How many of you think solo is OK to do and why?

[CT-Rich]

I was diving with a friend who has maybe 25 dives. He knows that most of the time I dive solo. We were having a good day and plenty of fun and he was mentioning in passing about going solo, not really seriously, but understanding the attraction. On our second dive he disappeared. I found him on the surface tangled in the flag line. I calmed him down and unwound him from the line. Later, when we talked I advised him that he would have done better to untangle himself on the bottom rather than the surface and that he should get over his habit of following behind and should swim abreast of me (the reason I didn't see him disappear immediately). It wasn't a serious entanglement, but it put a bit of a scare into him and he decided that solo wasn't for him.

If you are not okay with taking your gear completely off and putting it back on, you are not ready for solo. Any problem you find, you are going to have to stop, think and solve completely on your own.

 

[KevinNM]

Then it sounds like your deep class didn't teach you much beyond showing you that you're unprepared for even moderate depth diving. Somehow, plenty of divers routinely conduct solo dives down to the MOD of air (and beyond, but we'll pretend they don't because this is Basic Scuba) without doing stuff like forgetting to monitor their instruments. Yes, it requires mental focus under duress; yes, the consequences of error are disproportionately large; no, blaming narcosis for failure to monitor DATA is not an acceptable way to go through your diving life (IMHO).

Yup. Not going to do that again. However you don't gain much experience dealing with things that can go wrong if you only do things that work exactly as planned every time.

 

[CT-Rich]

Another "excuse" but... To buddy up for shore dives where I live means about a 5 hour round trip (rather than 5-20 mins. near our house) to where there ARE other divers. Canadian gas prices are somewhat less than double U.S. ones, so I see no solution to that.

Not wanting to be a prick, but the Rouses died (diving U 869) because, in part, they were not willing to pay for trimix on the day of their last dive. I am NOT saying your diving solo because of gas prices makes you wrong, I just read that and though instantly of the Rouses. For those that don't know, they were a father-son buddy team that died, neither was diving solo, but they were were doing an extremely dangerous, deep dive.

 

[Dr. Lecter]

Not wanting to be a prick, but the Rouses died (diving U 869) because, in part, they were not willing to pay for trimix on the day of their last dive. I am NOT saying your diving solo because of gas prices makes you wrong, I just read that and though instantly of the Rouses. For those that don't know, they were a father-son buddy team that died, neither was diving solo, but they were were doing an extremely dangerous, deep dive.

Given their respective locations inside (Chrissy) and outside (Chris) the wreck while trying to find a logbook, I think it's safe to say they were diving solo. Indeed, anyone on a dive with that kind of narcosis and poor viz is essentially diving solo, even if wreck penetration doesn't affect the level of buddy contact.

Whether lack of trimix can explain how they not only fled the bottom, but blew past an entire line of hanging divers who could have helped them...is a debate I'll save for a different forum.

 

[tomfcrist]

CT-rich,

The bickers had a lot of things go wrong that day....the deep air certainly didn't help, but it was only one of many issues that could have been avoided.

I think there is a huge difference in the level of risk between diving solo at a recreational site and diving the 869 on air, penetrating the sub, looking for artifacts in hellacious seas.

 

[gcarter]

Not wanting to be a prick, but the Rouses died (diving U 869) because, in part, they were not willing to pay for trimix on the day of their last dive. I am NOT saying your diving solo because of gas prices makes you wrong, I just read that and though instantly of the Rouses. For those that don't know, they were a father-son buddy team that died, neither was diving solo, but they were were doing an extremely dangerous, deep dive.

Understand the sentiment, but I think he meant gasoline.

 

[Z Gear]

Really? It sounds like a commercial for a solo class to me.

It's interesting how the attitude reflected in Scubaboard responses have become much more reasonable since I first logged on here. Just the mention of “solo” solicited apoplectic fits for pages.

That's actually pretty funny. After reading it again I see the "approves this message" phrase, does sound like a commercial.

Frank G
Z GEAR - Z Gear

 

[kr2y5]

Much of the debate would probably sound basically the same if, instead of solo diving, the question was about commuting to work by motorcycle on a crowded highway, as compared to commuting by car...
- Is it something like, 30x more dangerous? Check.
- Can you do this every day for 30 years in a row, and not die? Check.
- Would your family rather you don't do it? Check.
- Are some folks still curious to try and break the taboo? Check.
- Is it unnecessary for 99.9% people? Check.
- But, is it not illegal if you're an adult, and properly trained? Check.
- Do some folks think it's brain dead stupid? Check.
- Do some other folks absolutely love it, and swear by it? Check.
- Does it pose unique dangers? Check.
- Does it pose some of the same dangers? Check.
- ...

( ...and yet, when it comes to motorcycles, we don't see two opposing camps... with anti-motorcycle camp arguing that motorcycles are dangerous and should be frowned upon, or even banned, while motorcycle camp is trying to argue that motorcycles are, indeed, even safer... instead, we have a society of adults who make their own choices, in which a risky activity is recognized as risky, but nevertheless, socially accepted. )

 

[Z Gear]

Z Gear:

The SDI Solo course has value in helping people foresee & consider issues/problems they may not think about adequately in advance otherwise, and having thought them through in advance can prevent panic & improve problem solving. Getting enough dives in to get a comfort level, encounter some problems & to see how you cope with problems & stress on actual dives is also quite valuable. To me, the mindfulness taught in the Rescue Diver course is similar to that taught in the SDI Solo course; quite useful.

A redundant air source is strongly recommended. Following up the gill net situation, at least 2 cutting tools in different locations are also recommended. I've got a Trilobite on my BCD right cross chest strap, and a Spyderco knife in a little out pocket over my BCD pocket. There's always something bad that can happen to you. Exercise good judgment and risk mitigation within reason where you can, weigh the pro.s & con.s, then decide whether you will choose to or not.

Solo diving can be wonderful, but as with a number of things in diving, it should be approached with some forethought.

Richard.

Great advice, good info and tips, at least some out there are willing to share some knowledge, I appreciate that.

 

[agilis]

Much of the debate would probably sound basically the same if, instead of solo diving, the question was about commuting to work by motorcycle on a crowded highway, as compared to commuting by car...
- Is it something like, 30x more dangerous? Check.
- Can you do this every day for 30 years in a row, and not die? Check.
- Would your family rather you don't do it? Check.
- Are some folks still curious to try and break the taboo? Check.
- Is it unnecessary for 99.9% people? Check.
- But, is it not illegal if you're an adult, and properly trained? Check.
- Do some folks think it's brain dead stupid? Check.
- Do some other folks absolutely love it, and swear by it? Check.
- Does it pose unique dangers? Check.
- Does it pose some of the same dangers? Check.
- ...

Does "check" mean yes?

If so, the entire list is invented, baseless, completely incorrect, a collection of mostly simple-minded statements with no substance or relevance.

30x more dangerous? Where did this absurdity come from? This is an invention so off the mark as to be hilarious. Not much data exists, but what does exist indicates that solo diving results in fewer accidents and fatalities.

I been solo diving for 50+ years. Not every day, but for a long time and usually. No problems at all. I have gotten pretty nervous diving with some people, and seen some scary things done by thoughtless fools.

Unnecessary? Most people who solo dive do so not out of necessity but because it's more enjoyable and probably safer.

Some folks think that taking a subway in NYC or flying is brain dead stupid. These people, including those who think solo diving is brain dead stupid are in fact themselves brain dead stupid. QED

Does it pose unique dangers? No. Everyone is, in a profound sense, always diving solo.

There is no taboo.

Using commuting in a car as compared commuting on a motorcycle as the equivalent of buddy diving as compared to solo diving is completely devoid of any logic or statistical foundation and is completely specious, just plain silly.