Solo diving...is this a good reason?

[MXGratefulDiver]

Yeah, buddies are great for sharing beer and gas, although I've found the best use for a buddy is having him/her drive while you pass out.

I like to tell my dive buddies that if they're gonna sleep on the way home, I will too ... it usually keeps 'em awake and talking to me while I'm driving ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[cmburch]

Some buddies I would rather have shut-up and sleep on the way home so I can have a nice quite ride.

 

[Spencermm]

(I waited till I thought the op had gotten some mileage out of the thread before this 'possible' hijacking of the thread.)
Learned a lot reading this thread btw. Would any of your opinions change in this situation:
Small rock quarry with zero vegetation, good viz, with the plan to go straight down to a platform at 20' fw (no current), remain on platform for the dive duration, to work on skills for 20-30 minutes, then straight back up, solo.
Thanks for any feedback,
Spencer

 

[fisherdvm]

I don't know about you Spencer, the way I see it is if you are single, has no dependent - you can solo dive at any stages of your diving "career".

If you have children, a wife, and people depending on you, your dive plan should be safe. Which mean if you have a choice between a pool dive where your LDS has an active class going on and the quarry - chose the pool - you'll be safer.

I think there has been stories in the entanglement thread about instructor getting tangled off the dock at Gilboa, to other stories of ones drowning or near drowning at the surface. If you are single, and have no one to count on you.... Dive as deep and as bad as you want ... risks makes life worth living.

But always carry a Spare Air, and a banana.

 

[spectrum]

(I waited till I thought the op had gotten some mileage out of the thread before this 'possible' hijacking of the thread.)
Learned a lot reading this thread btw. Would any of your opinions change in this situation:
Small rock quarry with zero vegetation, good viz, with the plan to go straight down to a platform at 20' fw (no current), remain on platform for the dive duration, to work on skills for 20-30 minutes, then straight back up, solo.
Thanks for any feedback,
Spencer

I would say that if that is the biggest solo adventure you feel comfortable with then no, you are not ready to be alone underwater. You can get into a world of hurt just doing skills, probably moreso than an exploration of the quarry you described.


When you truly feel in your gut that as a diver you can take care of yourself you can then move on to the family and other responsibilities decision. Until you feel solid with the diving side the other risks cannot be managed.

Pete

 

[Spencermm]

I would say that if that is the biggest solo adventure you feel comfortable with then no, you are not ready to be alone underwater. You can get into a world of hurt just doing skills, probably moreso than an exploration of the quarry you described.


When you truly feel in your gut that as a diver you can take care of yourself you can then move on to the family and other responsibilities decision. Until you feel solid with the diving side the other risks cannot be managed.

Pete

Hey Pete, I was hoping you would respond to this, as I respect your opinions a great deal.
I should have wrote this in my initial thread post. My reasoning for considering doing this(which is doubtful that I actually will) is not to have a "biggest solo adventure you feel comfortable with".
There are 2 skills in particular that I had/have difficulty with- ear clearing and bouyancy. I kept getting hung up at 13' trying to clear my ears- took 5-15 minutes to get from 13'-15'. Once beyond that I was fine. And, I kept getting better and better at this with each dive. (I haven't been diving in a long while due to $ reasons, and my guess is that any progress I made in ear clearing at this point is void and I will probably have to start over. I would ask my LDS to let me work on this in the pool, but it is only a 10' pool.)In terms of this skill, I just wish I could work on it without having to irritate or bore a buddy who would no doubt rather just get on with the dive rather than wait on me.
In terms of bouyancy- my goal would be just to float arounfd the platform and fiddle with it.
I know that the above probably won't change anything, but I wanted to be clear that the issue was not about adventure. Further, I realise that having a problem on a dive is a problem regardless of one's motivation for said dive, whether adventure or skills work.
Spencer

 

[Sas]

Are you sure your buddy would mind Spencermm? I know if my buddy had skills he wanted to work on (even ear clearing) I'd be happy to accompany him. I'd probably work on a few things myself. So maybe ask him/her first Or you could post here and find a buddy that is happy to just work on skills.

 

[spectrum]

Are you sure your buddy would mind Spencermm? I know if my buddy had skills he wanted to work on (even ear clearing) I'd be happy to accompany him. I'd probably work on a few things myself. So maybe ask him/her first Or you could post here and find a buddy that is happy to just work on skills.

How true, if you're diving with good people this should not be a big deal. In fact they may find it to be a breath of fresh air.

On the ears... Have you been clearing them daily when not diving? That alone can do wonders.

Do it Daily
On the way to the site
On arriving at the site
While gearing up
Just before going under
With each breath while dropping.

When your tubes are conditioned you can naturally back off some.

Pete

 

[bfw]

I would rather see a diver lay out his plan, considerations and experience looking for second opinions than arrogantly head off without a consultation. The OP did not ask for permission to go solo rather if anyone saw gaps in his planning.
People have many sorts of decision making styles ranging from autonomy to collaborative.

He ended a long post with "What I'm curious of though is what your guys' opinion is on this." That makes the entire concept the antecedent of "this." He's looking for validation.

It's not about arrogance, knowing everything, or decision making styles, and I never said anything about getting other opinions, per se.

It's about the choice of advice and the venue. When he first got into diving, did he post here a list of equipment he'd acquired, books he'd read, and a plan to go diving, and ask for approval? No, he obtained valid training IN PERSON. There is similar training available for solo diving. No, I'm not saying that's the ONLY path.

However, when it comes to being ready for solo diving, the opinion of a bunch of faceless usernames on the net, based only on his written description of the situation, is worth less than he paid for it. Have any of the respondents SEEN him in the water? It's irresponsible, and the height of arrogance to endorse a first solo dive without putting eyes on the diver's poise and technique in the water. If he can't get the validation he seeks from someone whose had the chance to assess his readiness from first hand observation, then he's not ready.

I've never seen anyone here endorse doing a "trust me" dive. He's just asked everyone here to perform a "trust me" evaluation of his readiness for solo diving.

 

[Tigerman]

I totally disagree with anyone who says "you have too few dives" as an argument not to do solo dives. The number of dives you have done says nothing about what you have experienced on your dives, how well you manage stress and emergencies, how good you are at preparing yourself for tasks and completing them or how good you are at analyzing possible risk factors.
Yes, less dives makes you less familiar with your gear and this have certain effects on your diving, but that is also part of the risks you need to analyze.
I dont buy the whole "I have more dives than you, so Im a better diver" philosophy some people subscribe to. You might have more dives than me, but what type of dives where they? What has gone wrong on them? What kind of stress management experience do you have?
Id rather dive with someone who has 10 dives and I know comes through if the **** hits the fan than somoene with 500 dives that is prone to panicking if things goes sideways..
Stress management is not something you neccesarilly have to learn under water.

You might want to check out the solo divers forum though and getting the rescue training is sane advice regardless of how youre diving.