Solo diving..... Again....

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

Mike.D

Contributor
Messages
293
Reaction score
47
Location
Brisbane
# of dives
200 - 499
So basically:
1. What are the learning outcomes of self-reliant diver/solo diver courses?
2. What skills do you consider essential for solo diving?
3. Is specialised training and gear really required for solo diving (In your opinion).

Background:
I have recently began diving solo at my regular dive spot (gold coast seaway) as I can't always find a buddy whose free to dive the same time I am.
Its a pretty simple dive in a channel/seaway running east-west, 150m wide and a max depth of 16m.
The location is quite a popular hangout for locals and tourists and it's often packed with fisherman and divers alike.
Personally, I do not see a huge risk diving this site solo (maybe I'm missing the point here) but my buddy thinks otherwise and encouraged me to seek advice and opinions here.
I have my rescue cert and 70 dives under my belt in mostly boat dives, and the purpose if the shore dives at the seaway for me is to practice skills (removing gear, mask-less swim and ascent, smb deployment, buoyancy and trim etc) which I am doing to prepare for tech training.
I realise the dangers of diving solo however I feel as though my training to date (nil solo/self reliant courses taken...yet....) makes me capable of diving safety by myself. I can swim up my rig from 30m with no air in my bcd and am weighted correctly, carry 3 cutting devices and a smb, whistle and torch on ALL dives. About to invest in a 40cuft pony and the relevant training required.
So, am I being dumb?

All feedback is appreciated.

Cheers!

Mike


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I can swim up my rig from 30m with no air in my bcd and am weighted correctly, carry 3 cutting devices and a smb, whistle and torch on ALL dives. About to invest in a 40cuft pony and the relevant training required.
So, am I being dumb?


I really enjoy solo diving.

It seems that you are committed to the equipment (e.g. redundant gas source) and training that is typically recommended to improve solo diving safety, but it also seems that you want to do the diving before getting the equipment and training? Any reason why you have switched the usual order of things around?

I guess the main thing with solo diving is that you need to be able to deal with any potential problem that you might have on your own. So the redundant gas supply is important (good even if not solo diving by design, since buddy separation is pretty common). You don't have many dives yet, so I would be concerned about how you would react in an emergency, but of course I don't know you and maybe you would be fine at deploying your redundant gas supply or cutting devices (lots of fisherman=lots of monofilament!). Certainly this would be something to practice.

So get the pony and do the course (it's not a very long or difficult course). There are a lot of threads here questioning the need for the training, but I thought it was a good class (SDI), and I learned some stuff, even though I had almost 10 times as many dives as you when I took it...

Cheers!

Mike
 
Before solo diving, you need:

The equipment
The mindset
The skills

Sounds like you know the gear requirements. Only you know if you have the mindset and the skills. Is your buddy concerned at just the concept of solo, it's not for everyone, or does he have specific concerns? Can you adequately respond in a solo situation to any conceivable scenario. If no, then you're not ready. How do you handle stress, calming or with escalating reactions? If your heart rate and breathing climb, you get tunnel vision and trouble thinking, you are not ready.

If you decide to forgo the course, get the manual and read it. Read the solo forum threads. Read A & I threads. Can you avoid their mistakes without a buddy. Find a mentor. But if you can find an instructor that teaches the course and knows solo (not just teaches) then take the course ... in addition to all the other. :D
 
Yep - equipment (especially redundant, independant air source) is absolutely necessary. That's part of the mindset. I also agree - get the manual and study it (not just read it). Personally, I strongly feel that (at this stage) my diving with a buddy increases my risk. I'll post why in a new thread once I get all my thoughts down.
 
You know the site you want to solo dive.
OK it is only 16 m deep but 16m is deep enough to drown if caught in a fishing line, so line cutter AND shears are certainly necessary equipment.
What do you intend to do in the line of surface support? Are there currents, traffic, dangerous animals, other hazards?
 
1. What are the learning outcomes of self-reliant diver/solo diver courses?

Mindset emphasizing a risk-adverse and risk-mitigation approach to diving... and available tools to be used given the former two factors.

2. What skills do you consider essential for solo diving?

Some of these may be deemed competencies, or developed abilities, rather than learned skills:

Stress management, problem solving, dive planning, risk appreciation and management, use of redundant/independent gas sources, gas management, higher level self-rescue, risk mitigation techniques and contingency drills for foreseeable problems (i.e. entanglement, lost buoyancy, out-of-primary air....etc)

3. Is specialised training and gear really required for solo diving (In your opinion).

Yes, nothing in the 'conventional' recreational scuba training program prepares you to dive alone. It actually emphasizes the buddy or team systems. Solo diving without specialized training leaves competency voids, where the buddy/team system is no longer supportive of the diver.

Training should provide both:

1. External assessment/validation - preventing complacency/over-confidence leading the diver into a false over-appreciation of their ability to cope with any/all problems they could encounter alone.

2. Stress familiarization and management training - allowing the diver to encounter foreseeable problems in controlled and supervised situations. It's better to encounter those problems (even if simulated) under the safety of a course instructor, than to deal with them alone and unprepared as a solo diver. It is also important to gauge your stress management capabilities under such situations - and a good solo/self-reliant instructor will ensure ample exposure to stress during training.
 
Have you read around the solo diving forum? While it's not for debating the merits of solo diving, it's very useful for learning about skills, training, gear, and experience.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

---------- Post added April 23rd, 2014 at 09:16 AM ----------

Have you read around the solo diving forum? While it's not for debating the merits of solo diving, it's very useful for learning about skills, training, gear, and experience.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Find a really good instructor who teaches the solo course (SSI or PADI) and ask him to evaluate your diving skills.

Mindset as others have mentioned is very important, water skills and confidence all play a part. Familiarisation with your gear and ability to deal with skills in a no mask situation (do you carry a spare?).

With the correct instructor (of any agency) this can be a fun course, mine was, and you will learn more than you think you already know, I did and was solo diving for many years before I took the course 18 months ago.
 
The course like all the other diving courses starts and ends a lot sooner than you can build important experience. As in OW you are left with basic skills and concepts to practice while diving. I think getting into the right mindset is the most important part of the course, and that mindset should tell you that you should not dive solo before having the ALL the equipment that make you self-reliant. Without the most basic item your pony tank, you should not attempt to dive solo even at 10ft. You can drown at any submerged depth if you get stuck somewhere and having enough air and a redundant source to deal with it, is very important. Also an item that rarely is emphasized in redundancy is a diving mask... I never dive solo without an extra mask, a pony tank, several cutting tools, and a smb/reel.

Just to get started I would highly recommend checking out the TDI Solo Diving handbook. It is a great resource alone without the course for which it is was written. I found its content invaluable.
 
http://cavediveflorida.com/Rum_House.htm

Back
Top Bottom