If I were a solo diver...

[mgri]

Mo2vation once bubbled...
I dive for the serenity and the peace that illudes me topside. I dive for the freedom of floating, of moving in slow motion. I dive for the tactile sensation of the water breezing past me, squeezing me, caressing me. The buddy is just a mobile bail-out - and often, less than that.

K

That is the reason why a lot of times I prefer solo dives. It's hard to explain to a buddy underwater why all you want to do is hover motionless for ten minutes without moving a muscle, where the only sensory input is the sound of your breathing.

No buddy to keep an eye on, no concern of deviating from the dive plan, best is when there are no divers around at all and it's just you surrounded by a very hostile, beautiful, serene environment.

of course the risks are there but I guess everyone who dives is already excepting a certain innate risk.

 

[Mo2vation]

Recent buddy excluded (with whom I have thoroughly enjoyed several recent rives...), I have often found myself simply doing a solo dive anyway - with the added semi-peace of mind that there is gas someplace down here for me. Currnet buddy gets it, we dive as a team, its all good.

Often, when I'm diving with the egg beater du jour off of some cattle boat, I'm not as fortunate, and spend a lot of time keeping my blind date close enough so I won't die.

Where are the serious solo divers? There is a way / are ways to manage the added risks to solo diving....lets hear about it. Or we can kill this one and I can go solo diving through the archives...

K

 

[Rick Inman]

Uncle Pug once bubbled...
I would eliminate as many failure points as practical in my breathing gas supply:

All of my breathing gas would be in a single tank with one first stage, one second stage, one SPG, one lp wing inflation hose and one suit inflation hose (if diving dry.)

I wouldn't split the gas I was carrying up into multiple bottles with mutliple 0-rings, second stages, hoses and spgs to fail. In other words... no ponys, doubles, spare airs.

I would split the gas up through planning and set aside enough gas to make a controlled ascent from what ever depth/time I was at in the event of a failure in any component. This amount of set-aside gas would change during the dive as the depth/time evolved.

Strange. There are tons of solo divers out there who usually jump right in to a "Solo or not?" thread. And yet, from this thread they are strangly absent. I think that most know that when UP hands you a coil of rope, you might just hang yourself.
Ok, hand me the rope.

QUOTE]Uncle Pug once bubbled...
II wouldn't split the gas I was carrying up into multiple bottles with mutliple 0-rings, second stages, hoses and spgs to fail. In other words... no ponys, doubles, spare airs. [/QUOTE]

You've said this before. But the truth is, a solo diver with a pony isn't "spliting" their gas. The pony isn't part of their gas management any more than your buddie's gas is. It is for BAILOUT only.
So you're right. If you wouldn't dive with any bailout gas, maybe you shouldn't dive solo.

 

[Charlie99]

Uncle Pug once bubbled...
I would eliminate as many failure points as practical in my breathing gas supply:

All of my breathing gas would be in a single tank with one first stage, one second stage, one SPG, one lp wing inflation hose and one suit inflation hose (if diving dry.)

One must consider both the likelyhood of failures and the results of those failures.

The failure of my one and only source of gas is a real bummer.

Even if having 2 independent sources of gas doubles the probable failure rate, the consequence of such failures isn't as bad.

I know which one I'd choose.

 

[cornfed]

ScubaJeep once bubbled...


Quite arrogant and ignorant to be saying such things to people who you do not know. Of course, I would expect as much from someone who fails to see satire when it is staring him in the face.

You're right. I'm sorry. I hope my callous comments don't cause any hard feelings.

 

[captain]

It seems funny that most of you probably think nothing of driving down a two lane road at 55 MPH with cars in the opposit lane coming at 55 or more MPH for a closing speed of 100 MPH or more. One mechnical malfunction or drunk driver and you are toast but to dive solo is the scariest thing in the world.

Captain

 

[TRIG]

It wood take a book to address this subject, and there is one.
Robert Von Maier offers some input with "SOLO DIVING" The Art
Of Underwater Self-Sufficiency, available form amazon.com.
Covering;

The Buddy System
The Self-Sufficient Diver
Diving Fitness & Physiology
Dive Management Guidelines
Emergency Breathing Systems
and Self-Rescue
Opinions

Quote; Spence Campbell, professional Diving instructor

It makes no more sence to me that an individual cannot go diving by himself (or is in any more risk) than it would be to state that the same individual could not drive a car or fly a plane alone. The FAA allows pilots to solo aircraft, which fly above homes and schoolhouses. These individuals could do tremendous damage, not just to themselves but to many others. Why is this considered less risky than diving alone?

TRIG

 

[scubatexastony]

I'm prepared for the dive, I'm comfortable with the conditions, and I leave a dive plan topside...(for body recovery) and never deeper than 60. (my CESA limit)

If UP is throwing out a rope, I reckon he's my tender....

tony

 

[O-ring]

...but if you are comfortable with the risks, then I don't see a problem with it. That's each person's decision and theirs alone. However, I think the argument that one is safer solo diving than with a buddy is preposterous.

 

[captain]

Good point Trig. If the engine quits on an airplane ain't no buddy pilot going to keep it in the air or cushion the landing. People sail around the world solo, a feat I consider a lot more dangerous than diving solo. Like Earnest P Worrel I believe some have been scared stupid.

Captain