Thinking to solo dive ???

[VooDooGasMan]

The torpedeo has a bracket for two ,just make one for your scooters.

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

Bob, Thanks for helping those who are contemplating the solo diver profile...

I dive with a camera... I let everyone know who dives with.... if I have a camera in my hand, I am a solo diver (who will attempt to keep up with everyone else)... BUT, I am after the picture... and I am a solo diver... I am a safe diver and test my emergency ascent skills often... (my bc has to be inflated with 15 breaths at 100 ft. for me to be neutral when my tank is drained... with 0 weight and no wet suit)... Think about the dangers you face on a normal dive... think about adding 10 dangers to that, and what it will take to reach the surface safely... If you can think of 10, you might be ready to dive solo...

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

really? I am sure you probably know better than I, but I would not have guessed that. Most of the divers I have seen/heard of die are heart attacks and they have a buddy. (unless you are counting freedivers)

I suspect heart attacks are more prevalent in warmer environments that are more prone to the occasional (vacation) diver who's completely out of shape. Most PNW vacation divers don't dive here ... the water's too cold and there's too much gear and too much weight, etc, etc, etc.

What you get here, predominantly, is "death by brain fart" ... people either diving beyond their limits or doing something out of ignorance that led to a tragic conclusion.

I can only think of two diving deaths here in at least the past five years that were attributed to heart attacks ... one was a (very overweight) fellow who hadn't dived in several years and attempted what many consider an advanced site ... the other was someone who was visiting the area and was doing his first ever cold water dive.

Of the past half-dozen or so local diver deaths, at least two thirds (that I can think of off the top of my head) were with a dive buddy when the accident happened, and the dive buddy was not able to prevent the death from occurring.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[nereas]

Bob, Thanks for helping those who are contemplating the solo diver profile...

I dive with a camera... I let everyone know who dives with.... if I have a camera in my hand, I am a solo diver (who will attempt to keep up with everyone else)... BUT, I am after the picture... and I am a solo diver... I am a safe diver and test my emergency ascent skills often... (my bc has to be inflated with 15 breaths at 100 ft. for me to be neutral when my tank is drained... with 0 weight and no wet suit)... Think about the dangers you face on a normal dive... think about adding 10 dangers to that, and what it will take to reach the surface safely... If you can think of 10, you might be ready to dive solo...

I think mostly about adjusting to neutral buoyancy during my descent, and keeping neutral all throughout the dive. The most hazardous thing is to be overweighted or negative at any time.

From a perfectly neutral drifting attitude, it would then be easy to ascend simply by gentle kicks.

And if not, then ditching a small weight belt, with 6 to 10 lbs on it, would guarantee it.

And if still not, then it means there is some kind of severe downcurrent present, which hopefully I noticed already before I got caught in it. A DPV in 5th gear is the only way I can imagine getting out of one of those.

Having a small weight belt involves integrating your weighting with your BPW or your B/C to start with. I like the DSS plates that fit onto the backplates.

With twin tanks, air/gas supply is almost irrelevant, since NDL or max bottom time would sooner overtake you than your supply, but I monitor my SPG fairly often.

Being aware of your depth and your PO2 limit for your mix, especially nitrox, where oxygen fractions are high, is good to bear in mind. If you set the PO2 alarm on your dive computer properly, this should help. But awareness is still better than complete computer reliance.

With single tanks, monitoring air/nitrox supply is critical, since you would rarely be able to overcome your NDL time with a single tank.

Listening for bubbles is worthwhile too.

Entanglements from fishing line or kelp need to be avoided.

Getting stuck in a swim-through or small cave or narrow wreck might require gear ditching and replacement, just like was practiced in oper water certification.

Avoiding possible entanglement situations as prevention still beats any cures, though.

Dangerous animals in the water, such as white or tiger sharks, leopard seals, fire corals, etc are worth looking out for, being aware of the environment at all times.

There are many things to think about, although with time and experience, all of this comes fairly naturally to anyone who has done it long enough.

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

I think mostly about adjusting to neutral buoyancy during my descent, and keeping neutral all throughout the dive. The most hazardous thing is to be overweighted or negative at any time.

From a perfectly neutral drifting attitude, it would then be easy to ascend simply by gentle kicks.

And if not, then ditching a small weight belt, with 6 to 10 lbs on it, would guarantee it.

And if still not, then it means there is some kind of severe downcurrent present, which hopefully I noticed already before I got caught in it. A DPV in 5th gear is the only way I can imagine getting out of one of those.

Having a small weight belt involves integrating your weighting with your BPW or your B/C to start with. I like the DSS plates that fit onto the backplates.

With twin tanks, air/gas supply is almost irrelevant, since NDL or max bottom time would sooner overtake you than your supply, but I monitor my SPG fairly often.

Being aware of your depth and your PO2 limit for your mix, especially nitrox, where oxygen fractions are high, is good to bear in mind. If you set the PO2 alarm on your dive computer properly, this should help. But awareness is still better than complete computer reliance.

With single tanks, monitoring air/nitrox supply is critical, since you would rarely be able to overcome your NDL time with a single tank.

Listening for bubbles is worthwhile too.

Entanglements from fishing line or kelp need to be avoided.

Getting stuck in a swim-through or small cave or narrow wreck might require gear ditching and replacement, just like was practiced in oper water certification.

Avoiding possible entanglement situations as prevention still beats any cures, though.

Dangerous animals in the water, such as white or tiger sharks, leopard seals, fire corals, etc are worth looking out for, being aware of the environment at all times.

There are many things to think about, although with time and experience, all of this comes fairly naturally to anyone who has done it long enough.

Did you miss that I stated I was negative without weights or wet suit?...

 

[texdiveguy]

Opps double post.

 

[texdiveguy]

There are many things to think about, although with time and experience, all of this comes fairly naturally to anyone who has done it long enough.

This is when one of the very worst threats to divers can come into play...Complacency.

 

[Darnold9999]

What you get here, predominantly, is "death by brain fart" ... people either diving beyond their limits or doing something out of ignorance that led to a tragic conclusion.

I would add stupidity or complacency to that list. This is how I generally get into trouble. I choose to do something that sounded like a good idea at the time, but in retrospect was unbelieveably stupid or was just plain not paying attention to details. Like stepping of the back of the boat on the 7th dive of the weekend into current without fins. Not fatal, but complacent and that's the one that will get you.

If you solo dive you have to avoid all of these - ignorance being the hardest as you don't know what you don't know. However complacency is probably the next most difficult - we all get lulled into a false sense of security by an long string of successful dives.

 

[Rick Inman]

There is nothing like a good team.

It's rare, but when you find a buddy who understands team diving, whose equipment matches your own, who knows all the signals, knows the protocols, understands the kind of gas management and dive planning you do, and then executes the plan just like you knew he/she would, you have found a wonderful thing. You start to think alike. You know just what they are going to signal and when, and what they are asking you before they even begin to signal. You're thinking, maybe we should turn the dive early. You turn to you buddy to signal them, and they are already turning to you signaling the turn.

It becomes like mind reading.

And then, if you've done the skills together, practiced emergency procedures together frequently, you know exactly how they will respond when you really need them. And they know just how you'll respond as well.

Eventually something real happens, and then you know for sure.

You have a history together.

You'll find yourselves laughing at stuff underwater that no one else would understand, and often just a glance is all it takes to communicate a complex concept.

Allen is a diver like this. Someone once asked me if Allen and I were friends. No, I said. We're closer than that. We're dive buddies.

There is no better diving for me than team diving like this. It is the safest, most fun diving there is. It's the diving where I experience real adventure.

I also enjoy diving with new people. A starfish is a wonder to behold. A night dive completed is a victory over fears and the mysteries of the dark. A school of fish is an amazing miracle. They are weightless, breathing underwater! Some of those first dives are the most fun a diver will have - and I love being a part of it.

When I solo dive, it is the most peaceful I ever feel. I am alone with myself, and it is the only time I really slow way down. My blood pressure drops. I can hang in one place and do nothing and be happy. I decide to go this way or that on a whim. There is a randomness that doesn't exist anywhere else in my life. I dive solo with doubles, conservative, easy dives (relatively). This is not a time to challenge my skills (there's plenty of time for that with my teammates). I am not trying to climb Mt. Everest, but simply sitting at the base, contemplating it.

I also enjoy meeting and diving with new diving friends (insta-buddies). Sometimes I learn something, sometimes they do, and sometimes we both do. It is the most potentially dangerous diving there is, and I am on hyper-alert and focused on the buddy more than the environment. Often we don't communicate as well as I wish we could. Sometimes it's work to get along together during the dive. But that's OK, because my diving life is rich with verity, and this kind of diving is the exception for me more than the rule. If I am lucky enough to get an insta-buddy who is a more skilled diver than I am, I will become a student of this diver and glean all I can during our brief diving together.

So, I guess I solo dive because it is one of the delicious dishes on the diving menu. It isn't my favorite, but I do enjoy it when it happens. And solo diving, for me, seems to just happen more than be something that is planned.

 

[TSandM]

Beautiful post, Rick.