solo dive for a noob

[rev440]

Just because your regular buddy isn't available doesn't mean there aren't other people available to dive. There are divers on here from all over Ohio, posting in the Great Lakes Wrecking Crew section and asking for a buddy may result in some lasting friendships. I've met a lot of great people that way not only from Ohio but from all over.

What lake are you going to be diving in?

A quick note about ponds. Generally they are going to have poor to zero visibility and lots of weeds in the shallow areas.
Ber :lilbunny:

Rose Lake in Coldwater Michigan. Thanks grateful diver that was a great read. I will probably get 20-40 dives with a buddy in before next season were we travel up to my lake agian. After that I hope I can plan on solo diving at my cottage.

 

[erparamedic]

For the right divers, solo is not a "huge risk".

I should clarify. I would never dive solo, but that's me... I just don't think it's safe. For the divers that have a gazillion dives under their belt, highly trained, and incredibly competent in diving, it may not be a huge risk. I suppose it's all in the eye of the beholder.

 

[Lost_At_Sea]

Nate, in my opinion, since you being a new diver and all, is that you don't dive this dive solo. You are new to diving, and there is a lot to learn, just like a lot of people before me have said. I dive solo sometimes, but I am confident in my diving, and I am ready to take the consequences if anything goes wrong. I have been diving for seven years and there is still so so much that I don't know. I think you should learn and dive as much as you can, and then later on down the road, if you want to dive solo you can. But, for right now, you are just not ready. No one can change your mind about what you want to do, but just think if you are really ready to handle every situation that might occur.

 

[Ber Rabbit]

Rose Lake in Coldwater Michigan. Thanks grateful diver that was a great read. I will probably get 20-40 dives with a buddy in before next season were we travel up to my lake agian. After that I hope I can plan on solo diving at my cottage.

Post in the GLWC section and see if anyone is interested in diving there, something like "Anyone interested in diving Rose Lake, Coldwater, MI?". We have a bunch of Michigan divers in the GLWC.

BTW, ever seen the steam train that started running from Coldwater to Quincy last year? That's my brother-in-law's train.
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[Diver Dennis]

Rose Lake in Coldwater Michigan. Thanks grateful diver that was a great read. I will probably get 20-40 dives with a buddy in before next season were we travel up to my lake agian. After that I hope I can plan on solo diving at my cottage.

You'll know if you are ready. Just take an honest look at your skills, equipment and training and don't try to talk yourself into it. Often it takes a lot more dives than you are talking about to make a decision but you can talk to your instructor about this as well. I can't tell you that you won't be ready but experienced divers around you will give their opinions of your skill level. Just realize that solo diving even at shallow depths can be dangerous if you are not prepared.

 

[diverdown247]

I do not condone solo diving as it is quite dangerous....BUT if you chose to solo dive, please research the following info and procedure for your own safety as a new diver:

1. Find out the phone number and location of the nearest decompression unit as well as approximate response times for emergency services to your specific dive location.

2. Have an exhaustive list of emergency services numbers for the particular area you will be diving.

3. Make 100% sure that someone is aware that you will be diving solo, where, and when.

4. Find someone at the surface who you can make aware that you are diving in the immediate area (park ranger, gate attendant, etc.) They may not like the idea and may not want the info, but if you provide them with emergency contacts and a strict time plan with a follow up contact by YOU, then they may be ok with it.

5. If you succeed with 4, then make 100% sure you don't miss your follow-up contact with that person or you could be rescued and not need it, thus tying up emergency services and that stuff makes them VERY mad. Translates to make a dive plan and stick to it.

6. Educate yourself thoroughly on diver stress/rescue before you solo dive. It will help you be aware and deal with your own stress in the water.

7. ABSOLUTELY have a dive strobe (with fresh batteries) on your gear and use it! This thing will help rescuers locate you in the event of a dive emergency in the water.

8. Purchase a "dive emergency" or "dive accident" card from what ever company you are certified through, SSI, PADI, etc. Fill out the pertinent information that may be needed on the card and put it with your log book to help emergency services.

9. Make 100% you have your log book. This thing can save your life or prevent further injury if emergency services has previous dive info to go on and a proper dive plan in the book. Having your personal medical insurance card here is also helpful.

*Not everyone has a GPS unit, but if you do, attempt to mark the GPS coordinates of your particular dive site to help emergency services.*

When I perform search and recovery work, these items are absolutes and are not subject to compromise. If I can't check all of them off, I don't make the dive...period!

 

[cummings66]

The one gotcha to diving solo is getting tangled up and having a problem getting untangled.

A couple weeks ago a buddy and me were diving an area of tree's and of course there's lots of mono filament there. I've always taken that threat lighter than I should have because up until this dive I've never needed to break out the knife, i.e. I collect lures and break the line by hand all the time.

A new diver might panic in this situation, might not too. You've got to realize that when you're solo things happen and you've got to be able to handle them because you've got nobody else.

I've been hung up twice under water, once a buddy undid it for me and once I cut us both free which is the story I just told. The first one was a thick rope I misjudged the height of and it slid along the back of my head until it got stuck on the first stage and the hoses there. That's a fun one, everything feels the same in dry gloves when they're the same size.

Just remember open lakes have lots of hazzards like this.

Well this dive I was following my buddy single file due to clearance issues and all of a sudden I feel this drag and I knew I was caught on some mono filament. I didn't see it this time because it was new, but I knew it was there just not where it was. Well I was close enough to my buddy that I signaled him to stop and wait a bit which he did, but he also got caught and couldn't move forwards either which is the reason he stopped as quickly as he did. He wasn't going anywhere.

I tried the normal tricks they teach you to get out and it didn't work so I knew I had to cut myself free. I found the line by feel and cut it freeing myself and coincidentally my buddy who was hung up on the same strand. I'm lucky in that I don't panic easily and treated it like a training exercise, but it did change my beliefs.

What I learned was a new found respect for fishing line, it is tougher than I thought and it's invisible when new. You really can't break it sometimes and must cut it. On the surface my buddy and I commented that this was the first time we've really needed the knives because the line is normally old and rotting by the time we find it. Just not this time, and we both got tangled in it too boot so neither could help the other until we freed ourselves.

 

[rev440]

The local police station does have a rescue boat and a dive team as the practice every now and agian on my lake. My mom is a nurse and she can help me if anything happen to me quicker then the ems can get there. She worked in the ER for 12+years and the has been a RN for 25 years. so she is very expiranced. Its not like I will dive in a uknown area it will be commonly 1000 feet away from my cottage where I will have a divers flag and my family will drop me off and pick me up in the boat.

 

[TSandM]

rev440, I completely sympathize with your desire to get in the water more often. But is there any possibility that you could simply gain access to a pool in which to practice? A pool has the advantages that the water is clear and there are no entanglement hazards, and anybody nearby can see you. I have done practice dives in my own swimming pool by myself -- it's nine feet deep, and I think the risks are acceptable, and I can do a lot of good stuff there.

 

[rev440]

rev440, I completely sympathize with your desire to get in the water more often. But is there any possibility that you could simply gain access to a pool in which to practice? A pool has the advantages that the water is clear and there are no entanglement hazards, and anybody nearby can see you. I have done practice dives in my own swimming pool by myself -- it's nine feet deep, and I think the risks are acceptable, and I can do a lot of good stuff there.

I have not thought about that! Yes a couple of my friends have pools and it would be a great place to learn my equipment till I get a better knowing of it. 3 people around me have mud bottomed pounds so I could even go and sit in water thats 5 feet deep to learn it.