Why I should Not be Solo Diving?

[tonka97]

This is the mentality that can reach out and bite you in the arse at the worst possible time.

Had a gal ... an instructor, actually ... die here a few years back while diving solo. It was a pretty casual, easy dive after a class and she just wanted to go out and unwind a bit. Got tangled up in some fishing line and dropped her knife. Because she was tangled up in fishing line she wasn't able to go retrieve it. They found her several hours later, still tangled up in fishing line.

That lady had several hundred dives under her weightbelt at the time.

If you're entangled, dropping your weights is likely to only make matters worse ... once you've assured that there'll be tension on the line ... due to your inherent buoyancy ... the chances of getting unentangled are dramatically reduced.

These are the sorts of things most people either don't ever think about or resolve behind a keyboard ... which is a much different environment than you'll face in reality, when your heart's thumping and your mind's working hard trying to hold off a panic attack.

Humans aren't built for the underwater environment ... we have a hard-wired survival instinct that's meant to help keep us alive. Problem is that underwater it can make us do things without thinking that could kill us. The major reason to get experience before going solo is to help you condition your mind to work on problems methodically, rather than instinctively.

Something as simple as an unexpected current or a constantly-leaking mask can turn into a major issue for the inexperienced diver who hasn't conditioned himself to handle it calmly. The problem itself isn't what will get you into trouble ... how you respond is what will often turn it into a bigger problem than it actually is. Most diving accidents are the result of improperly handling resolvable problems.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Bob,
Your posts are among the VERY BEST on Scubaboard. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and expertise.

 

[tonka97]

my bad
Now if that Tonka guy wants to start flogging Gentile's book again then I'm in like pongo on a pig. Instead of Gentiles book...how about a newbie wanting to solo dive?

my bad
Instead of Gentiles book...how about a newbie wanting to solo dive?

Are you still licking your wounds?

Your heroes Chatterton and Kohler have been totally exposed as hoax-sters, documented in detail in Shadow Divers Exposed. The true heroes and researchers of U-869 have been identified and referenced in this informative page turner.

http://www.ggentile.com/

Suggest you start reading, and limit sarcastic and non-informative cracks; of course that may leave nothing for you to post.

 

[Diver Dennis]

.......

 

[redacted]

IMO the biggest problem with solo diving is the divers who do not realize they are diving solo. Do the research; think about the situations you may find yourself in and how to handle them. Divers of all types die persuing what they enjoy.

While it is probably good to carry that redundant gas just to get used to the configuration; for dives shallower than 30 ft, I'm usually comfortable with my redundant gas being 30 ft up. YMMV. Clutter does hurt your performance so a third gas source can hurt.

I would think the pony slung on your right would tend to get tangled in hoses. I don't really see where handedness comes into play on this.

Nobody knows what they don't know.

 

[TheHobster]

I got kicked out because I made a joke that DIR was like Scientology

OMG that is way too funny - did you also deign to wear something other than black??

 

[frankc420]

How good of a diver can you become diving alone? IMO, experience in this sport is gained by diving with a more experienced diver! Yes, you can get alot of bottom time solo, but are you learning new things everytime you go down? What are you learning solo?

In all reality someone that never dives buddies and is a solo diver, would be more of a risk to someone that does dive buddies, if they were ever paired up on a boat trip or something related. Obviously solo diver isn't going to have buddy experience which puts the other diver at risk.

Obviously instructors and people on this board want to watch out for you, even though we don't know you. We somewhat care if you die... I don't know you, so I could give 2 poops if you died. But, if you die diving solo, us, the scuba community, get bad mouthed in the media about how extreme scuba diving is and how easy it is to die, yadda yadda yadda. Then, you get bad mouthed for it.

So, what would it hurt to dive with a buddy until you hit say, 50 dives? It wouldn't. You just make it a personal choice to go against the grain and risk your life because your inexperienced. You know the risks, but you choose to ignore them. You obviously know it's not a good idea to go solo diving at such a young age (diving wise), otherwise, you wouldn't get upset when someone insults you about diving solo!

Just my 0.02

 

[Web Monkey]

Since so many of you experienced guys are saying this, I do agree that there is probably much I don't know. But what things might I not know, will save me in an emergency?

What you don't know is that the number of ways to get injured or killed while diving is pretty much limitless, and that having a good buddy can keep you from getting killed.

Just as an example, I did a couple of solo dives when I had about 40 logged dives, and everything was just great. Then around 100 dives (not solo) I got tangled up in a bunch of line around 90', couldn't figure out where it was all tangled and didn't have a cutting tool because "it was just a dive in a local lake that I'd made a bunch of times before".

My buddy took care of it and everything was fine. Without a buddy, things might not have been so wonderful.

The point isn't just that a buddy is there to cut you out of a mess, it's that a buddy is there to help you out of whatever random thing you need help with, and if you're lucky, catch problems before they happen.

Buddys are great for when you do something dumb and need an extra hand (or brain).


Terry

 

[ShallowDiverDave]

In light of all your responses, I have reevaluated my situation and this is my decision:

Thanks for all your comments guys. I would love to respond in detail to each one of you, but I truly don't have the time.

None of the ways I have prepared myself to dive solo ensure my safe return, but they do provide me with the knowledge to reduce my risks. I’ll list a few in order to make a point:

-I have read and analyzed all of the accident and incident threads on this site
-I have read diving solo by Von Maier
-I have limited my diving profiles tremendously
-I have many personal qualities that might be suggestive of a solo diver (extreme situational awareness, self-reliance, underwater familiarity, physical ability, prudent, paranoid)
-I have chosen my equipment in accordance with all of the above


but I reiterate, none of these ensure my safe return.


There is a very powerful concept that I have learned here, there is no substitute for communicating and interacting with experienced divers in the flesh (This supersedes reading books and websites). I have always known that I will someday become a solo diver, it’s what I chose and it’s who I am. I don't see the point in continuing to attempt to explain my reasons for wanting to dive solo anymore because it's totally specific to me as a person and as most individuals are, I am complicated. However, given that I don't completely understand what is meant by certain statements set forth by some of the experienced divers on this site (for example “
You don't know...what you don't know”) and given the aforementioned concept, I have decided to temporarily discontinue solo diving. So for you GA divers out there, lets dive.

 

[matt_unique]

I agree solo diving should come with more experience. Many factors will determine the right time for you. Having experience underwater a free diver is a great bonus but gear problems/manipulation takes lots of time and experience.

I sometimes solo and I sometimes dive with a buddy. Solo divers do not exclusively dive solo. Two solo divers who choose to dive as buddies are much more capable than two divers who exclusively dive with buddies in my opinion. Solo divers do not suffer from buddy reliance.

--Matt

 

[headhunter]

In light of all your responses, I have reevaluated my situation and this is my decision:

Thanks for all your comments guys. I would love to respond in detail to each one of you, but I truly don't have the time.

None of the ways I have prepared myself to dive solo ensure my safe return, but they do provide me with the knowledge to reduce my risks. I’ll list a few in order to make a point:

-I have read and analyzed all of the accident and incident threads on this site
-I have read diving solo by Von Maier
-I have limited my diving profiles tremendously
-I have many personal qualities that might be suggestive of a solo diver (extreme situational awareness, self-reliance, underwater familiarity, physical ability, prudent, paranoid)
-I have chosen my equipment in accordance with all of the above


but I reiterate, none of these ensure my safe return.


There is a very powerful concept that I have learned here, there is no substitute for communicating and interacting with experienced divers in the flesh (This supersedes reading books and websites). I have always known that I will someday become a solo diver, it’s what I chose and it’s who I am. I don't see the point in continuing to attempt to explain my reasons for wanting to dive solo anymore because it's totally specific to me as a person and as most individuals are, I am complicated. However, given that I don't completely understand what is meant by certain statements set forth by some of the experienced divers on this site (for example “
You don't know...what you don't know”) and given the aforementioned concept, I have decided to temporarily discontinue solo diving. So for you GA divers out there, lets dive.

It's good to hear that you will be waiting before making that decision to continue solo diving.

I recommend that you take some instruction that will task load you and test your situational awareness to a point of failure under carefully supervised conditions. It sounds like you need to be exposed to what can go wrong while under the watchful eye of a good instructor.

GUE does an effective job of this and since this started with you posting in the DIR forum it sounds like you may have connections for training in this way from your original OW instructor. There is a community of GUE divers in Atlanta that would help you learn more about "what you don't know".

Of course, there are other agencies that may serve you well in this way, but I'm not as familiar with them. While I have not taken cave classes, this may be the type of training that you would want to undertake to better prepare you for "unexpected" situations that you might encounter solo diving.

Good luck with your goals in diving!

Christian