Bad attitudes about solo diving are still prevalent

[northernone]

I tend to think it is misinformation combining with 'oh no, they are going to die' thoughts that excite people into a hostile response to those who enjoy solo diving.

The buddy system or 'team diving' seems to be drilled into the core fabric of basic dive instruction and in an effort to keep divers clumped together in manageable groups I think the dangers of being alone underwater are heavily overstated without providing the option of ways to mitigate the risks.

Out of air - use your buddy
Lost mask - use your buddy
Cramp - use your buddy
Boyancy loss - use your buddy
Entangled - use your buddy
Lost - use your buddy
Putting ON scuba gear - use your buddy
Predive safety checks - use your buddy
Bubble checks - use your buddy
Medical emergency - use your buddy
Disoriented - use your buddy
Dive planning - use your buddy.
Etc.

Now you meet someone who says 'I don't use a buddy'... Wow they are going to die.

So much of your training to be 'safe' as a diver is buddy based... Remove that buddy base and a diver is not a safe diver without building a new foundation:

Solo redundancies, self reliance and independent competencies.

Too often I think solo diving is practiced and presented as diving missing a buddy.

 

[tursiops]

Discussing online ahead of time. I'm not talking once showing up at a quarry.

I showed up, the only group that was there was an instructor with students. I didn't even ask (as was suggested by the person working there), because I didn't want to be "that guy."

Yesterday was my first and last attempt at doing that (showing up without a buddy).

With all due respect, I think you are both off-base and quitting too soon. You cant really join in on a class if students. You count against the instructor's allowable ratios, are an unknown quantity, and add no value. I don't know what the class was, nor how many students were in it, but not being allowed to join it would be the norm, not a personal attack on you or on new divers. Using this rejection as the basis for never trying again is a bit silly.

 

[Gareth J]

Out of air - use your buddy
Lost mask - use your buddy
Cramp - use your buddy
Boyancy loss - use your buddy
Entangled - use your buddy
Lost - use your buddy
Putting ON scuba gear - use your buddy
Predive safety checks - use your buddy
Bubble checks - use your buddy
Medical emergency - use your buddy
Disoriented - use your buddy
Dive planning - use your buddy.
Etc.

.

What amuses me is that we teach self reliance and redundancy, it's core to how we dive. It is somewhat concerning that most don't dive or think this way.

We never dive as a group. Buddy pair, or threesome.

The one thing you can't mitigate is a medical emergency. If you are on your own, you are probably in deep trouble. Thats the same for being on the surface, it's much worse if you happen to be underwater.

A lot of what you list highlights poor tuition and instructing.
Buddy assistance makes things easier, it shouldn't be relied on.

Gareth

 

[Barnaby'sDad]

With all due respect, I think you are both off-base and quitting too soon. You cant really join in on a class if students. You count against the instructor's allowable ratios, are an unknown quantity, and add no value. I don't know what the class was, nor how many students were in it, but not being allowed to join it would be the norm, not a personal attack on you or on new divers. Using this rejection as the basis for never trying again is a bit silly.

I wasn't rejected. I didn't even ask. I looked at it as you did...those student paid for time with the instructor...I wasn't about to crash their party.

I spent two hours driving down there and three hours driving back for what I knew was at best a 50/50 proposition (finding a diver that wouldn't mind a buddy).

That is what I'm getting at when I said that I'm not doing it again...I'm not driving a distance like that again unless I have a buddy lined up.

 

[Dsix36]

I have had nothing but great acceptance (and I should mention massive patience) from more experienced divers that were willing to both dive with me and mentor me. In over 25 years, I have only had one snarky response and although that pissed me off, I did not let it take away from my enjoyment of the sport. I have made great friends over the years from people that were willing to do the baby dives with me as I learned and got experience. I now feel fortunate to have the experience and really enjoy being able to share it with other new divers.

I have always been a very independent type of person and remember being upset in my initial OW course to find that I could only dive with a buddy. I did not solo dive until after my AOW and Nitrox course. I now solo dive frequently and do not care what others say or think. The only advice I have for anyone diving solo is very simple - Just make sure you are not diving with an idiot.

 

[Bob DBF]

The buddy system or 'team diving' seems to be drilled into the core fabric of basic dive instruction and in an effort to keep divers clumped together in manageable groups I think the dangers of being alone underwater are heavily overstated without providing the option of ways to mitigate the risks.

The buddy system in diving is a direct decendent of the YMCA swimming program started in the early 1900's. Buddy swimming was instituted for swimmer safety. When diving started the YMCA was one of the major players, and anyone that took their swim or lifesaving course would be farmiliar with the buddy concept, and I believe that is how it came into recreational diving.

The buddy system has become more militant in scuba, probably for the reason you stated. Also, if you don't have skills, one defends the system and clings to catch phrases to keep them safe.


Bob

 

[50 years under]

What you perceive as bad attitude may also be considered their concern for your safety. Would you prefer them to say "Yeah whatever, if your body washes up on the beach we'll clean it up with the seaweed."

Personally I have no issues with solo divers but I find it positive that it is "frowned upon". For years it was drilled into divers heads to dive with a buddy, for good reason. It is refreshing to think it has finally sunk in. Back when I started diving it was accepted to have what was called a same ocean buddy. Really it wasn't so funny.

When I was technical diving on wrecks, I entered the water with a buddy and we both had the same dive plan worked out but we were also both equipped for redundancy just in case. On more than half of the dives you've planned your dive and dove your plan and still end up meeting your buddy back on the deco line so, being equipped and having practiced the what if scenarios is essential. I assume (all the time realizing assumptions are dangerous) but I still assume a solo diving certification would prepare you for these unexpected occurrences. I wonder how many divers that carry a backup mask have ever taken off their mask in 100 feet of water and put on the backup just for S&G's? All the right stuff a redundantly equipped diver carries on a dive isn't much use without its use having been practiced in a real life situation.

For a newer diver to be wanting a solo certification just because he or she cannot find a buddy is just not a good reason. It takes diving experience for a diver to learn exactly how much they do not know. There are so many what if scenarios that you may find yourself in that until you have enough experience it is just safer and smarter to dive with a buddy.

And just because you are solo dive certified doesn't make it smart to dive solo in conditions you have never experienced. I grew up diving in cold dark waters off Long Island. Challenging conditions to be sure. It prepared me to dive in many conditions I have experienced in my diving career and some of them ended up as solo dives. But I always have been prepared for the redundancy. I went to Fiji in warm water with 100 foot visibility and I took a pony and regulator because I knew I was on a photo trip and would likely be separated from my buddy (who is also my wife and also redundantly equipped) so the extra gear was taken half way around the globe. Not a necessary breath was taken off the pony in 25 dives but I didn't for a minute regret the safety factor it afforded. So the extra schlep was worth it. (I say necessary breath because I turn on and breathe through the pony reg before every dive just to be sure it is performing as expected.)

So if it were me making this decision as a new diver, knowing what I know now, I would find a buddy , join a club or go on a dive boat but gain experience with a buddy. Then with experience under your belt if you still need that solo diver cert, get the training and practice what you've learned often.

 

[Barnaby'sDad]

.....

For a newer diver to be wanting a solo certification just because he or she cannot find a buddy is just not a good reason. It takes diving experience for a diver to learn exactly how much they do not know. There are so many what if scenarios that you may find yourself in that until you have enough experience it is just safer and smarter to dive with a buddy.

----.

I suspect the average new diver that wants a solo certification wants it for the same reasons as an experienced diver. They want the flexibility to plan out their own dives, they recognize the importance of risk management, they recognize the need for redundant equipment, and they don't want their ability to dive on a particular day to be driven by whether or not they were able to line-up a buddy.

 

[Vallonen]

As far as I’m concerned I’m always diving solo, even if I’m diving with a dive buddy or with a large group.

It’s not that I’m not a team-player. It’s simply that I do not want to find myself in a mindset where I start viewing my dive buddy or large group as an automatic life line, thus risk dropping my standards or that of becoming complacent.

I think the threat of complacency only increase with each dive I make anyway and that it's something we need to keep in mind, it's just how the human brain works. You do something that IS inherently dangerous enough times and things go right doing them, your brain starts to view that as normality, “oh this diving business is no problem, done say hundreds of dives, been smooth sailing every time” which then lulls your brain into a false sense of security.

This applies to everything we do I think, driving a car real fast, or a motorcycle, etc.

Which is why I think we are the most safe (if you will) somewhere between being beginners and veterans. Exactly where that line is in my diving I don't know yet, and where that sweet spot is will of course be individual to each and everyone of us too.


On solo diving.
There is a right way and a wrong to go about raising someones awareness and to bring potential dangers to someones attention, chock treatment is not the way to go about it, it could stay with a man for a long time and put him in the wrong headspace. It's an approach that is both irresponsible and counter productive imo.

 

[JamesBon92007]

This is part of the problem I see on the internet. Fortunately, I never dive places with attitudes like this. What part of Open Water training is it that makes people think divers have to be dependent? Why do they believe solo divers need to be certified as such? Most of the divers I know and have known for decades would laugh if someone told them they couldn't dive solo, especially without a certification.

In the situations you've run into, what constitutes a "solo" certification? Does it have to be a card that specifically says "solo" on it, or are there other advanced certification levels that would also be accepted?

When I first started diving alone in Southern California it never would have occurred to me that it might require a special certification or that it might bother someone. I did several dives alone on Maui and nobody ever said anything or even gave me a funny look (at least not that I was aware of). Once again, it never would have occurred to me. If it wasn't for ScubaBoard I still might not know that I am an outlaw.