Lessons for solo diving novice

[MaxBottomtime]

I agree with what everyone else has said and will add one point. You should NEVER drop your weights underwater. At 17 dives you have no idea what correct weighting and buoyancy are. A rapid ascent from 40 feet will kill you just as quickly as one from 100 feet. You should be weighted so that you can make a controlled ascent at any point in the dive. I suggest waiting until you are in the triple digits.

 

[steve0729]

It has been very interesting watching these replies roll in. My original question of, “Are there safety procedures that I should consider?” apparently has a simple answer; “Don’t ignore the safety procedure of having a dive buddy!” At least not until I gain some additional experience.

Fair enough. Since this is the universal-without-exception advice I will take it.

Thanks to all who posted, especially those of you who responded with replies which were thoughtful rather than dismissive.

 

[webjr]

The people at DFWScuba.net are having a "Divers Day Out" at CSSP on the 18th. You should stop by and say "Hi" if want more info. You can also meet lots of people at many of the other local shops. You may also want to try the message board at clearspringsscubapark.com or the local board here -"Swamp Divers". You won't have any trouble finding dive buddies around here if you just look a little. I'de be glad to meet you and dive with you myself, but it may be mid June before my schedule has a weekend open back up. I've got 2 grandkids with birthday parties comin up and my usual commitments on Memorial weekend so the next few weeks are BUSY BUSY BUSY.

Good Diving
and See Ya 'Round

Bill

 

[sheck33]

It has been very interesting watching these replies roll in. My original question of, “Are there safety procedures that I should consider?” apparently has a simple answer; “Don’t ignore the safety procedure of having a dive buddy!” At least not until I gain some additional experience.

Fair enough. Since this is the universal-without-exception advice I will take it.

Thanks to all who posted, especially those of you who responded with replies which were thoughtful rather than dismissive.

Congratulations on taking the advice given. We prefer divers that enjoy diving and live to tell the tale! Dive safe.

 

[texdiveguy]

I am an inexperienced diver (17 dives in my log book) looking to get several dives in this spring/summer, and I am thinking of trying solo diving. I have a problem finding dive buddies, and often the dives I get planned fall thru because my buddy has to cancel. And frankly, my buddies don't always want to practice the skills, such as clearing your mask or practicing buoyancy control.

Thanks for your thread....always nice seeing folks step up and ask important questions and in this case with SB get informative relies!

I never recommend anyone get into Solo diving....though I love it and made my first one on my 13-15th. dives after O/W certf..

Drop a PM sometime as we might could hook-up and just dive so you can get a bit more water time. I am a DM and enjoy solo as well as technical diving.....but like so many of us that are land-locked do spend time doing fun practice dips in area ponds to stay wet and in good form.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I started doing solo scuba dives almost immediately after certification. It was mostly lakes and reservoirs and I never went more than around 30 feet. It was 13 yrs old so I didn't know any better (and few people want to dive in boring freshwater with a kid).

I think you should try to find some decent buddies because it will probably be a little safer, but more importantly you will learn faster. If not, be careful and don't believe everything you read (i.e., how a bouyant ascent will necessarily result in your death).

I see one big difference however, the course I took to get a junior scuba diver certification many years ago was almost certainly much more extensive then the course you have recently taken. The fact that you mention that you have no buddies to accompany you while you practice mask clearing is a little scary. You should be able to do that so instinctively and quickly that your buddy would never know you did it (unless he glanced up at that exact moment).

If you think that you will benefit from a bunch of mask clearing practice in open water; you probably shouldn't be diving alone.

 

[String]

This is an extreme statement, nothing personal. Many experienced divers would not agree with that statement who have been doing this (solo) a long time. This redundancy thing is getting out of control and is a result of everybody playing tech diver and extrapolating from non-experience and on unlikely scenarios.

Unless you can hold your breath for 4-5 minutes i cant see any alternative to redundancy. Dont even bother mentioning CESA - bolt and pray. It will not get you up as slowly and with safety stop or anything which a redundant air source can do.

If you have a single tank, single first stage then you have a critical failure point. If that goes you want a sane way of getting out without risking getting bent.

 

[ucfdiver]

This is an extreme statement, nothing personal. Many experienced divers would not agree with that statement who have been doing this (solo) a long time. This redundancy thing is getting out of control and is a result of everybody playing tech diver and extrapolating from non-experience and on unlikely scenarios.

N

I'll chime in with experience. I snagged a 2nd stage hose on a rock and broke the 2nd stage to a free flow. With no isolation (H valve or doubles) I had no way to stop the tank from draining. Fortunately I had a buddy there and we swam to the surface with me on his safe second.

Redundancy is a good thing, there's no such thing as "out of control" when we're talking about safety.

 

[Dsix36]

I do not recommend solo diving to anyone, although I solo dive a great deal.

I am now trying to relearn all the necessary "buddy" stuff because I am taking cave classes very soon.

Bad habits are very hard to break. It it better to learn and practice the proper (meaning with a buddy) dive skills until they are second nature to you. If solo diving is still of interest to you at that time - make sure that your abilities and training are up to the type of diving that you will do.

Of course, I must be an idiot for solo diving and nothing I say can be trusted.

 

[texdiveguy]

Many experienced divers would not agree with that statement who have been doing this (solo) a long time. This redundancy thing is getting out of control and is a result of everybody playing tech diver and extrapolating from non-experience and on unlikely scenarios.

I disagree with you on this.

I have never thought carry contingency gas on solo or non solo dives anything but a 'smart' thing.

I don't think everyone whom is carrying back-up gas is doing it as fad or from non-experience or just playing like they are tech divers--geeze!

If you choose not to carry a contingency source of gas that is your mistake IMO, .....but please don't try and get folks to thinking it is a bad thing just because the chances are low that you might in fact need it.