Solo Technical Why?

[MXGratefulDiver]

Near Hyeres/Lavandou. We hired a boat to go to the Togo wreck and there where 2 other divers on the boat who did both a solodive. Single tank on air.
Solo cave diving in France is absolutely normal as you see it a lot and I do it sometimes too.

And I always dive with IDA, as the best buddy for solodiving. IDA has never problems, never out of gas, never call the dive, I Dive Alone. So if someone says are you diving solo you answere, I dive with Ida.

I always say that I'm diving with "my little buddy AL" ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[northernone]

If anyone heard me call myself a technical diver because I'm solo when I'm in 4ft of water photographing critters for hours they would laugh. (Granted, I don't log the dive at all, but still)

Please let's get solo diving out of the technical subcategory so I don't feel silly talking about my latest 'technical dive'.

Regards,
Cameron

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Deep air, at night, under the ice, and in a cave, solo.
How about that?

 

[NAM001]

Solo is a legitamate advanced SCUBA certification by at least two abc agencies. The genie is out, why pretend solo diving is not a legitamate recreational advanced SCUBA activity.

N

My opinion is that most divers that are OW are not the callibre to do a solo dive. The cant even do a buddy dive right. Solo is a mix of advanced recreational skills with a tech mindset and awareness. For the seasoned rec diver a solo dive is no biggy. But if you look at all OW's should be treated the same then that is a new Pandora's box. To many look at solo differently, not that my view is any more right than the others, but when you say I dove solo with others and you get flack then you begin to see the view of others to the term. Any diver that pops to the surface when they had a peoblem and could not find their buddy WAS solo diving ill equipped to do so.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Why should the Solo Forum be in the Technical Forum instead of the Advanced Diver Forum where in my opinion and that of SDI and PADI it belongs?

I haven't read all 80+ posts, but I am bored today and find the question interesting. It seems to me that regardless of whether some agencies issue Solo Diver certifications under their "recreational" rather than "technical" umbrella, a more useful dividing line is whether most dive operators consider a Solo card to be a threshold requirement--that is, a ticket--for divers to dive solo with them. The OW card is clearly a threshold or ticket cert. In contrast, AOW, Rescue, even DM usually are not required by dive ops before they will let you do a dive. I know there are exceptions, but in many places in the world, a diver presenting an OW card will be allowed to do the same dives as a diver presenting a Rescue or DM card. Likewise, most specialty certs are not what I would consider a threshold or ticket cert. Recreational Nitrox is one, but I think Nitrox is an exception--it really should just be part of the OW course. Really, with few exceptions, the only training that dive ops consistently require for them to allow a diver to do just about any OW dive with them is the training represented by the basic OW card. Beyond that line, I believe it is reasonable to consider every threshold or ticket cert to be "technical." Cave and other technical certs clearly fit this description. So, presuming that a Solo cert is something that most dive ops require before they will let one dive without a buddy, then it seems reasonable to me that a Solo cert should be grouped under the "technical" umbrella. Now, I have no idea whether that presumption is true or not. If it's not, then it seems reasonable to me to group Solo under Recreational. Just my take on it.

 

[scubadada]

I haven't read all 80+ posts, but I am bored today and find the question interesting. It seems to me that regardless of whether some agencies issue Solo Diver certifications under their "recreational" rather than "technical" umbrella, a more useful dividing line is whether most dive operators consider a Solo card to be a threshold requirement--that is, a ticket--for divers to dive solo with them. The OW card is clearly a threshold or ticket cert. In contrast, AOW, Rescue, even DM usually are not required by dive ops before they will let you do a dive. I know there are exceptions, but in many places in the world, a diver presenting an OW card will be allowed to do the same dives as a diver presenting a Rescue or DM card. Likewise, most specialty certs are not what I would consider a threshold or ticket cert. Recreational Nitrox is one, but I think Nitrox is an exception--it really should just be part of the OW course. Really, with few exceptions, the only training that dive ops consistently require for them to allow a diver to do just about any OW dive with them is the training represented by the basic OW card. Beyond that line, I believe it is reasonable to consider every threshold or ticket cert to be "technical." Cave and other technical certs clearly fit this description. So, presuming that a Solo cert is something that most dive ops require before they will let one dive without a buddy, then it seems reasonable to me that a Solo cert should be grouped under the "technical" umbrella. Now, I have no idea whether that presumption is true or not. If it's not, then it seems reasonable to me to group Solo under Recreational. Just my take on it.

OW is required to dive
Nitrox is required to dive nitrox
AOW is frequently required for certain "advanced" dives if the operator does not know you
Solo is frequently required to dive solo if the operator does not know you.

These are all recreational certs

 

[Lorenzoid]

OW is required to dive
Nitrox is required to dive nitrox
AOW is frequently required for certain "advanced" dives if the operator does not know you
Solo is frequently required to dive solo if the operator does not know you.

These are all recreational certs

Okay, but I attempted to address all that in my comment. As I said I see it:

- Nitrox is an exception.
- AOW may or may not be "frequently" required by operators. My guess is that, worldwide, those that require AOW as a threshold requirement to do some dive are the minority.
- Solo: If it's true that Solo is "frequently" required if the dive operator does not know you, then I would classify a Solo cert as "technical" by the criteria I outlined.

You can say "these are all recreational certs," but that doesn't answer the question the OP asked. Sure, Solo is grouped under "recreational" by the agencies that offer that cert. But that doesn't mean others can't reasonably consider it more suited to be under "technical." I offered up some possible reasoning. You and others are more than welcome to disagree with that reasoning.

 

[Nemrod]

Nonetheless the only real solo certification says Advanced Diver and Solo and is not part of their related organization's technical courses though as has been pointed out certainly the skills are transferrable.

Not arguing, my opinion, a split up buddy group is not solo diving, it is simply a failed buddy system, accidental and an accident waiting to happen and is of no relation to intentional solo diving. I think the "buddy search" can probably be implicated in some lost buddy accidents as a precipitating cause of the final demise.

If I am diving with a buddy then I am buddy diving. If not I am solo and anybody in my vicintiy, sure I would help them if I can but I am not there to help them and may not be equipped to do so, I may not be paying them any mind, I may be focused on my lens. If you are buddy diving with me best make sure it is a mutual agreement, I would like to know .

N

 

[sebach]

Near Hyeres/Lavandou. We hired a boat to go to the Togo wreck and there where 2 other divers on the boat who did both a solodive. Single tank on air.

Well, if you hired a boat instead of using a dive center, then your are outside of the diving regulations (code du sprort). So you can do what you want, provided the hired company doesn't prevent it. But legally it is very different from using a dive center, hence my surprise seeing your affirmation about french dive centers situation.

 

[Aotus]

would the mods actually ever consider moving this, or is this 9 pages just bored divers writing on a wall?

Put your vote where your post is...or something like that.

Vote here: Enough debate, time to vote: is Solo technical?