Solo diving

[Eric802]

I've always liked the old Steven Wright line: "My goal is to live forever. So far, so good." Past successes (or lack of failures) do not guarantee future successes.

Similarly, one of my favorite lines is “I could tread water for the rest of my life if I had to”.

 

[Billg68bg]

I appreciate all the helpful advice. As for the unhelpful advice..... I’ll hang onto the current wife. Even without diving. Her positives far outweigh her negatives.

 

[SlugLife]

I’m in. They won’t insta-buddy on a Fling trip?

I don't have any personal knowledge, but I'd imagine you would get insta-buddied. But then you might be expected to stick with and "baby-sit" the other diver, or feel bad if you ditched someone who really should be diving with a buddy.

So, instead of ditching an unsuspecting buddy, you find someone who is willing to "solo-dive together."

I appreciate all the helpful advice. As for the unhelpful advice..... I’ll hang onto the current wife. Even without diving. Her positives far outweigh her negatives.

Awesome. Since you got the point you should be good to go. However, FYI, expect this thread to continue with some good old-fashioned dead horse beating.

 

[freeflowigb]

I did dive solo, and I found it to be more boring that having a company with you. Not particularly more stressful, but in case you need a buddy to help you out, not having one will be a serious problem. What regulator malfunction did you face? A freeflow is not that big of a deal when you've got an octo, although it may cause panic if you are all alone.

 

[Billg68bg]

I did dive solo, and I found it to be more boring that having a company with you. Not particularly more stressful, but in case you need a buddy to help you out, not having one will be a serious problem. What regulator malfunction did you face? A freeflow is not that big of a deal when you've got an octo, although it may cause panic if you are all alone.

It suddenly got extremely hard to get any air. The dive master thought i was going through air a lot quicker than i should have been. Never really got an exact reason. I assume it was a leak. Maybe a bad o ring or something, I'm assuming. He said he wasn't initially concerned, because i still had plenty of air when he asked for readings. Then I suddenly had trouble dragging any air in. As soon as I got his attention, he was on me with his octo. If more experienced, I probably would've known in the beginning something was off. Breathing wasn't as smooth and easy as it was on any previous dive. I just figured some regulators act differently. In hindsight, the problem was probably obvious and, being inexperienced, didn't pick up on it.

 

[freeflowigb]

It suddenly got extremely hard to get any air. The dive master thought i was going through air a lot quicker than i should have been. Never really got an exact reason. I assume it was a leak. Maybe a bad o ring or something, I'm assuming. He said he wasn't initially concerned, because i still had plenty of air when he asked for readings. Then I suddenly had trouble dragging any air in. As soon as I got his attention, he was on me with his octo. If more experienced, I probably would've known in the beginning something was off. Breathing wasn't as smooth and easy as it was on any previous dive. I just figured some regulators act differently. In hindsight, the problem was probably obvious and, being inexperienced, didn't pick up on it.

That’s one reason I bought my gear almost immediately. Rental gear can be full of surprises at random moments - I recently saw a guy literally losing his tank because it detached from his bcd (something tore off).
Anyway, I think the fact that you are now ok because there was an instructor to help you out answers the original questions very well.

 

[Billg68bg]

That’s one reason I bought my gear almost immediately. Rental gear can be full of surprises at random moments - I recently saw a guy literally losing his tank because it detached from his bcd (something tore off).
Anyway, I think the fact that you are now ok because there was an instructor to help you out answers the original questions very well.

Once I field test my recently acquired gear, I am likely to take the bulk of it with me on trips.

 

[Tigerpaw]

It just made sense to add a pony to my rig and learn how to use it. I then read a lot and trained for incidents to again have a level head of I needed to think through a problem. It's way more than just number of dives. It's a mindset and style of diving. You have to accept you are your only help and be ok with maybe not being good enough.

Besides CESA, what incidents would you train for and how? Do you always carry the pony or do you reserve it for Deep dives? Thanks.

 

[FF / EMT]

Besides CESA, what incidents would you train for and how? Do you always carry the pony or do you reserve it for Deep dives? Thanks.

Entanglement, you should be able to pull your cutting tool with either hand in 0 vis.
You could train in a pool with reel line or orange construction fence depending how elaborate you wanna get.

 

[Tigerpaw]

Entanglement, you should be able to pull your cutting tool with either hand in 0 vis.
You could train in a pool with reel line or orange construction fence depending how elaborate you wanna get.

Hmmm, I thought about that and was wondering how I could practice it. I currently have the Eezycut Trilobite cutters but am thinking a good dive knife is needed. You have any knife recommendations?