No solo diving in overhead environment
- Thread starter Foxfish
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DevonDiver
N/A
Solo Diving - appropriate with training
Cavern/Cave Diving - appropriate with training
Solo Cave Diving - appropriate with training and experience, where deemed optimal
Solo in a cave with a single-tank and inflated confidence spawned from the fact Murphy didn't yet visit - idiotic.
Cavern/Cave Diving - appropriate with training
Solo Cave Diving - appropriate with training and experience, where deemed optimal
Solo in a cave with a single-tank and inflated confidence spawned from the fact Murphy didn't yet visit - idiotic.
DevonDiver
N/A
A thousand guys with the same perceptions who, having done the training, changed their perceptions dramatically.
I'm not here to preach, but try a solo and/or cavern course with a reputable instructor and see if I'm wrong.
One thing I'm confident of, none of the hundreds of overhead environment fatalities in the last years seriously believed they were in danger of dying when they splashed in on their final dive.
I'm not here to preach, but try a solo and/or cavern course with a reputable instructor and see if I'm wrong.
One thing I'm confident of, none of the hundreds of overhead environment fatalities in the last years seriously believed they were in danger of dying when they splashed in on their final dive.
DevonDiver
N/A
It wouldn't be considered a cave - it seems to be in the 'light zone', which makes it a cavern.
...and yet, the cavern course still exists... and is known to be a very rigorous course, with specialized techniques and equipment. On that course you'd be introduced to Mr Murphy through simulation. If nothing else, you'd understand more about your capabilities in such an environment under the worst case scenarios. That's an invaluable lesson - even if it merely reinforced what you believed beforehand. For many though, it's a reality-check.
...and yet, the cavern course still exists... and is known to be a very rigorous course, with specialized techniques and equipment. On that course you'd be introduced to Mr Murphy through simulation. If nothing else, you'd understand more about your capabilities in such an environment under the worst case scenarios. That's an invaluable lesson - even if it merely reinforced what you believed beforehand. For many though, it's a reality-check.
w ripley
Contributor
You might find this video helpful:
Prepare for Cavern Class - message from Lamar Hires for all ... | SCU?
Prepare for Cavern Class - message from Lamar Hires for all ... | SCU?
To me it's because cavern is somewhat of a misnomer. How fast can the light zone disappear? Silt kicked up by the diver or others, flow changes and diver ends up deeper in than planned, catastrophic gas loss results in diver with single tank not having enough air to get to the opening, or out of the blue diver loses ballast and ends up pinned to the ceiling. Somewhat farfetched sure, but on the surface any accident seems that way. There is in reality no reason for you to stay out if you don't want to stay out. Just make sure that you and your family understand that if something does go wrong there is no need for anyone to recover you and put themselves at risk. Solo training is not overhead training. It still assumes you can make a direct ascent to the surface if the SHTF. Overhead training teaches you to deal with when you can't.
I am doing a presentation in march that I'm now developing that deals with some of the misconceptions about so called safe overheads like caverns and swim thru's. It is based on my own values and ethics as well as training and experience, but in essence it boils down to that these "safe" overheads are just an accident waiting to happen for those who don't want to play by the rules or are outright lied to about how dangerous they can be. The latter are those people who were led into these places by people who "do it all the time" and ended up dying as a result.
You do what you want. No one to stop you. That's the beauty of this. Plenty of ways to get killed or hurt all on your own. But again just don't expect anyone to bring back your corpse.
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I am doing a presentation in march that I'm now developing that deals with some of the misconceptions about so called safe overheads like caverns and swim thru's. It is based on my own values and ethics as well as training and experience, but in essence it boils down to that these "safe" overheads are just an accident waiting to happen for those who don't want to play by the rules or are outright lied to about how dangerous they can be. The latter are those people who were led into these places by people who "do it all the time" and ended up dying as a result.
You do what you want. No one to stop you. That's the beauty of this. Plenty of ways to get killed or hurt all on your own. But again just don't expect anyone to bring back your corpse.
Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2
If the diver is both certified & experienced in both overhead & solo, has the appropriate extra equipment (bailouts) & skill to use it, I see no problem. I know many divers who cave dive solo. Personally, I will only make a cave dive that I am comfortable with doing solo. Have I? No. But I am comfortable enough to do the dives solo if I want, or need to. A lot of my training basics was to be self- sufficient within a team, which actually makes the team stronger, if everyone is. No one is dependent upon anyone else, yet there to help, to add another layer of safety. Times when cave diving solo is actually safer? I would say in a particularly nasty system (low/ narrow/ silty), where it would be stirred up just from movement through & the 2nd guy would see nothing. Usually the diver(s) are coming out on the line. Also, at at times it may be safer in an exploratory mission, where there are many unknowns.
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