Introduction

[sylpha]

Sylpha, I would abort the dive. I have considered this before. My fear would not be reaching NDL limits, rather having my computer (which is my depth gauge) die in a low viz situation. Obviously this makes it harder to surface safely. Ideally a backup computer would be nice. I'd be happy with a backup mechanical depth gauge. I couldn't keep diving, but at least I'd be able to surface at the speed I want too. On a list of priorities, I figure not as important as redundant air. Important nonetheless. Thank you though. While I had thought about it before, and in my current dive environments from 40 to 50 feet I'm confident I could surface safely, adding extremely low viz to the mixture is a relatively new revelation. It should be something to add to my shopping cart sooner rather than later shouldn't it?

Bob, 100 dives seems too far away for me to be able to enjoy my lake by myself

this reply is something you should really think about. your computer is not only your depth gague, but it's your dive timer as well. without those things how would you judge your speed and how would you know what depth you are at? i can and have done it without instruments - not by choice, but that's where training & experience come in.

i dive in vis which most people here would consider low vis (less than 5m), i've done quite a lot of archaeological work in vis where we had to take video footage because our eyes couldn't focus that close up, i've worked where touch is your only method of doing things, i think i know a thing or 2 about low vis.

you talk about your shopping cart, which means not only have you not bought all your kit, but that you are not fully au fait with that kit in what is an alien environment. it's not your best plan to be trying new kit without the back up of old faithful kit.

seriously solo diving is not a badge of honour, it's not the next qualification it's part of a natural progression when you have mastered the basics. I don't think 100 dives is unreasonable.

solo diving is not my only form of diving, i enjoy it, but i enjoy buddy diving too there's no shame in that. even after the amount of diving i have done i still ask & take good sensible advice and you have had plenty of that here, but if you want to become a statistic.........................

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

seriously solo diving is not a badge of honour, it's not the next qualification it's part of a natural progression when you have mastered the basics. I don't think 100 dives is unreasonable.

For most divers, I don't think 100 dives is even close to sufficient for solo diving ... it's barely enough to give you a general idea of what you should be learning.

What worries me more than anything is an attitude that "I know what I'm doing" ... at barely out of Open Water, not only doesn't anyone have all the answers yet, they haven't even begun to imagine what the questions might be.

Confidence is a wonderful asset in diving ... but overconfidence can get you killed before you even realize that you're in trouble.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[ZenDiver.3D]

For most divers, I don't think 100 dives is even close to sufficient for solo diving ... it's barely enough to give you a general idea of what you should be learning.

Confidence is a wonderful asset in diving ... but overconfidence can get you killed before you even realize that you're in trouble.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Absolutely. Perfectly said, Bob.

 

[jvevea]

The only way to really find out how well you can respond to an emergency is to test your skills in simulated emergency situations.

An OW class doesn't do that. It doesn't even really teach you the basic skills ... it only provides you with the tools to learn them. Learning takes place by doing.

If you believe you are capable of handling yourself in an emergency, then find out by signing up for a class that will test those abilities in the water ... something like a Fundamentals or Cavern class should do.

Reading about how to deal with emergencies ... thinking about dealing with them ... is nothing like the real thing. It's completely different thinking about it in the comfort of your office or classroom vs having to deal with the stresses that will try taking control of your mind when you find yourself neck deep in poo.

Even us experienced divers will invariably look back on how we handled a problem and second guess how we should have done it better. The difference is that because of our experience, we have developed enough tools to hve been able to come up with a Plan B.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

This is one of the very rare times when I disagree with Bob. I would argue that the only way to really, really find out how well you can respond to an emergency is to test your skills in real emergency situations. You don't really know how self-reliant you are until you've solved genuine underwater emergencies.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

You don't really know how self-reliant you are until you've solved genuine underwater emergencies.

I'm going to "bump" this statement with my personal observation that experience with crisis in other extreme pursuits cross-trains one for solo scuba crisis. If the rest of ones life includes days like 007 or Indiana's bad days, then reacting to solo dive crisis is less perturbing.

Big river accidents and free climbing accidents are among the many recreational near death accidents that give me a detached, lack of panic, when excrement hits propeller. Even my oil field career "gave" me numerous near death "emergencies" that contribute to my comfort in crisis.

Right now the scariest solo scuba memory I have is when I overexerted myself chasing a spotted eagle ray at 80 fsw for a better picture. I did not feel like I could take big enough breaths and "limped" up to a notch in the wall at ~60', held on and let the rest of my body relax while "convincing" myself that if I just kept breathing the panic would pass. I can tell you it is very hard to reason with a brain that does not have enough O2.

The solution was entirely mental, so perhaps I only survived due to my teenage Trancendental Meditation training.

Edit; I had taken Cavern and Intro to Cave before that incident, but I never felt panic during those courses.

 

[sylpha]

This is one of the very rare times when I disagree with Bob. I would argue that the only way to really, really find out how well you can respond to an emergency is to test your skills in real emergency situations. You don't really know how self-reliant you are until you've solved genuine underwater emergencies.

i can see your point, having been in one myself, but not recommended form of training.

 

[DevonDiver]

Panic is easy to create in training. I insist on certain 'panic familiarization' practices as part of my rescue, wreck and technical courses. It takes me about 30 seconds to put most divers into a meltdown where they can't think or problem solve.

The biggest benefit for a diver, to improve their response in these circumstances, is previous experience under those conditions. In addition to that, general diving experience and time underwater definitely improve divers' response during these drills. To a much lesser degree...transferable experience from other high stress experiences (parachuting, military combat, law enforcement, paramedics, climbing etc) can also help.

The OP doesn't know his limitations and he IS NOT a solo diver. He is an OW diver who breaks safety protocols. That is a very different thing. I personally don't even believe he should be allowed to post on this forum.

If the OP really wants to test himself and learn his capabilities, then he should seek out a suitable qualified instructor (tech instructor) who'll show him the reality of his capacity underwater in a few short minutes. Damn, I wish I lived in the USA. :kiss2:

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

This is one of the very rare times when I disagree with Bob. I would argue that the only way to really, really find out how well you can respond to an emergency is to test your skills in real emergency situations. You don't really know how self-reliant you are until you've solved genuine underwater emergencies.

Well, the goal is to avoid real emergencies by making decisions that keep you out of them.

But my point being that a lot of people think that just because they read about something they can handle it if they ever have to ... when the reality is that at a critical time they probably won't have the mental bandwidth to remember what they read. Or they may have a personality that precludes the "stop, think" bit and go straight to "act" ... which can often make matters worse.

Stress and task-loading are what limits your mental bandwidth ... and these can be tested in a good class. Throwing multiple failures at someone over a short period of time isn't presenting a realistic scenario ... but it is a great way to find out whether the student is likely to remain calm in a crisis or whether they're going to go into "reaction" mode and maybe create a crisis situation out of something that should've been a routine problem. A good instructor will know exactly how far to push you to see whether or not you're going to lose your ability to keep your cool in a crisis ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Right now the scariest solo scuba memory I have is when I overexerted myself chasing a spotted eagle ray at 80 fsw for a better picture. I did not feel like I could take big enough breaths and "limped" up to a notch in the wall at ~60', held on and let the rest of my body relax while "convincing" myself that if I just kept breathing the panic would pass. I can tell you it is very hard to reason with a brain that does not have enough O2.

CO2 overload is particularly scary if people don't understand why it's happening. Because we commonly have to deal with exertion here in Puget Sound, it's something I describe and explain in OW class, and expose my students to underwater in AOW.

The problem is that it's counter-intuitive for those who don't understand what's going on. You think that you are O2 starved, and so you breathe harder and faster ... when in fact you are getting all the O2 you need and the problem is that you've built up too much CO2 ... and the solution is to relax and slow your breathing down to give your lungs a chance for a better O2/CO2 exchange. And it is ... very ... panic-inducing, because it feels like you just can't get enough air.

This is one of those times when it's really important to understand what's going on, and to force the "front" part of your brain to take over ... because the instincts that we've all evolved with work well on the surface, but not so well underwater. It's part of that "change of behavior" I mentioned earlier that comes with experience. In the newer diver who doesn't understand the mechanics of why it's happening (because it's, frankly, not covered in most OW classes), it'll have them clawing their way to the surface in a state of panic ... because they simply have never learned what else to do.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Quero]

Panic is easy to create in training. I insist on certain 'panic familiarization' practices as part of my rescue, wreck and technical courses. It takes me about 30 seconds to put most divers into a meltdown where they can't think or problem solve.:kiss2:

Care to elaborate? Have you experienced such techniques when being mentored in Solo Diving?