My first solo dive

[DevonDiver]

I harbor no illusions. I always expect things to go wrong. I absolutely did NOT make this dive thinking "Ha ha, nothing went wrong, I must be a great diver." My thinking was "This is dangerous, but I accept the risk and do it anyway." My thoughts always focus on how little I know and how much I have to learn, even in areas where I am very experienced. I'm never overconfident.

You have a different concept of 'over-confident' to me.

Regards risks: Solo diving is about mitigating risks, not accepting them.

With all due respect, that is the mindset I was referring to when I described your activity as 'diving by luck'.

I'm much more pessimistic. I don't believe that because you practiced something and passed a class means that you have the capability to do it. You could sail through the drills in class, then in real life,....

That's why you'll always hear references to "training and experience".

Note... that is both.

Not either / or.

Certainly not neither..

lose the regulator unexpectedly and start to panic and make bad choices. Just because you did it right in the class doesn't mean you'll perform it correctly when you need it!

Actually, it does. Classes are taught on the basis of 'retained skill'. Of course, not all classes are taught properly, but that's a different story...

If losing a regulator caused a diver to panic, they they shouldn't be diving, let alone solo diving.

Panic does kill divers. It happens when divers cannot cope and don't have a sufficiently ingrained skill set. No offence, but that describes your current experience level with regards to diving beyond the recommended limits of an OW course...

It's not as simple as saying, "that was in the OW course... you're trained... hence safety." Personally, I am never satisfied with my skills. I practice them again and again, whether diving or flying. I'm known to plan for contingencies that are highly unlikely. Ultimately, it's my own "seal of approval" that I care about.

Which strikes me as very odd - given the risks you took with the solo dive.

Exactly which 'contingencies' did you plan for? With what preparation and equipment? With what prior practice and skill base?

My concern here is that a diver with your level of training and experience is highly unlikely to comprehend the contingencies that you need to address... and that you haven't had the time, training or practice to ingrain the responses to respond to those contingencies.

You can have the best training in the world, a crisp clean certificate, and still make a bad judgement under mental stress.

Good training prevents stress. Staying within your limits prevents stress.

I believe strongly in training and self-training, but it's not a magic wand to me. I don't think 'He has an OW card, therefore he can perform X, Y, and Z because that was part of the course'.

...and yet, that is an argument for thinking that not having an OW/relevant card would allow you to perform X, Y and Z?

All I can say is that you should investigate taking a solo diver course before you pass any judgement on the relevancy and effectiveness of that training.

Here's a reference for reading:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/so...diver-meets-high-ender-solo-diver-course.html

Hopefully, that'll give you a clue what I am talking about.

How is hovering along the surface at about 10 feet outside of my training? How is descending a line to a training platform at 20 feet, looking around, and surfacing beyond my training?

Exactly. That you need to ask.... does that tell you something?

As I said, spend some time reading the course report here: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/so...diver-meets-high-ender-solo-diver-course.html It's written by a diver with over 10x your experience - and he failed the solo course. You might get an appreciation of where you stand in relation to that...

I don't have much more to add. My observations are for your benefit, not mine. I'm happy to share my experience and I hope you can see that is all I've been doing. I'm certainly not trying to 'tell' you what to do...but I am a dive educator... and this seems like a critical case where some education is needed. There's a lot more for you to learn - and as you gain experience I am absolutely positive that you'll eventually gain the knowledge and awareness to understand what I've been trying to communicate on this thread. I did lots of stuff as a less experienced diver that now, with hindsight, I realise was far more unsafe than I comprehended at the time.

As the saying goes, 'a clever man learns from his mistakes, but a truly wise man learns from the mistakes of others'.

What I've written here.... and what the agencies recommend for you... is derived from the 'mistakes of others'.

Why tread in those people's footsteps?

 

[DevonDiver]

People have sailed the ocean solo, alone for months at a time...

Did they do that after a 3-day sailing course?

...soloed in balloons around (or nearly around) the world...

...or after a 3-day ballooning course?

some people just don't get what's so great (and scary and exhilarating and fulfilling) about solitude.

Yes, but not the people on this thread. I've done over 300 solo dives. Some were technical dives to 260ft...and some of those were night dives. Some were complex wreck penetration dives. Many were in shallow water with a camera. Some were for mapping sites. Some were for exploring new sites. Some were to test kit. Some were for practice of skills.

I love solo diving.... so please don't confuse the message you are getting. I'm talking about you and your approach to diving - not about the validity of solo diving as an activity for suitably qualified, suitably experienced and suitably knowledgeable divers.

I think it has its merits.

I agree.... if the risks are properly mitigated, rather than "accepted".

 

[SeaHorse81]

Fox, I read your blog, and I've read your posts here. The only thing I can add is that your writing and choices show lack of respect for the water. If you elect to ignore what people are trying to tell you here, the water will still require respect and the only ways it has to show you that is to scare you, hurt you, or kill you.

Divers have died in 10-20 foot depths. Most divers seem to get injured or die for issues that were highly preventable, simple little things that would never have happened with more experience, care, and mindfulness. Buddy separation seems to factor in a number of new-diver deaths.

Your decision-making is highly likely to get you hurt or killed at some point, either diving or otherwise. When that happens, it won't affect only you. It will affect anyone who sees the event or participates in the attempted rescue, the attempted resuscitation efforts, or the body recovery. It will affect the person who has to call your family to tell them what happened. It will affect anybody who cares about you. It will ripple through your local diving community.

On the bright side, maybe your incident will be useful as a cautionary tale to others, who may be moved to make wiser choices than you did. And you will have an incident at some point, because the water is an amazing entity, but it's just not as forgiving as you seem to assume.

 

[Crush]

Hi Fox,

Welcome to scuba diving!

I'd like to quote the first line of your blog:

I just finished my first solo dive. It also happened to be my first open water dive since being certified.

A few lines later you comment:

I first attempted to get my open water certification when I was twelve. From the first moment, scuba felt completely natural to me, and I loved it. I did fine with all the pool classes.

But I never did the open water dives.

Many posters will tell you that you did not make an informed decision because you can't make an informed decision without being informed. In the case of your first solo dive, you simply didn't know what you didn't know. Imagine if someone had posted:

I just finished my first cave dive. It also happened to be my first open water dive since being certified.

The above quote was invented by me. A much more realistic post would have been:

I just finished my first cave dive. After over 1000 open water dive and five years as an instructor, who needs a cave diving certification?

You know what? Forty or so years ago open water instructors were over-represented in cave diving fatalities. Why? Because they thought highly of what they had accomplished, and they simply didn't know what they didn't know.

Knowing is an impediment to learning. I hope that in the future you know less and learn more. Take a few courses beyond Basic OW and then re-read your OP. Please report back to us.

 

[captain]

I have said it here before and will say it again to all the critics. My view of the solo section is NOT to discuss if and when a diver should solo dive. It is to discuss solo diving as each individual approaches it. You want to do other wise go somewhere else where someone else might care about your opinion of what others should do.

I have not and never will tell someone they should/should not, are ready to or not solo dive. I simply tell how and why I started and how I go about it.

There are a hell of a lot of things I don't know I don't know not just diving related. Using the don't know what I don't know theory would keep me sitting on the couch if I base my life on it.

The OP came here to share his first solo experience and ends up getting slapped up side the head by the usual suspects..

 

[DevonDiver]

I have said it here before and will say it again to all the critics. My view of the solo section is NOT to discuss if and when a diver should solo dive. It is to discuss solo diving as each individual approaches it. You want to do other wise go somewhere else where someone else might care about your opinion of what others should do.

So, what's your genius suggestion on how a 4-dive, fresh out of OW course, diver can safely solo dive?

I respect your right to defend the solo diver forum... but this isn't a group 'love-in'. It's part of the technical diving area for a reason - because it's an advanced diving activity, which benefits from constructive criticism and open sharing of opinions and values.

[h=2]ATTENTION - READ THIS FIRST[/h]

Solo Diving is replete with it's own hazards. As with any diving discipline, Solo Diving should never be taken on lightly, without proper training or just because you are too lazy to find a buddy. In fact many agencies frown on this practice, and some prohibit it out-right.

Still, there are many out there who practice this type of diving and so it's techniques and safety should be discussed in an open forum. As with all open forums, it is up to the individual diver to ascertain the validity of anything suggested within. There are many who would offer you their opinions and yet have never done a solo dive or are possibly unsafe divers. Only YOU have control over your destiny. Choose who you listen to wisely.

This is a no-troll zone! The discussion is not to be centered around whether to do a solo dive, but in the techniques and strategies involved. Do not participate if you have already decided that solo diving is not for you! Thanks in advance.​

Firstly, even the special forum rules - which advocate discussion, not prohibition, set a clear precedent about the need for training and the need for entering the activity with the right mindset and goals. The OP fails on both of those points. That is exactly what is being explained to him.

Secondly, nobody has told the OP not to solo dive. What they have said is that he needs to get more experience and further training. THAT is a discussion of technique and strategy.

In short... WE ARE discussing how the OP approaches solo diving...

So... Captain...with that in mind, can please continue the discussion without the defensiveness?

 

[captain]

I taught myself to dive solo, by that I mean the first dive I ever made was solo at age 13 and probably the next 200 after the first one were solo so that is my genius advice.

Unless the parameter of the dive involve decompression stops, overheads and other parameters that describe so call technical diving, I don't consider a solo no D open water dive technical in any sense of the word.

 

[DevonDiver]

I taught myself to dive solo, by that I mean the first dive I ever made was solo at age 13 and probably the next 200 after the first one were solo so that is my genius advice.

That's a suggestion. Where's your insight on the techniques, skills and knowledge the diver needs? That's what you said this forum was about...

What do you believe are good, or bad, goals for solo diving?
What mindset did you have? What would you recommend for others?
How did you teach yourself?
What did you practice? When? How?
Where did you seek knowledge?
What risks did you encounter?
How did you mitigate those risks?
What equipment did you use?
How did your equipment choices evolve?
What lessons did you learn the hard way?
What accidents and near-misses did you encounter? why?
How did you plan contingencies? Was that planning ever vindicated, or found lacking? Why? How?

etc etc etc

Lastly.... why would you recommend the OP does this as self-tuition, when expert instruction or mentoring is easily available, that allows a safe supervised progression, quicker progress, less learning-by-error and little chance of missing a critical skill, factor or area of knowledge??

What you did... you did because there were no other options available at the time. There are other, easier options now. What merits are there to justify self-education?

 

[captain]

That's a suggestion. Where's your insight on the techniques, skills and knowledge the diver needs? That's what you said this forum was about...

What do you believe are good, or bad, goals for solo diving?
What mindset did you have? What would you recommend for others?
How did you teach yourself?
What did you practice? When? How?
Where did you seek knowledge?
What risks did you encounter?
How did you mitigate those risks?
What equipment did you use?
How did your equipment choices evolve?
What lessons did you learn the hard way?
What accidents and near-misses did you encounter? why?
How did you plan contingencies? Was that planning ever vindicated, or found lacking? Why? How?

etc etc etc

Lastly.... why would you recommend the OP does this as self-tuition, when expert instruction or mentoring is easily available, that allows a safe supervised progression, quicker progress, less learning-by-error and little chance of missing a critical skill, factor or area of knowledge??

What you did... you did because there were no other options available at the time. There are other, easier options now. What merits are there to justify self-education?

I have said this before also. An open water certified diver has all the information needed to safety complete a simple open water solo dive as the op did, it ain't rocket science.

Do you also advocate no one who can swim not swim alone in a pool because he is not formally trained to swim alone. After all the Red Cross emphasizes never swim alone, have you ever broken that rule. I never have seen a solo swimming course offered.

 

[DevonDiver]

I have said this before also. An open water certified diver has all the information needed to safety complete a simple open water solo dive as the op did, it ain't rocket science.

Saying it doesn't make it true. It's an opinion - and, of course, you are entitled to that. You should substantiate it though, if you want it to be credible...

PADI clearly state what their course does train students to do - and that is buddy dive. That message is repeated a multitude of times in their course and associated paperwork. I've taught hundreds of OW students. There's not a single one that I'd be happy to consent to solo diving, on the basis of the course alone. It may not be rocket science, but 'simple OW dives' present a sufficient challenge to kill a bunch of divers each year.

Anyway.... you still didn't answer any of the questions I asked in the last post...

If you're going to make recommendations, you should support them...and be prepared to exercise some personal responsibility towards the people you give recommendations to...