo-diving, even if I may be in the same ocean as other divers and even if I should be at shallow waters (<20-30m).

I must confes to also do deeper dives (50-60m) solo. I'd rather do so with a competent buddy, though, but I'd still prefer be alone at those depths, than with some insta-buddy of the cork-rock style, who'd be but a liability.

Yeah, I know the risks. I always think through the "what if's", equip accordingly and execute the dive conservatively.

And all safety considerations asside, it's still more fun to dive with a (good) buddy than alone, though.

 

[Genesis]

Most of my dives are effectively solo, and I dive down to 150fsw with some regularity (on Nitrox, natch), including decompression diving and overheads (wreck penetration, etc.)

The only way I feel "safer" diving with a buddy is if I know that person's diving and personal status. Otherwise, it is very unlikely that they will add to my safety, and at least somewhat likely they will detract from it.

There are a few friends with whom I will do a true "buddy dive", but not many. Most of my associates who dive are folks who I like and trust, but simply do not know enough about them to put my life in their hands.

 

[ElectricZombie]

There are times when I just gotta dive – and I’m on a boat by myself and there simply is no suitable or willing buddy. Case in point: My recent trip to Monterey over T-giving (what up, Atticus?) on a boat by myself, hooked up by the DM with an insta-buddy – dude had 12 dives. I drove for 6 hours round trip, and at the end of an 11 hour day, I had one 21 minute dive and one 30 minute dive. The guy had issues, and my day sucked.

This is the best argument for solo diving; lack of a decent buddy. In my pre-DIR days, ALL my dives were solo. I didn't know anyone who I was comfortable diving with and my experiences diving with strangers have been dangerous and frustrating. (My general rule is still no diving with strangers.)

The simple solution is to find a good DIR buddy. Practice w/ this person and just dive with them. I know this is hard to do. I dive with a guy that I OW certified a year or so ago using DIR techniques. Problem solved.

I’ve searched all the threads. I’ve read both sides of the issue for months. But it comes down to this for me: Sometimes (by choice or by chance) I’ll dive alone. You need to understand, this goes against everything I’ve embraced over the last year or so. So I want to bring it out here so we can discuss it.

Yeah, it's totally against DIR...you have to weigh your options and decide. As you have pointed out, diving with a buddy is generally more fun. Diving with a competant buddy is certainly safer than diving alone. I beleive that diving with a poor buddy is just as bad as diving solo...maybe even more so. So, your choice really becomes to either dive solo, not at all or only with the usual similarly trained buddies. I know a lot of times when you sign up for a boat dive, you may not know anyone on board. You may have every intention of buddying up with someone, but soon find that the other divers have issues. You've already paid your money and your not getting it back. Should you dive solo or not at all? Tough call. Everyone has to decide for themselves.

What is the best way to minimize the risks that are inherent with solo diving? Is it a 30 ft pony clipped off like Fido on the left Dring? Should I leave the pony in the stable and get a baby doubles with an isolator? Is it staying at reasonable depths (like 60’ and up?), keeping the dive duration short (like 45 minutes or less?) Maybe solo only from boat dives? I’m looking to speak with people who have given this a lot of thought, and have taken rational steps to enter safely into solo diving.

When I did solo dive, I used single and double tank setups. None of the dives were over 130. Proper gas management would be the main thing I would focus on for "safe" solo diving. I hate pony bottles so, I would go the route of a set of AL80 doubles. This way you have plenty of gas in the event of an emergency and have redundancy.

Spare me your one liners and your lectures about always being with a buddy. You know I've got all that, thanks. This has been something coming on for many months, and I want to knock this around some more.

I guess the bottom line is you have to decide for yourself. You know what the DIR stance is and you also know how hard it is to find a good buddy. If you do decide to dive solo, dive safe. I still think your best bet is trying to find another DIR diver (or convert someone...lol) and just dive with them.

 

[Falcon99]

I had the same issues when diving a boat a few months ago. My partner was a really nice guy, but the dives were three 20 minute ones. Closer to home at the lake, the dive groups are kind of jerks and when my partner (whom is IMHO the best buddy a person can have) cannot go, I feel alone from the start. I get the "looks" from the jerks, ect...

Last time, I simply said what the hell and dove solo in the shallow part of the lake. I never went below 35 feet. I feel that if i know my equipment and something happens, it's easy to come straight to the surface and the day is over. i mean, come on. What's the worst thing that can happen at 30 feet? Your tank explodes and you die. If the air just cuts off, you simply swim to the surface - that's it.

The best part was that I saw SO much more while not scanning constantly for my buddy. Because it was just me, I stalked what looked to be a 20 Lb catfish! It was pretty neat. he would wander, forraging in a way I never thought they did, using the whiskers to agitate the clutter along the rocks. I would slink around slowly, proud of the bouyancy control I had, and try not to spook him. Every now and then he would look up at me then go back to rummaging through the rocks for snacks. I watched him for about 20 minutes, completely amazed.

After surfacing I got chewed up and down by an instructor with "the group". he didn't care what my personal Solo parameters were, I got the "you are stupid" speech. I responded with something like "I graduated Navy Pilot Training, you think I didn't do this carefully? I have over 50 dives in this hole...." That made it worse..

My point is that I WILL solo dive again with the major risks managed properly i.e. shallow depth, extra knife, flag, known lake, ect. Do me a favor and stop lumping me with the "yahoo, mama, get the 6-pack, we goin divin!" crowd. That's kind of why I solo dive anyway.

Jim

 

[DA Aquamaster]

The improved ability to be able to observe the fish is a key advantage of solo diving.

When I have one of my cameras along it also eliminates the bored buddy stirring up silt while I set up a shot or wait for nervous fish to come in close, something that will never happen if the buddy does not relax nd park somewhere. I suspect that most underwater photographers are solo divers a good percentage of the time.

 

[detroit diver]

Ken,

Everyone seems to be focused on a couple of issues- equipment, and a potentially ineffective buddy.

My questions to you are (and I'm really not trying to be personal): Are you married? Do you have family?

Is the risk involved worth the potential heartache that you will cause if you don't make it back?

To me, the answers to these are far more important than any tank configuration. It's only something that you can answer.

Dive safe.

 

[Genesis]

Ken,

Everyone seems to be focused on a couple of issues- equipment, and a potentially ineffective buddy.

My questions to you are (and I'm really not trying to be personal): Are you married? Do you have family?

Is the risk involved worth the potential heartache that you will cause if you don't make it back?

To me, the answers to these are far more important than any tank configuration. It's only something that you can answer.

Dive safe.

I have yet to see any evidence presented (not just claims - evidence) that having a buddy materially changes the odds of you coming back safe from any dive.

 

[detroit diver]

I have yet to see any evidence presented (not just claims - evidence) that having a buddy materially changes the odds of you coming back safe from any dive.

And you never will. Nobody is collecting this type of information. The collection of dive injury/death data is sporadic at the very best. It's reallly pitiful.

Common sense tells me that if I have a GOOD dive buddy, I have a better chance to survive a potentially dangerous situation. I don't need to see a graph to tell me this.