What are your primary worries as a solo diver?

[H2Andy]

i find that my ONLY worry is air (so long as you can
breathe, you are ok).

i don't carry spare air, so limiting depth to 60 feet is my only viable choice (i know i can keep my airway open without inhaling for a minute). i am thinking of purchasing h-valves to at least have two primaries in the water with me, which, in my book, will cut down the risks enough to allow me to dive deeper on air (within recreational limits, of course).

what are some of the other things that worry you when diving solo? i would like to know.

 

[jagfish]

Dealing with trolls who prey upon the solo diver...

On and off line.

 

[H2Andy]

this forum is a no-troll zone, so that should be easy enough to deal with...

 

[The Kraken]

Where I do a lot of my diving, entanglement with monofilament fishing line.

 

[TwoTanks]

what are some of the other things that worry you when diving solo? i would like to know.

Nothing,

I rarely dive solo, and I carry a pony bottle and cutting tools. Also I don't enter wrecks or go too far from the boat. I would be comfortable going to about 100' but the deepest I have gone solo is about 65'.

If I was completely alone, I would worry about the boat not being there when I came up, or having so much current that I couldn't reach it.

TT

 

[fgray1]

A back up blatter in your BCD is a good idea. Go to doubles even if they are small doubles like steel 72 with isolation manifold and if you want even more redundany a pony bottle.

 

[cortez]

As odd as it may sound, my greatest worry is the example that I set when solo diving. I always try to be a role model to those around me. I enjoy solo diving, but when I get questioned about it, I worry that I will not be able to properly explain the process and procedures I go through to reduce the risk. At the same time I worry that my enthusiasm will get the best of me and I'll appear to be encouraging solo diving. People need to make that choice on their own.

 

[HammerNoMore]

i find that my ONLY worry is air (so long as you can
breathe, you are ok).

i don't carry spare air, so limiting depth to 60 feet is my only viable choice (i know i can keep my airway open without inhaling for a minute). i am thinking of purchasing h-valves to at least have two primaries in the water with me, which, in my book, will cut down the risks enough to allow me to dive deeper on air (within recreational limits, of course).

what are some of the other things that worry you when diving solo? i would like to know.

The biggest concern is redundancy. Currently, I have only been solo in places where the maximum depth is a < 30' and there are no entagnlement hazards so equipment wise, this isn't such a big deal. When cavern diving, the sun is your backup light. In the solo diving I have done, the surface is my backup air/mask/etc.

Obviously if my future dive plans have me solo diving outside of those limits, I will have to prepare appropriately.

I would say that the real worry for me is a medical emergency involving loss of consiousness or serious loss of function.

James

 

[Rick Murchison]

Just as in swimming, there is additional risk to solo diving in that if an event requiring assistance occurs you won't have it. Entrapment is one, but you can generally avoid that. But there's one you can't plan for or mitigate, and that's the unforeseen crippling injury or event...
A few years ago I lost a friend in six feet of water when he was solo and had some debilitating event, then drowned. Whether the event (CVA most likely) would have killed him or not we'll never know, because without a buddy there to bring him up he drowned. It was in a pond but could just as easily have happed in a swimming pool.
Whether you consider the additional risk of solo diving significant enough to prevent you from doing it is a matter of personal preference. Just realize it's there.
Rick

 

[fgray1]

PLAN YOUR DIVE AND DIVE YOUR PLAN.
Come with the right equiptment to do it safely.
Follow the dive plan because in you plan there should be a WHAT IF built into it.