Risks to going Solo

[Blackwood]

I lived on the Esplanade for years and ended buying a dive boat and living on it in King Harbor. Used to have really good luck down near a large square or rectangular storm drain outfall just outside the kelp beds there. I liked to freedive as well as use scuba.

This is pretty off topic, but I'm game if you are

Recently we've been hauling scooters to various sites like White Point to explore the far off-shore kelp beds (with varying degrees of success). Really, though, a boat would be key. There is so much good diving to be had off the peninsula.

 

[PvtStash]

that your average certed/properly rigged solo diver is many times Safer than when your diving with an insta-buddy, or even someone you jus' dive with occasionally.

 

[flots am]

So I see time and time again in the "Accidents and Incidents" folder of divers passing away while on solo dives. Now I have seen divers at various shallow dive spots (rivers, small ponds, etc) diving solo in water no deeper than 20'. Is there a lot of inherent risk at these depths if your alone? I understand anything can happen, weather it be you get snagged, run out of air, and numerous other issues...but is the risk less if you are solo in waters shallower than 20' vs below 33'?

Just trying to get a feel for whats what in scuba. Thanks!

A solo diver has nobody to poke him in the side and point at his depth or pressure gauge when doing something dumb.

There's no guarantee that a random buddy would do this either, but a carefully chosen buddy would.

Most of the SCUBA fatalities aren't caused by equipment failure, they're caused by bad judgement and lack of training (or forgetting training). A good buddy is a backup system for when you're doing or about to do something dangerous.

flots.

 

[Dyno Bill]

A solo diver has nobody to poke him in the side and point at his depth or pressure gauge when doing something dumb.

There's no guarantee that a random buddy would do this either, but a carefully chosen buddy would.

Most of the SCUBA fatalities aren't caused by equipment failure, they're caused by bad judgement and lack of training (or forgetting training). A good buddy is a backup system for when you're doing or about to do something dangerous.

flots.

I believe that's it in a nutshell, the trick is being able to know when your level of development is in fact in line with the responsibility of being in the water solo. I have been diving for a quite long time and A freediver is at risk alone in the ocean so please take your time to learn and deepen your experience base. Just my 2 cents worth.
Bill

 

[boulderjohn]

In just about every sport in which it is possible to go alone, there are people who choose to go it alone. That includes hiking, rock climbing, swimming, camping, canoeing, long distance bicycling--anything. Every one of those brings a risk--what if something goes wrong when you are alone?

A couple of years ago there was the nationally covered case of the man hiking in the desert. A rock slid and caught his arm. He ended up amputating his arm at the elbow with a dull jackknife.

Here in Colorado a number of years ago a solo hiker did something similar, amputating his leg at the knee to free his foot.

Similarly, a girl who once raced on the same ski team with me was solo hiking near Moab, Utah. She fell and broke her hip. She tried to crawl all the way out and only made it because she was "semi-buddied." Her dog pulled a Lassie and went for help.

We do a lot of rock climbing here in Colorado, and a couple of weeks ago a solo climber fell to his death.

A number of years ago a well known and beloved diver from my town was diving with a group of friends. On the descent he indicated that he was having some trouble and wanted to return to the boat. He indicated that his buddy should join another team so as not to miss the dive. He then ascended solo. He was never seen again. It is presumed he had a heart attack, passed out, and drifted away with the current.

Anyone who participates in any kind of activity like this is taking a risk. The amount of risk involved varies. Going for a half hour bike ride down an established trail? Not much risk at all. Taking a kayak down serious rapids swollen by spring rain? The risk factor just leaped up a few notches. Hopefully, everyone who participates in such activities makes an informed, calculated assessment of the risk and decides whether or not it is acceptable.

Nothing is absolute--you have to make a case-by-case decision. I will take my bike out for a spin unattended without a second thought. I will not hike in the wilderness alone. I will not ski the back country alone. In general, I will not dive alone. Now, I do practice in the pool alone, and I will briefly set up / clean up instructional materials in shallow sites alone, but that's about it.

Those are my decisions.

What are yours?

 

[boulderjohn]

Most of the SCUBA fatalities aren't caused by equipment failure, they're caused by bad judgement and lack of training (or forgetting training).

Actually, most scuba fatalities are health related (heart attacks, etc.).Once again, a buddy can help.

You can see this by looking at the annual DAN fatality report. There was a very recent study that was just completed and summarized briefly in the current issue of the Undersea Journal. The details will be published later, but the summary said that the results were so clear that PADI will revise its medical statement to be more clear about the risk of health issues (particularly cardiac) and diving.

In the last DAN report, a very high percentage of the fatalities were highly experienced and highly trained divers.

 

[flots am]

that your average certed/properly rigged solo diver is many times Safer than when your diving with an insta-buddy, or even someone you jus' dive with occasionally.

That's not a very useful statement. You could easily find that your insta-buddy has thousands of dives (sometimes even thousands at that location).

flots.

 

[Jax]

Actually, most scuba fatalities are health related (heart attacks, etc.).Once again, a buddy can help.

You can see this by looking at the annual DAN fatality report. There was a very recent study that was just completed and summarized briefly in the current issue of the Undersea Journal. The details will be published later, but the summary said that the results were so clear that PADI will revise its medical statement to be more clear about the risk of health issues (particularly cardiac) and diving.

In the last DAN report, a very high percentage of the fatalities were highly experienced and highly trained divers.

Wow, these are some very telling statistics! Thanks, John, you're always a wealth of information.

The 2006 collection includes 75 scuba fatalities investigated by DAN. The most common medical history issue known for the cases was heart disease (38%). The majority of the victims were classed as overweight or obese by body mass index (73%). The primary disabling injuries identified were drowning (48%), arterial gas embolism (33%), and cardiac-related conditions (28%).

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

First off, I am going to establish that I sometimes dive solo. I am a scuba instructor for an agency that promotes buddy diving.

I will not hike in the wilderness alone. I will not ski the back country alone. In general, I will not dive alone. Now, I do practice in the pool alone, and I will briefly set up / clean up instructional materials in shallow sites alone, but that's about it.

Those are my decisions.

What are yours?

Bob and John are two of my favorite SB Instructor posters; IMHO, each of us has a significant level of training and experience, but we live in different worlds.

I grew up in Colorado / the Rockies; raised by a serious Wolf Creek powder hound who's last technical rock climb was a near death experience on Ship Rock back when it was legal to climb (they did summit - he did not lead). Dad also taught me to scuba at age 7, and my most memorable dive that summer was the St. Joe river in Northern Idaho on one of our many white water canoe trips.

Since his death when I was 25, I have found very few adventurers like dad, so he is still my #1 buddy, which causes everyone else to see me as going solo. One of the reason I do not take "living" buddies on my most serious adventures is because I do not want to be the cause of someone else's injuries/deaths.

Bringing a couple badly injured best friends out of the wilderness in my twenties, one of them still addled from that head injury now 30 years later, and numerous near-buddy-death non-injury events have led me to really prefer solo when I'm on the edge.

John lives far away from every day dive sites, Bob lives in challenging dive country, I live in warm water paradise. John really does not solo, Bob solo's some, I solo a lot; location, location, location. And I am not just talking about where we live today; it is also about how we grew up, IMHO.

I do not think John would be more at risk if he were to solo dive, but he is comfortable with his decisions. I think Bob could easily do more adventurous solo dives, but I am comfortable with his decisions. I have plans to do more adventurous solo dives and my step mom and step dad are resigned to my decisions.

One of the reasons I live in Hawaii is that I am prone to causing avalanches in the Rocky Mountain backcountry. My last spring living in Colorado I made 12 solo backcountry snowboard runs; caused 5 small sluffs (rode one), 2 medium powder slides (rode one) and out ran a very slow slab slide.

Compared to my solo free climbing, white water and snowboarding in the Rockies, me solo diving (including breath hold) is what my family prefers.

PS - I also rode my '84.5 Willie G Special (the "parts bin" special) solo; from Denver to Sturgis, for a week around Sturgis and back to Denver; possibly the riskiest week of my life!

 

[Dyno Bill]

The real nuts and bolts of it allis none of us get out alive, we all get a last dance. That being saidI would like my last dance to be the Lindy Hop. Fast and fun, as for the heart related issues in diving I likely fit into that category and have sort of become a lone diver as the DM's always take a long look when I show up. You see I took my first breath on scuba in 1964 on Catalina. My wife has the long/ lat where I want to be put when its time. Till then I truly hope you all enjoy it as much as I have but for now I need to cut the damned grass. As for statistics, never cared much for them
Bill