Hellohello... one of the things often mentioned in response to querries on solo diving (besides "your going to die" and "bad things will happen") is "You dont know what you dont know"...
Ok, thats reasonable enough... but not very helpful... give me Specifics. Specifics I can plan for/mitigate. Vague allusions to "bad things happening" are seen as so much Fear Mongering or jus' plain ol' Ignorance.
I would like to start making some solo dives this coming dive season... ,but only under the following conditions...
- very familiar dive site (dove dozens of times)
- 50' max depth (more commonly 35-40')
- redundant air (pony)
- bigger than usual primary backgas (LP121)
- knife & shears
I've got 51 dives (deepest being 101') , am in good health and believe I am approaching the idea of solo diving with the proper respect/mindset.
So... gimme some of the Concrete "what ifs" that would convince me I havent thought this through yet.
As one of those who echoed "you don't know what you don't know" to you in previous thread, I'll try to shed some light on things that may entail.
During that conversation your questions were regarding much deeper dives than you're posting here, so the answer will be different.
Questions I would have would center around conditions. What is the water temp going to be where you are diving? What is the visibility? Is there a hard bottom, or possibility for ending up deeper than your plan? Is the area prone to heavy currents?
Depending on the answers to things like that brings up an entirely different
set of questions. Things to consider for example, in cold water, is the reg your diving predisposed to freezing? Have you tested your resistance to narcosis in cold, dark water previously as many people are more prone to it under those conditions?
* Yes, I understand that you havent said you're diving in such conditions, I'm just throwing ideas at you to consider *
Other equipment considerations, if you dive with a larger than normal tank, do you have adequate lift? If you end up adding a pony are you familiar with deployment? Can you reach the valves in the event of a) a free flow that you cant shut off, or b) you find that you entered the water, cant turn it on and have no buddy to do it for you.
Other skills considerations have been mentioned by many other posters already. One thing I havent seen mentioned is the ability to do several of these skills simultaneously. It's one thing to be able to hover motionless in the water. Its another to do it with a reg free flowing, a mask flooding and a cramp in your leg from finning against a current, or trying to swim a bc failure up. Or to deploy a lift bag if you lost your mask.
Extreme examples? Yes, but keep in mind, it's usually not
one problem that gets you, it's a series of problems that continue unchecked.
You might also benefit by reading through the Near Misses and Lessons learned section and consider how you'd handle some of those situations if you were diving by yourself.
Ultimately, it's up to you to decide if you have the skills and the confidence to dive solo and have thought through all the scenarios.
Good luck with whatever you decide and dive safe!
