Why I should Not be Solo Diving?

[captain]

I am also a motorcycle rider. I have about 100,000 miles of riding over the last 26 years. If I averaged 35 MPH over those miles I rode a total of 2857 hours. I had 1 event, a freak accident where my riding buddy ( that buddy word again)and I ran into each other at about 30 MPH and went down. Over those 100,000 miles I was in an environment with other cars and trucks and road hazards (pot holes, oil, rain, etc). Only the road hazards do I have some degree of control over by being attentive to conditions. I have no control over the vehicles arround me.
Now I have between 1000 and 2000 dives. Lets say 1500 with about half solo, probably less but let use 750. If my average dive time was 30 minutes than I have 375 hours of solo diving. I don't have to deal with other idiots around me like on the road, I only have to deal with one idiot, me. The dive enviroment represents road hazards I have to try and avoid. Where are the odds better. I'll take the solo dive. Less exposure and less conditions I have no control over.

 

[RoyN]

I only go solo if I really want to be alone. And since I just had a super nasty breakup and the final insult, I think I'll solo again

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

So let’s take a look at diving. A new student that is bright, dedicated, very comfortable in water, and actually takes the time to analyze what might go wrong should be very qualified to safely dive in a calm lake with relatively shallow with decent visibility, and a sandy/light weedy bottom. The fishing line come-back seems weak to me since you can, a) untangle it yourself with or without the help on a knife, b) take off your gear and untangle it that way, or c) worst case scenario, swim to the top. The ocean deserves much more respect with its different currents and environments that you can get stuck in.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not defending solo diving, nor am I attacking those people that have advised against it. I am new to this, and I have the utmost respect for those with experience (as I do for those in my industry). But frankly, people who say “’It’s guys like you that’ blah, blah, blah…” really lose their credibility with me. It suggests that they either don’t have anything to back up their claims, or don’t know how to convey their knowledge, or don’t care enough to be specific about what they have learned.

So I ask, what have you experienced that you would say, “Except for the buddy being there, I/he/she would be dead because of ______happening.” List for me some of the things that will kill a solid, but inexperienced diver (not the idiots, or people not comfortable in water) in reletivley shallow water.

OK ... the number one thing that would kill a solid, but inexperienced diver would be reacting to the crisis inappropriately due to the onset of panic. I'm not saying that everyone would do it ... and acknowledging that there are varying degrees to which the instinct would govern someone's actions. However, I've seen it happen ... far more so in newer divers than more experienced ones.

That's really what I've been trying to point out all along ... humans are not designed for the underwater environment, and those instincts that have been "hard-wired" inside each and every one of us that have kept us alive as a species all this time can work against us in a foreign environment. But we are also adaptable, and one of the reasons to get the hours underwater is to condition our responses to allow us to respond calmly when bad things happen.

In an airplane, when stress sets in your breathing rate increases. You won't notice it, because you're surrounded by an exhaustible supply of air, and you will remain firmly planted in the pilot's seat while you work on the problem, despite your increased stress level and breathing rate. You can ignore your breathing and concentrate on the problem. Underwater you don't have that luxury ... your air supply is limited and changes in breathing result in changes in buoyancy. Those two simple factors alone can make resolving the problem far more difficult, because you will now be struggling with your buoyancy at the same time you're working on the problem. It's that sort of task-loading that often leads to accidents and fatalities. Furthermore, depending on depth, you may also have the effects of narcosis working against you ... clouding your judgment with respect to deciding how to deal with the issue.

It's one thing to sit in a classroom and intellectually know what you would, or should, do under a particular circumstance. It's another thing entirely when you're out there, task-loaded and struggling. Why do you think the vast majority of instructors have you do your skills on your knees? It's because they want to simplify the problem-solving conditions for you, and provide you with an orientation that your mind and body are used to ... i.e. being "grounded" and vertical. Do you think that's a realistic scenario for underwater problem solving? I can tell you that it's not ... when the poo hits the fan you may or may not have that option.

Getting bottom time helps you in two ways ... it helps you improve your physical skills to the point where they feel "natural", and it helps you condition your mind to the point where you won't be fighting the panic instinct when faced with an unexpected situation. It's the rare "newbie" who comes out of an OW class with anywhere near an acceptable level of either to be able to safely be self-reliant underwater in even the most benign of conditions.

And then you need the context around which to understand how to prepare for diving solo ... and despite popular belief it will require a bit more than just a pony bottle or other source of alternate air. That's where a good mentor can come in really handy ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[jeckyll]

I am also a motorcycle rider. I have about 100,000 miles of riding over the last 26 years. If I averaged 35 MPH over those miles I rode a total of 2857 hours. I had 1 event, a freak accident where my riding buddy ( that buddy word again)and I ran into each other at about 30 MPH and went down. Over those 100,000 miles I was in an environment with other cars and trucks and road hazards (pot holes, oil, rain, etc). Only the road hazards do I have some degree of control over by being attentive to conditions. I have no control over the vehicles arround me.
Now I have between 1000 and 2000 dives. Lets say 1500 with about half solo, probably less but let use 750. If my average dive time was 30 minutes than I have 375 hours of solo diving. I don't have to deal with other idiots around me like on the road, I only have to deal with one idiot, me. The dive enviroment represents road hazards I have to try and avoid. Where are the odds better. I'll take the solo dive. Less exposure and less conditions I have no control over.

I really don't know why this is turning into a 'motorcycle vs diving' safety thread.

What risks or perceived risks you may take in other hobbies is completely unrelated to the risks I am willing to take in diving.

I'm glad you feel that your diving is safer than your riding, but it really has no impact except perhaps to yourself.

I'm not looking to do any "risk averaging" across hobbies. I don't think anyone else is either. And it has nothing to do with the OP's question.

So, keep the rubber side down and Dive safe & Dive often

Bjorn

 

[Cacia]

I really don't know why this is turning into a 'motorcycle vs diving' safety thread.

really?

easy. Some people say that even if they solo themselves, it shouldn't be "approved of" on a public board, because this might encourage someone not ready to do it, to solo, and maybe have a bad outcome.

But we don't act like this about motorcycles, or things WAY more risky. It is very curious. Motorcycles are just the analogy chosen.

I am amazed on some level every time I cycle ten miles that I am still alive. Every time I go out, some really careless person pulls an outrageous move that I try to dodge. I am seriously thinking about giving it up, near my house and only riding on the base. When I solo, I do not feel (and rightly so) that I am risking death to as big of a degree. Not even close! No contest!

yet, not one person has every said "you know, maybe you should not ride on that road". yet people fall all over themselves about solo diving. They have the best intentions, of that, I am sure. It is just very interesting the reactions.

I find myself wondering about the emotional element that is very clearly there. Is it a peer, collective opinion? Is it their own fears? Is it a hold over from the "don't swim alone" dogma we all grew up hearing at camp?

Am I the only one curious about this? I respect people who don't solo...no problem.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

really?

easy. Some people say that even if they solo themselves, it shouldn't be "approved of" on a public board, because this might encourage someone not ready to do it, to solo, and maybe have a bad outcome.

But we don't act like this about motorcycles, or things WAY more risky. It is very curious. Motorcycles are just the analogy chosen.

I am amazed on some level every time I cycle ten miles that I am still alive. Every time I go out, some really careless person pulls an outrageous move that I try to dodge. I am seriously thinking about giving it up, near my house and only riding on the base. When I solo, I do not feel (and rightly so) that I am risking death to as big of a degree. Not even close! No contest!

yet, not one person has every said "you know, maybe you should not ride on that road". yet people fall all over themselves about solo diving. They have the best intentions, of that, I am sure. It is just very interesting the reactions.

I find myself wondering about the emotional element that is very clearly there. Is it a peer, collective opinion? Is it their own fears? Is it a hold over from the "don't swim alone" dogma we all grew up hearing at camp?

Am I the only one curious about this? I respect people who don't solo...no problem.

I think you're the only one trying to turn the OP's specific question about whether he should be solo diving into a generalized question about whether solo diving should be done at all ... and interpreting other people's comments about the former into a general opposition to the latter. In this respect, I think you're imposing your own prejudices on the conversation and in the process misrepresenting what others have been saying.

So far I haven't seen anyone suggest that solo diving, per se, shouldn't be done. What I do see people saying is that people who are new to diving lack the proper context in terms of skills and experience to be doing it with any degree of safety ... and frankly, I think that even most solo divers wouldn't think it's appropriate for someone fresh out of OW to be attempting solo dives.

Let's stay on topic, Catherine ... this thread isn't about the merits of solo diving, it's about whether or not solo diving is a good idea for an inexperienced diver.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Cacia]

this thread isn't about the merits of solo diving, it's about whether or not solo diving is a good idea for an inexperienced diver.

Well, he said he was an experienced, avid, freediver. I say that is different. Bob, I love the way you sidestep my points by always saying it is off topic. (seriously, not sarcastic...I am attached to your predictable ways) The guy is gone, he said he is not going to solo. So...I was under the impression the debate had evolved.

To stay on point is to run in a tiny circle, with all due respect.

In fact, I think I will watch you all say the same thing over and over. Please, advance ONE fresh though on the subject of solo diving. I don't care if it is correct or wrong...just let it be new. Otherwise, you can just do a search, right? I still have not a foggiest notion of how being with a buddy is really going to be very helpful if you swim into a gill net, in ten foot viz. I was hoping you could explain that, but you want me to be satisfied that it is so because BOB says so.

I beleive you are a great diver. Just try and be logical, when asked a question that is valid. Or I could start a new thread.

You are always pushing me out. 35 years of diving and not getting bent...solo, I even drive to my own sites now...but somehow you don't ever think I have anything to offer.
why?

 

[ShallowDiverDave]

I agree with all of you in some respects, but I do think that making comparisons to other disciplines/hobbies as Catherine has done in her way is valid. I never thought that Catherine went off topic, but rather contributed to the conversation, by reacting to the OP. Everyone reacts differently, and everyone thinks of something after reading these posts, this is what she thought of after reading the thread, so it should be almost inherently on topic. I know people can stray from the topic, but I, the OP, don't mind at all.

 

[jeckyll]

Catherine: I guess you'll make it about whatever you think it's about.

It sure does have the feeling that you're trying to put words in people mouth.

*shrug*

Enjoy.

Bjorn

 

[Diver Dennis]

Too many times the OP never looks back at their thread. Good job fndmylove, for monitoring what people take the time to write.