New Solo Diving textbook wish list...

[jagfish]

I agree with many posts I have read that find the Solo Diving text by Von Maier woefully inadequate.

I'd like posters to put together a wish list of topics and tecniques to include.

From another post I have borrowed this from a reefraff post as a possible starting point:

My Rules for Solo Diving

• Be very familiar with the site. Solo diving isn't the time to be exploring new territory.
• Be truly redundant in all critical gear. Doubles (or a sling bottle) are mandatory, as is inflation, etc. If you need it, you need at least two of it.
• No new gear. Again, this isn't the time to be experimenting.
• File a dive plan with a friend. I know my family would like to be able to recover my corpse if something goes wrong.
• Good conditions only. Storm tossed waters, low visibility, extreme cold, any harsh conditions means no solo diving.
• Be trained (and proficient) at least through Rescue. Competence counts, new divers just don't have the experience base to solo. Until you've stared serious trouble in the face, you don't know how you will react to it, so gauge yourself and your tempermant carefully before putting yourself in a situation where panic might be an issue for you.
• Short (or no) penetration. Solo isn't the time to wriggle through that narrow hatch that leads from the chain locker to the coal bunkers - no matter how many times you've done it in the past.
• The Rule of Thirds might not be conservative enough. If you can't reach the surface on a breath-hold and exit the water without gas, you should turn at 1/4.

Of course, solo diving is only for heretical iconoclasts, so opinions are going to vary wildly on these rules.

Having taken the course already myself, I would vote for including a really comprehensive section on gas management. SAC calculation and tracking under different conditions, use this information to anticipate adequate gas supply and reserve for planned dives, rule of thirds, rock bottom, depth and pony supply size requirements, etc...

Other ideas...

JAG

 

[PRL]

Having taken the course already myself, I would vote for including a really comprehensive section on gas management. SAC calculation and tracking under different conditions, use this information to anticipate adequate gas supply and reserve for planned dives, rule of thirds, rock bottom, depth and pony supply size requirements, etc...

Other ideas...

JAG

Not sure if this is to much but I would like to add the gear to gas management.I think that every diver that wants to get the "Solo Card" should be trained in all redundant gas systems. Its hard to pick the best one for you if you didnt have experiance with all of them and maby don't know how to set them up.
SDI/TDI offers solo as an SDI course and maby it should be offered as TDI.

I also would like to see a question asked of all solo students "Why do you want to be a Solo diver" and the answer should be reviewed with the instructor.
I fear that some divers might have the wrong idea about solo diving and a question like that might compell them to re-eveluate their motives.

Probably to much.

 

[TwoTanks]

I agree with many posts I have read that find the Solo Diving text by Von Maier woefully inadequate.

I'd like posters to put together a wish list of topics and tecniques to include.

From another post I have borrowed this from a reefraff post as a possible starting point:

Originally Posted by reefraff
My Rules for Solo Diving

<Snip>

Be trained (and proficient) at least through Rescue. Competence counts, new divers just don't have the experience base to solo. Until you've stared serious trouble in the face, you don't know how you will react to it, so gauge yourself and your tempermant carefully before putting yourself in a situation where panic might be an issue for you.

<Snip>

Having taken the course already myself, I would vote for including a really comprehensive section on gas management. SAC calculation and tracking under different conditions, use this information to anticipate adequate gas supply and reserve for planned dives, rule of thirds, rock bottom, depth and pony supply size requirements, etc...

Other ideas...

JAG

I think that this (training) is the most important. Not just solo dive training. A solo diving cert. is OK for stepping off a dive boat to do a 30' reef dive in 100' vis., but that is not what most solo divers do. To do real solo diving, a diver should have a rescue cert., a deco cert. and probably an equipment cert. They should have to demonstrate proficiency with equipment problems and navigation. If they want to penetrate wrecks then they should be proficient at that also.

There should probably be a minimum of 100 dives before a solo cert.

TT

 

[jagfish]

There should probably be a minimum of 100 dives before a solo cert.

That is the required minimum from SDI...

 

[Uncle Pug]

I think there should be a gillnet pool session to demonstrate self-extrication techniques... so there would need to be something in the text-book describing self-extrication.

 

[Snowbear]

To do real solo diving, a diver should have a rescue cert., a deco cert. and probably an equipment cert.

Why a rescue cert? Seems to me Pug's pool gillnet self-extrication awareness session would better serve a solo diver.
Why a deco cert? Unless of course the solo diver is planning deco dives?
Equipment - sure, I can see the value of knowing how your equipment works as well as how it fails, but why a cert?

 

[jagfish]

I think there should be a gillnet pool session to demonstrate self-extrication techniques... so there would need to be something in the text-book describing self-extrication.

Pug
You've mentined gillnet is several posts, they must be serious business. Hope I never encounter one.

What are some Pug tips for extrication?

 

[Uncle Pug]

Pug
You've mentined gillnet is several posts, they must be serious business. Hope I never encounter one. What are some Pug tips for extrication?

I hope you never encounter one either. The are made of monofilament line and catch fish as they can push their heads through but can't back up because they are caught by the gills. When these nets snag and are *lost* they keep on fishing and also attract other fish, crabs and even seals to their deaths.

We had several covering a wall we dive every so often. It is also a site that often has low visibility and current. Fortunately we were able to see the nets and avoid them. Many different reports were made to the Washington Dept. of Fish and Game but they didn't have the resources to remove these killers.

This July a group of divers decided to remove the nets. They went at the project with three boats using teams of three divers down at a time... two working on bundling up and the nets while the safety/back up diver stood off at a safe distance and watched. In all they removed over 5000 square feet of ghost net from the wall. (And I'm grateful to them for doing it... while I was on vacation somewhere else. )

Perhaps you will never encounter a gillnet... but you might encounter monofilament fishing line or some other entanglement hazard. Having experience in a controlled environment with a gillnet would provide a very valuable lesson.

Me... tips for extrication... my favorite is holding perfectly still while a buddy with a sharp knife and a pair of shears cuts me out.

 

[Snowbear]

Here's my recent experience with a gillnet, though it was made of laid nylon rather than monofilament.....

 

[ba_hiker]

someone mention kevlar? are people using kevlar leaders? has anyone tried to cut this with various sissors? anyone have any experience with this?

SS can be cut, but not with a z knife.