Practicing Solo Diving

[mick allein III]

Lots of excellent points. I appreciate everyone's comments. I have about a dozen solo dives most in cold water (40deg) in isolated quarries. I plan and gear up meticulously. But as I dive I keep coming up with what if scenarios. I greatly enjoy the solo dives, but wanted a forum to ask questions and get feedback. As you think of things, keep sharing.


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[agilis]

Hey agilis,

I agree with the part of your post that I emphasized above. I don't necessarily agree with the last part of your statement as a learning system is in place for people to advance their dive skills with supervision.

Taking care of oneself while on the ocean is a must and should be the goal of every diver or mariner.

markm

And until that learning system results in a skill level that permits dives without supervision the student diver should not be certified.

 

[Arubandi07]

'Allein' ... nice

 

[mick allein III]

'Allein' ... nice

Deutsch. Sehr gut Arubandi07


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[scubadada]

An excellent diver once told me that any C-card is a learners permit. All it does is introduce you the the things you have to learn and perfect on your own. It impressed me. She also told me that I should work on one thing at a time until that became second nature. For example, don't do anything but work on weighting and buoyancy. Once you have that down move on to trim. After that ... The point is to only add to your task load one skill at a time.

As far as what I practice - I try to vary that each dive. I think about what I haven't done the longest and do that. Example - when was the last time you shed your BC and then put it back on underwater? Me too. It's one of those "I'll probably never need to do this" skills that is kind of a PITA to practice. Especially with a pony slung from the BC. But probably never is not never. So next dive I'll be practicing that, and repeat till it's no longer a PITA. I'll probably do it a few times this winter in my living room just to build some muscle memory.

One thing I would encourage you to do is to develop a standard, step by step procedure of organizing/laying out gear and putting it on. Similar to the checklist rebreather divers use. I dive the same kit every time - all my gear everytime, always in the same place. I setup and don my gear the same way every time. May sound OC but I have almost no chance of forgetting something that way. One personal rule I have for solo diving is that if I forget something that dive is a no-go. Focus is supreme and I didn't have it if I forgot even one thing. I'm not going to be a statistic that gives solo a bad rap.

Interesting, BC exchange, in the sand on dive 1 and in mid-water on dive 2, was part of my SDI Solo Diver training with Jupiter Dive Center in FL. I hadn't done this exercise for several years, ever since my regulator was bonking me in the head on a dive off the east end of Grand Cayman several years earlier. This was an appreciated added skill, much easier mid-water.

---------- Post added January 3rd, 2014 at 06:20 PM ----------

I do practice deploying my pony, even if I do not breathe off of it, and I do deploy my SMB, reasonably frequently, when drift diving in Jupiter.

 

[mick allein III]

Interesting, BC exchange, in the sand on dive 1 and in mid-water on dive 2, was part of my SDI Solo Diver training with Jupiter Dive Center in FL. I hadn't done this exercise for several years, ever since my regulator was bonking me in the head on a dive off the east end of Grand Cayman several years earlier. This was an appreciated added skill, much easier mid-water.

---------- Post added January 3rd, 2014 at 06:20 PM ----------

I do practice deploying my pony, even if I do not breathe off of it, and I do deploy my SMB, reasonably frequently, when drift diving in Jupiter.

I agree that this is an important skill. Entanglement is a teal concern in the Midwest quarries. I'd be interested in any tips on how to make this easier. I have a weight integrated BCD and once I shed my BC I start to ascend and my gear starts to sink. Thoughts? Do you all practice this solo?

Mick


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[Michael Guerrero]

wear a weight belt?

 

[Steve_C]

I wear dive shorts. Pull integrated weights and put in pocket during the removal and putting back on. This works on the bottom. Have not tried mid water

 

[scubadada]

Doing this mid-water was a lot easier than in the sand. Overall buoyancy was no where near the problem, despite the weight distribution

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I agree that this is an important skill. Entanglement is a teal concern in the Midwest quarries. I'd be interested in any tips on how to make this easier. I have a weight integrated BCD and once I shed my BC I start to ascend and my gear starts to sink. Thoughts? Do you all practice this solo?

Mick


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You seriously don't see a problem with this?