Solo Diving: It's time to set the record straight
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Now stop it Dale, that comment is killing me 
As George Carlin would say that there are times when you can look at someone and say it, other times you're almost sure, but when they open their mouth (or keyboard) it is confirmed. Yep that guy is full of shiite! What a useless and narrowminded article. And yes a blatant ad for a class that is not necessary to solo safely and a ridiculous observation about diver deaths. Many of those deaths were not solo dives. They were the result of piss poor buddy skills. BIG DIFFERENCE!
BobbyT22
Contributor
Yup, agree with that.
I took the course, and as I have posted previously in other threads, can't say I learned anything. But it doesn't bother me that I had to take the course either. It seems to really get under some folks' skin that they would be asked for a solo card. I understand, for liability reasons, why a dive op would want a diver to take the course if they were going to facilitate someone else solo diving from their boat, or at their quarry. It is the way the world works.
In a better world, all that any diver would ever require is an OW card, and the rest is up to them. But, sadly, we don't live in that world.
What would really bother me, is if even after shelling out the $$$ for the course, someone said I couldn't dive solo in their quarry or off their boat anyway. I wouldn't go back in that case. So far that hasn't happened yet.
In south Florida (WPB, Miami, Key Largo), most dive operators that I contacted require a solo card in order to dive solo from their boat. But there are other dive operators that won't allow solo diving at all, even with a solo card.
It's ironic that I took my SDI Solo course from Horizon & Ocean Divers in Key Largo, but they would not allow any solo diving from their boats even with the solo c-card!!!!!!
I'm leaving in about an hour to teach a PDIC Solo Diver class to a NJ wreck diver. During our phone conversation he stated that everyone dives solo off NJ because you can't stay with your buddy in those conditions. After I discussed team procedures for no vis and lost mask situations, we agreed that divers choose to dive solo and that there are no conditions which force solo diving.
Divers either believe they must dive solo because they don't possess the team skills needed when task-loaded or in poor visibility. Boat operators may choose buddy teams as easily as asking, "Who here doesn't have a buddy?" But, team diving is a skill much the same way as other team sports require practice and discipline. Solo divers who choose to solo because of poor team skills paint solo divers as undisciplined the same way team divers are often branded as being incapable of going it alone. There is a lot of ignorance surrounding team and solo diving. During the first dive in solo class, the diver learns the benefit of diving as a unified buddy team while we examine critical skills. Some divers have never been exposed to disciplined team diving and it is a chance to present the option to remove some ignorance from the mind of a prospective solo diver so he or she can choose to solo dive for right reasons rather than wrong ones.
What is a right reason? Much the same as choosing to go hiking, to the mall, to shoot baskets, or for a walk on the beach by oneself. You simply wish to enjoy doing something without company. You could get mauled by a bear, robbed at a mall, encounter gang members by choosing the wrong hoops, or knocked over by an unexpected wave. Having friends with you at all times during life makes us safer. If we are mauled by a bear a friend can administer first aid and get help. If we are with two or three friends at a mall, we are less likely to be targeted by a robber. If we are shooting baskets with friends and gang members are unhappy about our choice of courts, there may be less chance of violence because there is strength in numbers. If we get knocked into the sea by a wave, a friend can rescue us or find a lifeguard.
Scuba diving is just another part of our world and our daily lives. As much as it may seem to be separate and unusual, it isn't. While you are at your computer this moment, imagine all the dive boats in all the world that went our today either loaded or partially loaded with divers. Right now, someone is probably diving alone or with a buddy. Sometimes accidents happen while alone and sometimes they happen with a buddy. A woman is probably safer being escorted by a big burly bodyguard as she goes about her daily life. Her chances of being a victim of crime are greatly reduced. But, how many of us would say that women don't have the right to choose to live their lives without escort? Or, women who choose to go to the mall alone or for a run in the park in the middle of the day are stupid? It's unrealistic for a woman to live her life paranoid and to abandon her personal space and freedoms for fear of encountering a serial killer or out of fear that she may find herself in a dangerous situation. Having to have a companion when she wants to do an activity alone, would take away from the joy of that activity. There is an elevated risk for a woman running alone in a park, but many women do just that every day and find joy and peace of mind on the bricks alone. All of us are slightly more vulnerable underwater, but many divers find joy in being there alone.
Divers either believe they must dive solo because they don't possess the team skills needed when task-loaded or in poor visibility. Boat operators may choose buddy teams as easily as asking, "Who here doesn't have a buddy?" But, team diving is a skill much the same way as other team sports require practice and discipline. Solo divers who choose to solo because of poor team skills paint solo divers as undisciplined the same way team divers are often branded as being incapable of going it alone. There is a lot of ignorance surrounding team and solo diving. During the first dive in solo class, the diver learns the benefit of diving as a unified buddy team while we examine critical skills. Some divers have never been exposed to disciplined team diving and it is a chance to present the option to remove some ignorance from the mind of a prospective solo diver so he or she can choose to solo dive for right reasons rather than wrong ones.
What is a right reason? Much the same as choosing to go hiking, to the mall, to shoot baskets, or for a walk on the beach by oneself. You simply wish to enjoy doing something without company. You could get mauled by a bear, robbed at a mall, encounter gang members by choosing the wrong hoops, or knocked over by an unexpected wave. Having friends with you at all times during life makes us safer. If we are mauled by a bear a friend can administer first aid and get help. If we are with two or three friends at a mall, we are less likely to be targeted by a robber. If we are shooting baskets with friends and gang members are unhappy about our choice of courts, there may be less chance of violence because there is strength in numbers. If we get knocked into the sea by a wave, a friend can rescue us or find a lifeguard.
Scuba diving is just another part of our world and our daily lives. As much as it may seem to be separate and unusual, it isn't. While you are at your computer this moment, imagine all the dive boats in all the world that went our today either loaded or partially loaded with divers. Right now, someone is probably diving alone or with a buddy. Sometimes accidents happen while alone and sometimes they happen with a buddy. A woman is probably safer being escorted by a big burly bodyguard as she goes about her daily life. Her chances of being a victim of crime are greatly reduced. But, how many of us would say that women don't have the right to choose to live their lives without escort? Or, women who choose to go to the mall alone or for a run in the park in the middle of the day are stupid? It's unrealistic for a woman to live her life paranoid and to abandon her personal space and freedoms for fear of encountering a serial killer or out of fear that she may find herself in a dangerous situation. Having to have a companion when she wants to do an activity alone, would take away from the joy of that activity. There is an elevated risk for a woman running alone in a park, but many women do just that every day and find joy and peace of mind on the bricks alone. All of us are slightly more vulnerable underwater, but many divers find joy in being there alone.
I find your analysis superficial. Here is a technically accurate fact: The vast majority of people who die in the US are on Medicare. Unsupported conclusion: Medicare will kill you. Quoting your blog:
What percentage of deaths are actual diving accidents versus medical conditions that erupt while doing a physical activity? Is there anyway to determine if a buddy had you on the surface under 2 minutes, onshore in 15 minutes, and in a ambulance or on a helicopter in 20 minutes that the outcome would likely be different?
How many diving deaths are caused by a panicked buddy? Ask a life guard about the risks. What percentage of deaths occur on solo walks in the park versus when with a companion? How many partners wake to find their spouse dead and cold. Just because you are not alone does not necessarily make an activity measurably safer. Solo training courses don’t make up for physically out of condition divers who are not very competent in the water to start with.
What you will find is that most of the accident commentaries begin with something like this, “The body was found or recovered at …..” You see, it is very, very rare for a diver to die in a diving accident when their buddy is with them. Conversely, the vast majority of people who die in diving accidents are alone – without a buddy.
What percentage of deaths while diving start with a buddy? Let's say we are diving in 20' of visibility. You find something interesting at the moment I have a heart attach, cerebral hemorrhage, or stroke just outside of your field of view. You turn around in 20 seconds and find me gone. Was I diving alone, solo, is it your fault? If deaths occur when a dive begins with a buddy, is the buddy system dangerous?What percentage of deaths are actual diving accidents versus medical conditions that erupt while doing a physical activity? Is there anyway to determine if a buddy had you on the surface under 2 minutes, onshore in 15 minutes, and in a ambulance or on a helicopter in 20 minutes that the outcome would likely be different?
How many diving deaths are caused by a panicked buddy? Ask a life guard about the risks. What percentage of deaths occur on solo walks in the park versus when with a companion? How many partners wake to find their spouse dead and cold. Just because you are not alone does not necessarily make an activity measurably safer. Solo training courses don’t make up for physically out of condition divers who are not very competent in the water to start with.
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OP
adventure dude
Contributor
A very important and well made point.
Something to ponder ...
My experience with cave divers in general and DIR divers from GUE, UTD, PDIC Tek and NAUI Tec divers with standardized gear, procedures, and excellent training is that team diving can be akin to being part of The Blue Angels. Divers in my circle of friends from these organizations tend to train often, train hard, train and dive together and are exceptional team divers who can be counted upon when the chips are down. However, there is still an element of peer pressure or self pressure that can find a diver diving beyond his or her comfort zone or abilities on a given day. You may dive when you don't feel like it because you don't want to let a buddy down or you may stick to a plan you no longer feel like doing once underwater. You may be okay with calling it topside, but your friends may push you to dive. It takes discipline and sometimes courage to thumb a dive. Because of this factor, unified teams are not perfect, but common sense would tell us that they are probably the best bet for safety.
Loose team diving where buddies are less well-trained and don't conceptualize buddy diving to the art that many cave divers and DIR divers understand, still offers the biggest pro of team diving which is help, and still may add the con elements of peer and self-pressure, but also adds the biggest con of buddy diving which is a false sense of security. Divers may take greater risks hoping or assuming if things go wrong that they will come out of it okay, but often they are unpracticed in emergency skills and communication. This is also the realm of many buddy horror stories.
Finally, the biggest pro of solo diving is that you can dive without any pressure. You can run an internal check of your psyche, fitness, and abilities from moment to moment and adjust your dive plan accordingly without having to communicate with anyone. You can do what you feel like doing. You can be as aggressive or conservative as you feel. Of course, the greatest con is that you may have absolutely no help. If I suffered DCS coming out of a cave in the Bahamas alone, I could place oxygen in the water, but climbing the 50 foot ladder may have been impossible and I would be stuck in a remote area for a long time without help.
Bad buddies are not a very good excuse for solo diving. Bad buddies can be replaced with exceptional buddies. Solo diving doesn't need excuses.
My experience with cave divers in general and DIR divers from GUE, UTD, PDIC Tek and NAUI Tec divers with standardized gear, procedures, and excellent training is that team diving can be akin to being part of The Blue Angels. Divers in my circle of friends from these organizations tend to train often, train hard, train and dive together and are exceptional team divers who can be counted upon when the chips are down. However, there is still an element of peer pressure or self pressure that can find a diver diving beyond his or her comfort zone or abilities on a given day. You may dive when you don't feel like it because you don't want to let a buddy down or you may stick to a plan you no longer feel like doing once underwater. You may be okay with calling it topside, but your friends may push you to dive. It takes discipline and sometimes courage to thumb a dive. Because of this factor, unified teams are not perfect, but common sense would tell us that they are probably the best bet for safety.
Loose team diving where buddies are less well-trained and don't conceptualize buddy diving to the art that many cave divers and DIR divers understand, still offers the biggest pro of team diving which is help, and still may add the con elements of peer and self-pressure, but also adds the biggest con of buddy diving which is a false sense of security. Divers may take greater risks hoping or assuming if things go wrong that they will come out of it okay, but often they are unpracticed in emergency skills and communication. This is also the realm of many buddy horror stories.
Finally, the biggest pro of solo diving is that you can dive without any pressure. You can run an internal check of your psyche, fitness, and abilities from moment to moment and adjust your dive plan accordingly without having to communicate with anyone. You can do what you feel like doing. You can be as aggressive or conservative as you feel. Of course, the greatest con is that you may have absolutely no help. If I suffered DCS coming out of a cave in the Bahamas alone, I could place oxygen in the water, but climbing the 50 foot ladder may have been impossible and I would be stuck in a remote area for a long time without help.
Bad buddies are not a very good excuse for solo diving. Bad buddies can be replaced with exceptional buddies. Solo diving doesn't need excuses.
BobbyT22
Contributor
Thanks for taking the time for the very well thought out post. I agree with it. It did make me think and I have to revise my earlier post. I said I didn't learn much from the SDI solo course I took, which is true skills and configuration wise, but it did bring clarity to some of the dive planning I was doing, which was also helpful. The course clearly recommends not combining solo diving with other challenging forms of diving such as night diving, decompression diving, cave diving etc. I agree with that, and the emphasis the course placed on that point helps me make better decisions as I further refine my own solo envelope. So in that sense, it was helpful for me.
Bobby,
When I did the SDI Solo course, my instructor taught it in the cave environment since he was also my TDI cave instructor. I completed the course between apprentice and full cave. I had my butt kicked. My biggest blunder was staging my "buddy bottle" at a point I became used to dropping an AL80 during stage dives at the apprentice level right before a restriction and gap in the main line. When we returned, my instructor tied me up in my spool and proceeded to hide my buddy bottle in another section of cave as I worked to free myself. I then had to do a lost buddy search to find my bottle. Once I located it, my instructor wrote, "Why did you leave your buddy at the gate (we were in Vortex)?" I replied, "Dain Brammage." He nodded, stole my mask, and swam off. I was penalized with more deco time. The lesson taught me to never ever leave my buddy bottle.
During the inception of the PDIC Solo class, I really wanted to allow students to have the experience of being trained for solo diving at their highest levels. Many technical divers do dive alone and I felt that it would benefit them to be able to find value in learning lessons in the disciplines they may choose to dive. I also wanted all such training in caves, wrecks, deep dives, or using while rebreathers to be allowed according to standards.
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