Diver Dennis
Contributor
Divmstr223:
Very true. That diver with bad judgement or ill prepared to help you in an emergency might just be your buddy.
Why I should Not be Solo Diving?
- Thread starter ShallowDiverDave
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Very true. That diver with bad judgement or ill prepared to help you in an emergency might just be your buddy.
Divmstr223
Contributor
Diver Dennis:
That's true. But it's a better alternative IMO.
BUT, having said that....it's everyone's life to live and if solo diving makes them happy, so be it. :14:
Diving with a buddy is an illusion of safety. Be prepared to rescue yourself in all situations, including when you are alone.
Diving with more people only increases the chances of something going wrong, its them damn statistics.
Diving with more people only increases the chances of something going wrong, its them damn statistics.
Newlynarked
Registered
So.....would someone let me know if I'm in the "wrong thread?" I guess I thought that the thread was asking some (specific) reasons why a new diver should or should not solo dive. The thread was not terminated from the start as inappropriate, it's already at 20 pages for heavens sake! I (a new diver, not new to life, or new to technical activities) asked the people with "experience" to share some of their knowledge with us , and all we get are four more pages of a junior high caliber pissing contest! You folks lambaste the thread starter with pompous piety, and then offer no substance whatsoever to help people that are asking serious questions. Thanks, Bob, for your thoughts on experience. I would love to hear more about what specific things happen to new divers that create panic.
After reading 15 pages of ramble to try to learn something, I think I have read 2-3 posts that only begin to specifically address the question! Screw motorcycles! People said, "NO! NO! NO SOLO!! DANGER!! FISHING LINE!!!" and then when asked for specifics, they say, "well...gee...um...well, you might drop your knife...uhh..."
So I ask again. What specifically have you seen happen in 30 feet of water or less that is going to kill me?!
After reading 15 pages of ramble to try to learn something, I think I have read 2-3 posts that only begin to specifically address the question! Screw motorcycles! People said, "NO! NO! NO SOLO!! DANGER!! FISHING LINE!!!" and then when asked for specifics, they say, "well...gee...um...well, you might drop your knife...uhh..."
So I ask again. What specifically have you seen happen in 30 feet of water or less that is going to kill me?!
Newlynarked
Registered
Okay, sorry for sounding chapped, I know I'm new here. But I really thought that my post on #148 was well thought out, and I was really looking forward to reading something informative about diving that I could chew on tonight. Instead I got people fighting about ignore lists.
Please......I want to learn. What's the score?
Please......I want to learn. What's the score?
captain
Contributor
You could register in the solo section so you can view it but be aware it is surpposed to be about solo techniques and not a place to ask if you should or shouldn't. Go through the treads and maybe you will find some information to help you make a decision. Just don't ask for permission to solo dive, let that be a personal decision based on what information you find useful..
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Sorry ... your post WAS well thought out, and I did try to provide an answer in a subsequent post (#153).Newlynarked:
It's difficult to come up with specifics, because what gets most new divers in trouble isn't so much the things that go wrong ... it's how they respond to those things.
I've seen relatively solid divers go bonkers and bolt over simple little things like a leaking mask that they just can't get to stop leaking or a regulator that starts free-flowing. Any of those problems could've been resolved ... even if the diver were solo ... by maintaining a calm demeanor and thinking through the options. But in the real world, that's easier said than done.
I'm not going to say that having a buddy will help or hinder the situation ... I'm only going to posit that if you've decided to dive by yourself, you'd BETTER be able to deal with these issues on your own ... because you've already eliminated the other option.
Without having some experience under your belt, how would you know whether or not you'd be able to handle it. The only real way to find out is to test yourself ... which eventually we all get a chance to do if we dive often enough. The question isn't what can go wrong ... it's when will it go wrong, and how bad will it be? And anyone who's been through a good tech class can relate to how quickly things can go south even in situations where you've mentally played the scenario out ahead of time and thought yourself very capable of dealing with it ... we all get "tested" that way for a reason.
Too many variables to get much more specific than that ... every dive is different. And Murphy can find real creative ways to ruin your day. You need to be mentally conditioned to deal with these things while maintaining your calm ... and bottom time is still the most effective way I know to give yourself that conditioning.
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
Newlynarked
Registered
Thanks, Bob. I agree wholeheartedly with your statement. I especially like the part when you say, “you'd BETTER be able to deal with these issues on your own ... because you've already eliminated the other option.” That is some rubber-meets-the-road no s--t. I like it.
Yes, the further a person gets away from their natural surroundings, the more mental energy is used up compensating for the increased stimuli. If 90% of the brain is working hard processing stimuli, even unconsciously, that only leaves 10% of the brain for problem solving. After time, if the brain only uses 30% of its capacity to process the environment, it now leaves 70% to problem solve. Eventually, diving, flying, extreme skiing, skateboarding, etc. becomes their natural environment, and problem solving increases ten fold.
In the spirit of the original thread though, I still am looking for some anecdotal evidence that diving in a relatively shallow, benign environment will get you killed. Panicked, perhaps. Swimming to the top when unnecessary, probably. But has anyone really died on a shallow dive? And if so, enough people to warrant such vilification on those who even ask about it?
Thanks again for the feedback. I’ll let it go, and read the posts.
Yes, the further a person gets away from their natural surroundings, the more mental energy is used up compensating for the increased stimuli. If 90% of the brain is working hard processing stimuli, even unconsciously, that only leaves 10% of the brain for problem solving. After time, if the brain only uses 30% of its capacity to process the environment, it now leaves 70% to problem solve. Eventually, diving, flying, extreme skiing, skateboarding, etc. becomes their natural environment, and problem solving increases ten fold.
In the spirit of the original thread though, I still am looking for some anecdotal evidence that diving in a relatively shallow, benign environment will get you killed. Panicked, perhaps. Swimming to the top when unnecessary, probably. But has anyone really died on a shallow dive? And if so, enough people to warrant such vilification on those who even ask about it?
Thanks again for the feedback. I’ll let it go, and read the posts.
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I believe it was Mike Ferrara who reported on this board a couple years back about a lady who got separated from her dive buddies, entangled in kelp, and drowned ... in about 5 feet of water.
There was also a Fort Lewis soldier who died locally a couple years ago because he forgot to open his tank valve, manually inflated his BCD (to save air?), swam out to a buoy (alone), deflated his BCD and promptly sank to the bottom. They found his body in about 25 feet of water.
I had a student about three years ago who's husband lost his life in a shallow lake, trying to retrieve a video camera he dropped off a boat. They don't know why ... he went down alone ... they later found him on the bottom in about 20 feet of water.
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
There was also a Fort Lewis soldier who died locally a couple years ago because he forgot to open his tank valve, manually inflated his BCD (to save air?), swam out to a buoy (alone), deflated his BCD and promptly sank to the bottom. They found his body in about 25 feet of water.
I had a student about three years ago who's husband lost his life in a shallow lake, trying to retrieve a video camera he dropped off a boat. They don't know why ... he went down alone ... they later found him on the bottom in about 20 feet of water.
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
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