Strongly considering solo diving - lets talk

[GDI]

hh

Manifolded doubles aren't the best choice for solo diving because there are potential failures that can't be isolated. And...I keep telling you that my bp/wing does not push me foreward when I dive a single Al 80. I'm not a great photographer but my stage/decompression bottles don't seem to get in the way. In march I'll be doing the video for a trimix class and I'll have 2 Al 80's slung on my left side at all times. They won't get in the way of the camera. Especially when alone, think twice about mounting entanglement hazards on your back that you can't get off by yourself. I don't even like an argon bottle behind me when I'm diving with a team.

All...

As GDI pointed out the SDI solo course requires a redundant air source but permits the use of manifolded doubles. The divers I know who use manifolded doubles to do solo dives carry a buddy bottle which is a completely seperate bail out. Most use independants and most of those are sidemounted. One has a saying. "Valves belong in your arm pits". Also none of the three SDI solo instructors that I know have ever dived doubles in their life. Good luck with them teaching you valve manipulation. LOL

hey Mike I dive dbl's But I also teach TDI. Solo with dbl's: ya still want that buddy bottle don't ya But You I don't know lol

 

[GDI]

If your ever in the Lake Champlain area again look me up you have a friend here. I wasn't certified in time this year to do any diving in the lake. I have an all sand walk out beach and a pontoon boat that will work great for diving.

I don't know how long it's been since you have dove the lake but it has cleared up quite nicely. Vis has been reported this summer 40' to 50'. Ten years ago you were lucky to get 10'. (Zebra Mussel thing)

Take Care
Scott

Sounds great I was up that way last August and I will be heading up there again. Don't know when yet though?

 

[cornfed]

Yawn...I'm not biting...

LOL, Nice avatar!

 

[CBulla]

Solo is easy for some of us..others need to feel that security. Its totally natural for me since that is the way I dove for the 20ish years before I got certified. Since that c-card date I have learned a new envy for DM's and instructors who have multiple divers under their watch.

note- I in no way discount the need for the buddy system, but like in all things in life, its not always appropriate.

 

[DrySuitDave]

Other then my recent switch to buddy diving when I am diving my closed circuit rebreather, I dove open circuit solo for the last 20 out of 31 years....

In all that time, there has never been a situation I couldn't handle or could have used a buddy for other then closing off a lobster back door escape....

I personally never needed to dive with a buddy.

 

[Walter]

Genesis,

"Quote:
Originally Posted by Walter
Most of the divers out there need to dive with a DM holding their hand.....

And until we can drive the level of outrage high enough over this, the problem will continue unabated.

There is no reason why anyone in a land of "certifications" should be that bad. Those people did not learn to dive - they learned to breathe underwater.

The two skills are NOT the same."

I agree completely, except outrage isn't going to fix it. Face it, we live in an instant gratification society. Most want fast and easy. I'll target the small percentage who want quality.

Simon,

You're an adult, you can do as you please. I didn't see your skills on Sunday, they may be poor, they may be fantastic, they may be somewhere in between. From your confidence level, I suspect they are not poor. Even if you have excellent skills, you don't have the experience to be diving solo. Things go wrong in lakes. Fresh water is all too often used as a dump creating entanglement hazards. There are many reasons your should dive solo, there was only one, very minor reason for you to go solo on Sunday. I'm glad you didn't do it.

James Goddard,

"Of course I was speaking of your typical easy guideded resort dive....but you knew that didn't you?"

You were speaking as if all tropical dives were "your typical easy guideded resort dive." That was misleading.

 

[MikeFerrara]

hey Mike I dive dbl's But I also teach TDI. Solo with dbl's: ya still want that buddy bottle don't ya But You I don't know lol

LOL. I prefer a buddy bottle and better yet I like to have a buddy to carry it for me.

BTW, I ran into one of those solo instructors a couple weeks ago. I hadn't seen him for a while and when I saw him headed for the water I thought he was already tangled in something. He had his trusty pony on his back, regulators plastered all over the front of his body, and argon bottle cliped by the neck only to a d-ring dangling like a fish on a stringer and a bunch of other danglies that I couldn't easily identify. He looked like a junk pile that sprouted legs and started walking. His students probably think he looks cool with all that junk and they'll no doubt buy all the toys from the shop so they can look just like that.

Of course if any of em ever end up taking a class from me we'll put all that stuff in a basket labeled E-BAY. LOL

 

[HammerNoMore]

You were speaking as if all tropical dives were "your typical easy guideded resort dive." That was misleading.

No we were talking about dives that newbies do. If newbies do the more advanced dives Darwin will weed them out soon enough.

James

 

[cornfed]

No we were talking about dives that newbies do.

Not all newbies have the luxury of starting in the tropics.

 

[-hh]

...I'm not a great photographer but my stage/decompression bottles don't seem to get in the way. In march I'll be doing the video for a trimix class and I'll have 2 Al 80's slung on my left side at all times. They won't get in the way of the camera.

When I first tried a stage mount, mine didn't "seem" to either.

Let me clarify by saying that I've found that a stage mount isn't in the way most of the time. However, it has been my experience that a back mount gets in the way even less often.

The application where I found it to be the most noticable problem was with head-down orientations, typically between 45 - 120 degrees (yes, beyond pure vertical orientation). The problem with the stage is that since its back end hung by gravity, the orientation change made it want it to hang differently, and that was how it could get in the way.

And what made this problem worse was that since most regulators breathe wet in head-down orientations, one technique to sidestep this is to minimize the time in that orientation, which means a faster rotation to position. Unfortunately, this merely means that the stage's "flop" is now moving faster and has more force.

Now I'll agree that I don't have the need to be in this oreintation for photgraphy all that frequently, but my point is that the orientation is a useful tool, so when I do want to use it, I don't want my gear configuration to get in the way.

Especially when alone, think twice about mounting entanglement hazards on your back that you can't get off by yourself. I don't even like an argon bottle behind me when I'm diving with a team.

The type and degree of entanglement hazards are a function of your environment/dive location as well as diving skills. If we're talking about doing a wreck crawl then yes, I'd be somewhat concerned. But for generic recreational Cayman/Bonaire/Cozumel tropical OW reef dives in a Marine Park that banned fishing a decade ago, the sources and subsequent potential for an entanglement risk are effectively zero.


BTW, a final consideration for me was how a stage-mount moved around during a non-glassy shore entry/exit. Because the base doesn't always have to be firmly secured, there is the opportunity for it to swing around, and it can hit valuable pieces of equipment (and body parts). If you never shore-dive, its not applicable, but for those who do, having your tanks firmly secured so that they can't move to gather enough velocity to damage/break things through the surf zone is not a bad idea.


-hh