Should there be a Solo Diving discussion section on this forum?

[String]

Nice bit of selective editing where the paragraph above you conveniently cut off said he'd ALREADY done it.

So I decided to just go out myself. I had been there before and knew what it was like as far as vis and temp.

Still dont see whats different to having discussions of nitrox, rebreathers, trimix, wreck penetration, cave penetration and so on ALL of which are accesible by anyone on these forums.

Some are arguing it has no purpose on a basic scuba discussion forum - fine, give it its own forum!

 

[ccaddy]

We are all ultimately solo divers. Self suffficency should come first and lead to being a better buddy. It seems to be a fact that people solo. I have many times and I do so in a shallow occupied area of CA such as Casino Park or Laguna (where it is posted you must dive with a buddy) and I do so with people in the area and feel the risk is reduced. I don't feel it is safe to go explore a wreck - or go to a greater depth for any length of time. Yet, there are many who will. An open dialog on this subject, will like most of these posts, only shed light where it is needed. It should never be ignored.

 

[Robert Phillips]

Nice bit of selective editing where the paragraph above you conveniently cut off said he'd ALREADY done it.



Still dont see whats different to having discussions of nitrox, rebreathers, trimix, wreck penetration, cave penetration and so on ALL of which are accesible by anyone on these forums.

Some are arguing it has no purpose on a basic scuba discussion forum - fine, give it its own forum!

Dude, you make me laugh! I included the entire thread in my first post. I read the whole thing, you concentrated on the part of the post that you decided supported your argument. The important part is the above quote. He would use a forum to justify diving solo by learning on the internet.
YOU CANNOT LEARN TO DIVE ON THE INTERNET.

 

[Mako Mark]

So string.. it is ok for someone with only 20 dives to go solo diving as long as they have dived there before??

gimme a break.

 

[Scubaguy62]

Ive looked at the UK fatality stats for the last 2 years and it seems less than 10% of the fatalities are solo divers on there.

What is the percentage of fatalities of buddy teams?

So why have we got open forums that allow discussion of Nitrox, trimix, rebreathers, wreck penetration, cave diving all of which can kill someone if someone without the training decides to go and do it? Why is that different from solo diving? All of the aboves elevate the risk factor in one way or another and by your logic someone could just as easily decide to penetrate a wreck or cave without training or equipment as dive solo.

It's different from solo diving because in an Otox situation, for example, there is someone else who can assist and perhaps save the diver's life.

Its exactly the same, if someone wants to dive below 130ft with a small single cylinder and/or on a mix they arent trained for theres nothing to stop them. If someone wants to swim around inside a wreck with similar equipment even at 80ft theres nothing stopping them.

Perhaps, but I would not let my buddy, nor would my buddy let me penetrate a wreck, even at 30ft, if neither of us are trained

And a buddy would have helped in what way exactly? Can he walk on water or perform superhuman feats to tow the person to the shore ? I didnt see it (as its not shown here) but from what i gather the woman (i) didnt dump weights (ii) didnt dump camera (iii) lacked a form of surface signalling aid and (iv) kept all her kit on. All of which are violations of basic open water training and have nothing to do with solo diving.

On the contrary, one of the requirements of solo diving, according to SSI, is that the diver carry a dive alert signaling unit attached to their power inflator. And, although this lady did have a fold up surface flag, that item leaves a lot to be desired, as it's virtually invisible at a distance; a safety sausage is far more visible than that (I have seen a 42" safety sausage at more than 300ft). Yes, she dumped neither her weights, nor her camera, but we all agree that was idiotic, and no, her buddy could not have walked on water, but perhaps could have alerted her of the current which dragged her away and initially placed her in a precarious situation.

 

[cortez]

Sorry to keep going back to the issue/topic, but I must have misunderstood the quesiton at hand. I don't believe Solo Diving deserves its own sub-thread of Basic Scuba Discussions, I do however think it deserves its own forum... somewhere.

BTW - SSI doesn't support a Solo Diving Certification. SDI does. Its important to make that distinction because, SDI only recently joined the RSTC.

 

[Scubaguy62]

BTW - SSI doesn't support a Solo Diving Certification. SDI does. Its important to make that distinction because, SDI only recently joined the RSTC.

The difference one letter makes!! Thanks for the clarification Cortez

 

[MaxBottomtime]

What's the point of a seperate thread? Will we be able to hide the thought of solo diving from newbies? I guess if parents don't mention sex, drugs or smoking in front of their kids, the kids will never find out about it. I guess I give people too much credit by thinking they can decide things for themselves.

 

[Scuba]

I agree with Boogie,

A solo dive forum is right up there with the "how to drive drunk" and "family fun with explosives" forum

I spent time writing the first post in this thread in order to give a fairly reasoned explanation and encourage debate on the issue. Not to hear this type of nonsense. No biggie, its fully expected. Its simple though - BACK IT UP.

Dorset boy, you have a lot to answer for on this one buy starting your previous thread. I hope you never get to hear about any deaths that occur from newbies seeing this discussed in open forum and then unsuccessfully giving it a go. I think the whole thread should be removed.

This is about as cheap a cheap shot I have ever seen on this board.

"I hope you never get to hear about any deaths from newbies seeing buddy diving discussed in an open forum and then unsuccessfully giving it a go" This one is for you cancun mark, just to be clear.

MORE THAN 80% OF DIVERS WHO DIE UNDERWATER DIE AFTER GETTING SEPARATED, OR WHILE SOLO DIVING.

This shows that you do not know the definition of solo diving. Interesting how what appears to be a self explanatory concept once the meaning of the word solo is known, is so misunderstood. Let me translate as this is not an etymologically original english word. Solo means - Alone. Also, thanks for pointing out a failure of the buddy system. They can't stay together and when seperated they can't deal with being alone. I'm exagerating on this point.

If two individual divers descend together planning on surfacing together, any resultant seperation during the dive will indeed cause each one to be alone. Nonetheless, this is a buddy system failure.

Solo divers descend and ascend alone.

Of course, agreed upon combinations thereof could exist. Though it may tend to complicate matters.

So, it goes to prove that not even a person with 17,000 dives under its weightbelt is
immune to catastrophe while going solo. Now we want a forum so people with far less
experience than that can talk about it, and God knows, even try it?

What d'ya know! If I change GOING SOLO to GOING WITH BUDDY - we have a perfect match.

A question for all those opposed: Besides trying to deny others their right to take risks during a dive as they deem fit, risks which may be lower than the ones you take or those fully accepted and discussed here - what other logical reasons of substance do you have to prove your point, which is not equally applicable to non solo forms of diving?

 

[Whitelightnin]

No one is forcing anyone to read the other forums that don't interest them. All in all, I find this whole argument kinda silly. If you don't want to have anything to do with solo diving, DON'T READ IT!!!

James