Don 100%. I would much rather dive solo and work on skills than not dive at all simply becaude there is no buddy available for what ever reason. Would I let my wife dive solo? CERTAINLY--she's into sky diving and I ain't gonna do that
How do you feel about solo diving?
- Thread starter radagalf
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i have dived solo before but in very shallow water to practice my skills but for mike ferrara to say that solo diving isnt the answer to a bad buddy well i would rather dive solo then with someone who doesnt know what they are doing and could possibly endanger both of our lives..now i dive with my son...but for everyone else its their call..divers will continue to dive solo no matter what anyone says..its just the way it is..my question to mike is have you ever dived solo before?
What Mike is saying that just because the industry is not training divers anymore and divers are not competent buddies, solo diving was justified by many. Of course that is not the answer. Just like fins. Manufacturers constantly developing new fins to compensate for lack of finning abiblity. Two wet noodels on the feet does not fix the problem. It is true, one rather dive solo than with a risky buddy. The fix is to train competent divers, but that is not going to happen either.
Arduous
Contributor
This has been kicked around a million times on this and every other board. The bottom line is, there has always been solo divers and there will always bee solo divers. Those that dont, Shouldnt , some that do Shouldnt and then those that are comfortable, confident, competent and well trained should dive in what ever legal manor that suits them. 95% of all my dives are solo dives. I have been diving sense the mid 70s. I have never EVER had an out of air emergency or an emergency of any kind for that matter. I have dove in extremely rough seas and in zero visibility. I have had some minor snags some entanglements, but none that rose to the level of an emergency. Someone once said that a dive emergency was only an emergency the 1st time it happens to you, then its no more than an annoyance to be dealt with. If you can honestly assess the conditions at the dive sight your planning to visit and you plan, prepare and equip for that dive and you are comfortable, confident and competent in your abilities, then go ahead and dive solo. Thousands of others are
.Arduous
I have joined this discussion late, and appologise if I rehash some previously expressed opinions.
My comments may seem contradictory, but we all draw the line some where, and that may be good for discussion.
I've been diving for 30 years and activley teaching for 24.
In general I am opposed to solo diving.
I have never dived solo for pleasure.
That being said, I have dived solo (or as close to solo as I intend to get) during search and recovery dives, both in open water and under the ice. These dives were conducted using commercial rules, tethered, with a line tender and stand by diver dressed and ready to assist.
During open water dives, especially during the first few o/w dives the Instructor, DM or IA is realy diving solo. The students while ready to move into the open water training part of their course are not competant. In some cases it may take a student several tries to successfully complete o/w skills like (NAUI) recovering an unconcious diver from 25 ft, controling the ascent, and maintaining the victums head in an upright posiiiton.
In this respect the trainers and evaluators are diving solo.
As an example; I was having a leaky oring on my dry suit inflator hose. I noticed it at 20 ft on an accessment station with a student. I could see the stream of bubbles, and concluded the problem. ( My inflator is on my lower left rib cage, so I can't see it)
I thought this would be a good exercise for the student, right? (WRONG!) I pulled out my BC inflator, signaled the student to watch me (2 fingers pointed to my eyes then one to my chest)
and I proceded to disconnect the power inflator hose, just like they had done in class (to cure a stuck inflator). I then pointed to my suit inflator, and the student signalled ok. Did she disconnect it as I expected? Well yes in a fashion. Instead of pulling on the slip ring she decided to check and see if it was secure. She grabbed the hose and pulled 90° to the axis of the connector.
The housing broke, the fitting came loose, still in the hose, and now we have lots of air coming out of the hose.
I grabbed the hose, disconnected the fitting to stop the air flow and put the fitting in a pocket. On the surface I asked the student if she did not understand what I wanted, and she said Yes she knew I wanted the hose disconnected, but she wanted to make sure she had a good grip. (Well she did)
We take measures to enssure we are in a safe environment where entanglement, and other problems are unlikely to occur, but for all intents if you have a problem, "YOU" have to deal with it.
Mike D
:blfish:
My comments may seem contradictory, but we all draw the line some where, and that may be good for discussion.
I've been diving for 30 years and activley teaching for 24.
In general I am opposed to solo diving.
I have never dived solo for pleasure.
That being said, I have dived solo (or as close to solo as I intend to get) during search and recovery dives, both in open water and under the ice. These dives were conducted using commercial rules, tethered, with a line tender and stand by diver dressed and ready to assist.
During open water dives, especially during the first few o/w dives the Instructor, DM or IA is realy diving solo. The students while ready to move into the open water training part of their course are not competant. In some cases it may take a student several tries to successfully complete o/w skills like (NAUI) recovering an unconcious diver from 25 ft, controling the ascent, and maintaining the victums head in an upright posiiiton.
In this respect the trainers and evaluators are diving solo.
As an example; I was having a leaky oring on my dry suit inflator hose. I noticed it at 20 ft on an accessment station with a student. I could see the stream of bubbles, and concluded the problem. ( My inflator is on my lower left rib cage, so I can't see it)
I thought this would be a good exercise for the student, right? (WRONG!) I pulled out my BC inflator, signaled the student to watch me (2 fingers pointed to my eyes then one to my chest)
and I proceded to disconnect the power inflator hose, just like they had done in class (to cure a stuck inflator). I then pointed to my suit inflator, and the student signalled ok. Did she disconnect it as I expected? Well yes in a fashion. Instead of pulling on the slip ring she decided to check and see if it was secure. She grabbed the hose and pulled 90° to the axis of the connector.
The housing broke, the fitting came loose, still in the hose, and now we have lots of air coming out of the hose.
I grabbed the hose, disconnected the fitting to stop the air flow and put the fitting in a pocket. On the surface I asked the student if she did not understand what I wanted, and she said Yes she knew I wanted the hose disconnected, but she wanted to make sure she had a good grip. (Well she did)
We take measures to enssure we are in a safe environment where entanglement, and other problems are unlikely to occur, but for all intents if you have a problem, "YOU" have to deal with it.
Mike D
:blfish:
MichaelG
Guest
I would never do a deep dive solo, but most of my shallow -25fsw dives become solo even with a buddy. There is one particular area where I do alot of dives with a buddy, but visibility tends to be so poor that after about 30 seconds of descending, we get separated and can't find eachother for the rest of the dive
When I do get separated regardless of where I am, I try to stay in a very small area and sometimes make multiple surface ascents if I am not totaly familiar with the area just to make sure I know exactly where I am at.
I think it is safe to say that in poor visibility, most dives become a solo dive.
--MichaelG
When I do get separated regardless of where I am, I try to stay in a very small area and sometimes make multiple surface ascents if I am not totaly familiar with the area just to make sure I know exactly where I am at.
I think it is safe to say that in poor visibility, most dives become a solo dive.
--MichaelG
R
redacted
Guest
My wife/buddy and I use a buddy rope in poor vis. It's about 12ft long with velcro loops on each end that go around the wrist. I dive solo but she does not. We have never had a buddy seperation problem, even in low vis.
Plan a solo dive if you choose. Solo by accident is the beginning of a problem.
I feel that anyone who doubts their abilities to dive solo, should not be diving. That doesn't mean they will dive solo, but they should have every reason to trust that they and their equipment are up to it.
Afterall, if your buddy is in trouble, you need to be better than just a solo diver. You need to save a life and solo dive at the same time.
I don't solo dive, but I know I my equipment and dive skills are up to the task.
Thanks,
Red Rover
Afterall, if your buddy is in trouble, you need to be better than just a solo diver. You need to save a life and solo dive at the same time.
I don't solo dive, but I know I my equipment and dive skills are up to the task.
Thanks,
Red Rover
Yes...Why
snuggle, Of course I have dived solo. I do lots of diving I don't reccomend others do. caves deep, lots of wierd gasses and so on.
I am questioning the reason for it more than the act itself. Like I said, I believe the only reson to solo is because you want to. If one wants to it is their choice. A far cry from doing it and justifying it with tales of bad buddies and claims that the buddy system is dangerous (the claim of some magazines and one agency).
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