Thinking back, what caused you to go solo?
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Basking Ridge Diver
Contributor
For me it is scheduling freedom but it is also the relaxation that I do not have to follow or concern myself with someone else's welfare. I track my SAC/RMV and it is much lower when I am solo than diving with buddies. I can go at my pace - slow or quick and not have to worry about someone else not enjoying my dive.
Others have stated items that I agree with but it is the bliss of enjoying what I do and I can be completely taken in by it without worry.
Others have stated items that I agree with but it is the bliss of enjoying what I do and I can be completely taken in by it without worry.
the only time I have needed to use venturi so far was when my buddy was swimming ahead of me little too fast and I could not quite keep up with him... had no means to signal him that I would need to go a little slower for a while. visibility around 2 meters so would not want to lose my buddy either, had to keep up...
going at your own pace seems to be quite an issue on buddy dives (let alone group dives) and it causes lots of unnecessary stress.
I mentioned diving clubs on another thread earlier, they are a very good way to gain experience and friends but they will go absolutely nuts if someone even mentions the solo diving subject, you can't really talk about it at all. going on a solo dive would be no problem as long as you don't tell anybody before or after, you would probably get 20 "please don't dive alone you will die" calls from all friends and relatives which would be very annoying
especially when their opinions are clearly based on wrong facts and their own fears of water
A reason I would go for a solo dive would be to either photograph something underwater which can't be shot other way or to train something boring but mandatory which no buddy would be interested in (like doing line laying or smb drills half a day etc)
going at your own pace seems to be quite an issue on buddy dives (let alone group dives) and it causes lots of unnecessary stress.
I mentioned diving clubs on another thread earlier, they are a very good way to gain experience and friends but they will go absolutely nuts if someone even mentions the solo diving subject, you can't really talk about it at all. going on a solo dive would be no problem as long as you don't tell anybody before or after, you would probably get 20 "please don't dive alone you will die" calls from all friends and relatives which would be very annoying
especially when their opinions are clearly based on wrong facts and their own fears of water
A reason I would go for a solo dive would be to either photograph something underwater which can't be shot other way or to train something boring but mandatory which no buddy would be interested in (like doing line laying or smb drills half a day etc)
Ana
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.....
you can't really talk about it at all. going on a solo dive would be no problem as long as you don't tell anybody before or after, you would probably get 20 "please don't dive alone you will die" calls from all friends and relatives which would be very annoying
especially when their opinions are clearly based on wrong facts and their own fears of water
absolutely, I have learned that one does not talk about solo diving in my country 
which is why it is nice to have this site to talk about things like that
it is quite annoying that they always cite the badly made researches from various instances where all the buddy separation /group separation accidents are listed as "solo diving accidents" which of course creates an illusion that solo diving would be much more dangerous than any other form of diving which would clearly not be the case if the same study would be correctly made with scientific methods
AND of course all the relatives taught to dive in 60s and 70s are telling the non diving ones the same old "facts" and they become very worried about one's wellbeing thinking that diving would be extremely dangerous sport (it really being one of the safest ones there is especially with the current equipment)
which is why it is nice to have this site to talk about things like that it is quite annoying that they always cite the badly made researches from various instances where all the buddy separation /group separation accidents are listed as "solo diving accidents" which of course creates an illusion that solo diving would be much more dangerous than any other form of diving which would clearly not be the case if the same study would be correctly made with scientific methods
AND of course all the relatives taught to dive in 60s and 70s are telling the non diving ones the same old "facts" and they become very worried about one's wellbeing thinking that diving would be extremely dangerous sport (it really being one of the safest ones there is especially with the current equipment)
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I am a little worried I might have more reasons than dives as I am not that experienced yet:
Right in OW class Instarted to realize:
- my (in distant future) solo dives will be as safe as I make them that day.
- my buddy dives are as safe as the less safe of us two that day and compromised further by there being two imperfect beings.
- Just not buying into thoughtless buddy dives (that’s what I saw in class) being safer than thoughtful solo dives.
Then:
- The Zen of solo... Not sure I know what Zen is, but it got to be that... Love it! Mentioned before, dramatically magnified yet at night during lights off moments.
- The flexibility it affords.
- The fact that it gives no false sense of security... and that I have to get it right and that that keeps me on my toes and likely keeps me from becoming in as complacent as many divers I see... Solo or with buddy, I find “self reliant” the only way to dive.
- I realized that when I have a camera in hand I suck as a buddy and really prefer to focus on whatever subject captures my interest.
And my son and buddy got busy at school and it got more difficult to dive together.
And I concluded that if I am going to dive more in retirement, a good part of it will need to be on a budget, so self planning, self executing, self maintaining and learning it all seems to make sense that way too.
So, when I had 100 dives logged, I went for the card as I might as well use the sparse dive time prior to retirement to get a little better and safer at it... and for that I need to dive solo every so often... to keep it honest ... and that’s no problem, as I love doing it...
Right in OW class Instarted to realize:
- my (in distant future) solo dives will be as safe as I make them that day.
- my buddy dives are as safe as the less safe of us two that day and compromised further by there being two imperfect beings.
- Just not buying into thoughtless buddy dives (that’s what I saw in class) being safer than thoughtful solo dives.
Then:
- The Zen of solo... Not sure I know what Zen is, but it got to be that... Love it! Mentioned before, dramatically magnified yet at night during lights off moments.
- The flexibility it affords.
- The fact that it gives no false sense of security... and that I have to get it right and that that keeps me on my toes and likely keeps me from becoming in as complacent as many divers I see... Solo or with buddy, I find “self reliant” the only way to dive.
- I realized that when I have a camera in hand I suck as a buddy and really prefer to focus on whatever subject captures my interest.
And my son and buddy got busy at school and it got more difficult to dive together.
And I concluded that if I am going to dive more in retirement, a good part of it will need to be on a budget, so self planning, self executing, self maintaining and learning it all seems to make sense that way too.
So, when I had 100 dives logged, I went for the card as I might as well use the sparse dive time prior to retirement to get a little better and safer at it... and for that I need to dive solo every so often... to keep it honest ... and that’s no problem, as I love doing it...
CT-Rich
Contributor
I had some insta buddies that were useless. What was the advantage of a buddy that I am responsible for if I can have no expectation that he would be able to help me? I have a few reliable dive buddies, I choose to dive with them. I would prefer to enjoy the solitude of the ocean than watch a meathead rototill the bottom while trying not let him destroy the visibility and the mood.
My dive buddies are my wife and daughter..... I'm there for them, but I somewhat doubt they could handle helping me with their experience (maybe the daughter...)....
shared opinion of human race...
similar usernames...
Dad?
Rollin is my real surname and I'm probably the right age.
But being your dad is unlikely, as I am so shy with females of my species, it is a miracle I got hooked up with one and got married. And as I dislike humans, we decided to skip the offspring alltogether ;-)
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