Deep Diving 108 feet w/ a single AL 80 (Air.) No redundancy.

[Akimbo]

Being a proper and competent independent diver (I believe there's even an ISO standard for that, doesn't PADI OWD claim to fulfill that standard?) improves the odds even more. Without the need to be hand-held or babysat.

That is consistent with my philosophy as well. I have seen virtually every procedure and piece of equipment fail over decades of recreational and commercial diving. As a result, I tend to think in terms of self-rescue whenever possible.

I doubt that I will do any more liveaboards or even tropical diving. Diving with hordes of divers is just not fun for me. That and regulations like no-decompression, staying above 100'/30M, no gloves, and endless other limitations designed for the lowest common denominator is also part of it. Looking back, the most enjoyable diving I have ever done was virtually solo on the California central coast. Diveable conditions are far less predictable than in the tropics but it meets those hard-to-define needs deep in me.

 

[happy-diver]

virtually solo on the California central coast

Magnificent!

100% solo on the Victorian coast

Lived in that little shack just below the mast

Check it out!

 

[boulderjohn]

Being a proper and competent independent diver (I believe there's even an ISO standard for that, doesn't PADI OWD claim to fulfill that standard?) improves the odds even more. Without the need to be hand-held or babysat.

There is nothing in PADI open water training about following a professional guide. It is all about buddy teams planning and executing their own dives.

 

[Storker]

Diving with hordes of divers is just not fun for me.

To quote a post-dive discussion between one of my children and me after a vacation dive: what's the proper hand sign for "what a f***ing flock of sheep"?

I "grew up" as a diver learning that you have to be self-sufficient. Or, at least, only depending on your designated buddy. The buddy system is quite strong around here, because we don't have a DM holding our hand. We're supposed to be able to plan and conduct our dive yourself. Diving abroad in a resort environment was... a different experience.

 

[Storker]

There is nothing in PADI open water training about following a professional guide. It is all about buddy teams planning and executing their own dives.

My point exactly. If people are certified properly according to standards - also PADI's standards - they shouldn't have to depend on a guide or a DM to survive underwater.

Problem is, those resort cert mills don't follow that standard. Because "people dive with DMs"

 

[ibj40]

Survivor bias.

Careful planning, constant situational awareness, well-maintained equipment, conservative approach.

 

[Storker]

Careful planning, constant situational awareness, well-maintained equipment, conservative approach.

Been diving since 1985, been deeper than that on an AL80, and sitting here at 70 years old, waiting to do it again.

Survivor bias.

 

[ibj40]

Survivor bias.

Guess it’s difficult to have non-survivor bias.

 

[Steelyeyes]

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• Steelyeyes
• Oct 17, 2020

Looking back at my log I've done a few of those in the last couple of months. Our gas consumption is low and it's not uncommon to spend a few minutes taking pictures of a small wreck or something towards the bottom of the reef and still end up with a 70-90 minute dive on a single 80 with N32.

 

[boulderjohn]

My point exactly. If people are certified properly according to standards - also PADI's standards - they shouldn't have to depend on a guide or a DM to survive underwater.

Problem is, those resort cert mills don't follow that standard. Because "people dive with DMs"

I think a lot of it is learned helplessness.

After I was certified, I dived nowhere but Cozumel for 3 years. There the divemasters (required by law) did all the dive planning for me. They put my gear on my tanks before the dives, and they took it off at the end. When I did my first dive in South Florida, we were pretty much at the dive site before I realized no one was going to set my gear up for me, and I had to remember how to do it. In those 3 years, I had forgotten a lot of what I had been taught in my OW training.

Years later, as an instructor teaching dive training aspects of the OW course, I had students tell me that their experienced diver friends had told them they only had to learn that stuff for the class, because in "the real world," all of that is done for you by the divemasters. As soon as class was over, they could forget it all.