gmanstan
Contributor
Its got me thinking..I might look into the SDI "Solo Diving" manual.
diving solo
- Thread starter krispykritter
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The book is OK - but the class is a lot of fun too. My instructor had me doing a mask off 100 foot swim while secretly he was turning off the valves to my twin set. He meant to just turn off the right post - but somehow got confused and turned off my left post too
He signaled for me to deploy my backup mask by tapping my head - and while deploying my backup mask my primary reg went OOA. I switched to the reg on my necklace - and it was OOA too. Sooo - I did a valve drill blind and OOA. No reason to panic - and good experience. More than you get from the book alone.A good instructor can make it a worthwhile class to take.
B.
Seraphimx
Contributor
I can understand what the OP is saying but...
I always thought I was a good diver. I've always been like a fish underwater since I was young. Gear removal underwater and no mask swim and all that was pretty (VERY) easy for me. But once I took GUE fundamentals, I noticed how wrong I was. My buoyancy is far from perfect and every time the teacher put us in a situation where we had to concentrate on a task, we all partially lost control over our Buoyancy and trim. Rising up in the water or drifting off.
Now imagine doing that Solo. Having to keep track of everything by yourself, double check everything (cause hey, you don't have a buddy) and then fall into an emergency situation. Most people panic, freeze or become agitated in an emergency situation. When you have a buddy, you can depend on that person not loosing it when something is happening to you.
The more I dive the more I notice HOW MUCH I need to learn and perfect. Scuba isn't a sport you can perfect easily, it takes a lot of time/dives.
On the side, I've also dove solo some times at my friend's cottage to help him clear the bay of some trees that fell in the lake.
What I'm trying to say is, try finding some people to dive with first. It'll be much safer and you'll learn much more from them and by experience than by most classes.
Some dive shop have chartered dives that accept solo people and they pair them off, I often went solo and had to partner with some older, more experienced divers than made it more enjoyable than being alone.
If you followed my crazy thought pattern, It means : Get more experience, get better and then try solo diving again.
I always thought I was a good diver. I've always been like a fish underwater since I was young. Gear removal underwater and no mask swim and all that was pretty (VERY) easy for me. But once I took GUE fundamentals, I noticed how wrong I was. My buoyancy is far from perfect and every time the teacher put us in a situation where we had to concentrate on a task, we all partially lost control over our Buoyancy and trim. Rising up in the water or drifting off.
Now imagine doing that Solo. Having to keep track of everything by yourself, double check everything (cause hey, you don't have a buddy) and then fall into an emergency situation. Most people panic, freeze or become agitated in an emergency situation. When you have a buddy, you can depend on that person not loosing it when something is happening to you.
The more I dive the more I notice HOW MUCH I need to learn and perfect. Scuba isn't a sport you can perfect easily, it takes a lot of time/dives.
On the side, I've also dove solo some times at my friend's cottage to help him clear the bay of some trees that fell in the lake.
What I'm trying to say is, try finding some people to dive with first. It'll be much safer and you'll learn much more from them and by experience than by most classes.
Some dive shop have chartered dives that accept solo people and they pair them off, I often went solo and had to partner with some older, more experienced divers than made it more enjoyable than being alone.
If you followed my crazy thought pattern, It means : Get more experience, get better and then try solo diving again.
OP
krispykritter
Registered
OP
krispykritter
Registered
I appreciate all the responses. I know I have a long way to go and I will allways be learning. As a matter of fact I learned alot from this thead. Thats why I asked.
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gmanstan
Contributor
I can see a long diving life ahead for you grasshopper
Scuba_Noob
Contributor
I would not dive solo until I have a decent amount of training from an "expert" with a significant amount of experience. I would also make sure to bring redundant air supply and extra safety gear (SMB, lights, knife, etc.), as well as tell a couple of people. And I wouldn't even think about doing it until I had at least 100 dives experience (probably even more). Any less preparation than that is like driving under the influence; you might survive most of the time, but if there's a problem, everything could go wrong.
I'm assuming you don't have search-and-recovery training. From your "anchor lift" story, it sounds like you were carrying an anchor (likely heavy) by hand. If you read that part of the AOW manual, it suggests that you never lift stuff over 10lbs by hand; you need a lift bag for sure. To lift it by hand, you'd have to put extra air into the BCD, but if you accidentally drop it, you might get an uncontrolled ascent. Sorry if I misunderstood that part.
It seems like this whole issue is about buddies (or lack thereof). I had that issue for a short while. But then I chatted with the dive shop employees. They pointed me to scuba web sites (forums), bulletin boards for buddies, drop-in dives, other dive shops, dive clubs, etc. Drop-in dives are pretty great to meet new people. Some of the dive shop employees might even want to be your buddy. And every time I go diving with someone new, I always get their number. Now I have more than enough buddies.
I'm assuming you don't have search-and-recovery training. From your "anchor lift" story, it sounds like you were carrying an anchor (likely heavy) by hand. If you read that part of the AOW manual, it suggests that you never lift stuff over 10lbs by hand; you need a lift bag for sure. To lift it by hand, you'd have to put extra air into the BCD, but if you accidentally drop it, you might get an uncontrolled ascent. Sorry if I misunderstood that part.
It seems like this whole issue is about buddies (or lack thereof). I had that issue for a short while. But then I chatted with the dive shop employees. They pointed me to scuba web sites (forums), bulletin boards for buddies, drop-in dives, other dive shops, dive clubs, etc. Drop-in dives are pretty great to meet new people. Some of the dive shop employees might even want to be your buddy. And every time I go diving with someone new, I always get their number. Now I have more than enough buddies
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I like your idea of not soloing in the ocean-only in the AZ lakes. I usually prefer to buddy dive, as I can relax my personal 30' max solo dive rule and go to 130' if I choose. But as you said, sometimes there just is no buddy around, so you dive or watch TV. Many divers live in areas where finding a buddy and coordinating with him is a piece of cake. Here we have a dive club so going with them or finding a buddy through the shop is no problem. The 160 mile round trip at gas $1.30 Canadian a litre is.
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txapacheguy
Contributor
If you are set on solo diving, definitely opt into the solo diver section here on scubaboard.
With no buddy, you are already short the redundancy of an extra brain, so carefully consider having redundant equipment.
I carry at least three cutting tools (Z-knife and dive knife on my harness and shears in a pocket), an extra mask, two or three lights, and a redundant air supply on even the simplest and most seemingly harmless solo dives I conduct. All of the redundancy in gear is obviously useless if you do not have the skill and presence of mind to properly employ it.
I did not start down the solo path until I had done the rescue course, and a couple of tech classes.
Safe Diving!!!
With no buddy, you are already short the redundancy of an extra brain, so carefully consider having redundant equipment.
I carry at least three cutting tools (Z-knife and dive knife on my harness and shears in a pocket), an extra mask, two or three lights, and a redundant air supply on even the simplest and most seemingly harmless solo dives I conduct. All of the redundancy in gear is obviously useless if you do not have the skill and presence of mind to properly employ it.
I did not start down the solo path until I had done the rescue course, and a couple of tech classes.
Safe Diving!!!
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