Solo Diving, How about WHY we should not instead of just NO you should not.

[toodive4]

Weighing in late... and without reading the entire thread... some of this is sure to be repetition.

Why SOLO Diving is not just Dangerous... but somewhat foolish can be easily established... and I will establish it clearly for you. With that said, it can also be dangerous and somewhat foolish to dive with a buddy. Situations vary, so to each diver I say... dive smart with or without a buddy.

Solo diving for new divers is foolish because there is no conceivable way a new diver has the experience under his or her belt to handle what may come at them. The only way to gain these experiences - and likely live through them - is to dive with more experienced divers. They may or may not be your direct "buddy" but they must be in the water around you if you have much chance of surviving your "experience building" stage. Solo divers have died due to a variety of situations where a buddy may have been able to offer assistance - or at least returned to the surface to effect a rescue by someone more experienced. Some situations dangerous to a solo diver include entrapment, entanglement, running out of air, getting lost, ascending or descending out of control, experiencing vertigo, etc... I have personally been involved with saving less experienced divers - and myself - from situations involving all of the aforementioned hazards. Some will argue that running out of air is one with remedies... (dive doubles, carry spare air etc...) but those too have failed, or failed to have been used properly. There is safety in numbers... on land in a dark alley and underwater with the fishes.

Now with all that said... you may be in even greater danger if you're diving with a less experienced buddy or a buddy who is an incompetent boob. I have seen buddies damn near kill their buddies with everything from plain stupidity to outright overt acts I thought to myself may have been attempted murder. I've seen buddies think it was funny to swim up behind their buddy and turn off their air... I've seen buddies follow buddies into wrecks or caves where they had no business going etc. etc...

Know yourself - and if you have a buddy - know them as well as you know yourself. If you dont - dont dive with them.

The final reason I like diving with a buddy is so that if god forbid something did happen to me and I didn't make it back to the boat... at least someone would know what happened to me... They can go back with a great story like - Ken got eatin' by a shark or Ken got stuck in the wreck and I couldn't get him out... yada yada yada...

Good stories like that are hard to come by... and rarely are first hand accounts available.


Ken

 

[DavidPT40]

Oh man, MNYDVR, did that really happen to you?

I've thought about what would happen if a crazed diver ripped the regulator out of my mouth, and I couldn't get to my Air 2. Or if my regulators stopped working, and I swam over to an inexperienced diver, gave the out of air signal, and he fumbled around trying to find his octopus.

So, lets look at this mathematically. If you are diving with a *true* buddy, someone you have dove with many times before, have talked about emergencies with, and are sure that he wont panic if one of you has an emergency, then your risk from dying or getting the bends is probably 25-50% less if you have an emergency.

But if you are diving with a group of inexperienced or rusty divers whom you just met 20 minutes before on the dive boat, then your risk is multiplied by every diver there. If one of those divers has an emergency and panics, they could involve you. Most likely they would try to shoot you to the surface.

 

[serambin]

I have just read over a number of posts on this thread and I am left wondering why any of the divers who are against solo diving even dive themselves. How can they possibly say people shouldn't dive solo because of this or that possibly happening and then turn around and jump in the water with their lives hanging precariously in the hands of another diver they may or may not know? As one person wrote, what if your buddy panics and drowns the both of you? Obviously, along the same lines of this or that possibly happening, having a buddy is no guarantee you'll ever make it to the boat or shore alive.

I hate the lack of paragraphs. You make me wirk too hard!!! :06:

 

[Green Hand]

Hi all, this is my first posting so please bare with me.

I totally understand the motivation of wanting to dive alone: self reliance, adventure, no one else to worry about, or have to organise etc. But I truely believe that diving is a 'team' sport, much like hiking, skiing, and surfing.

I'm based in Australia and grew up at bording school, where I spent year 9 living in the Victorian mountains at a campus called Timbertop. We went on 20 klm. runs, five day hikes, downhill skiing in winter etc. and the first thing we learnt [some through theory and others through practical experience] was don't do dangerous activities alone no matter how competent you are [or think you are].

I knocked myself out skiing a couple of years ago [I'm now 40] skiing a run alone [but with friends further down the slope] and skiied another run with them because I didin't know that I had been unconcious. They assesed my behaviour, had me rest and called patrol. I was medi-vacced to hospital with concussion. To this day I don't know what happened and can't remember. On my own I may have kept skiing and plowed into a tree with dire consequences.

I have had friends break the cardinal rule of not surfing alone who have had encounters with large sharks[which tend not to approach a group of surfers]. In the last two weeks we have two diver deaths by Great Whites and one surfer attack by a Great White. If the surfer had been alone he would have bled to death on the beach.

People fly alone and die from a heart attack, stroke, or asma because they did not have a back-up pilot. OK they probably know the risk and accept it but a back-up plan for the unexpected is, I think, part of risk assessment. We all think it wont happen to us - until it does.

I guess my point is - some sports are just not designed to be done alone [Aron Ralston who hacked his arm off after 6 days can tell you that]. Boards hit people unexpectadly in the face, sharks have a taste of your leg and find your not what they thought you were and if alone you bleed to death, if accompanied you get to hospital and have a great scar and storey for life.

All 'extreme / dangerous' sports have levels of risk that we assess and base our actions on. Personally I don't want to sky dive again because I and my family have agreed that the risk is to great if something goes wrong. I also won't mountaineer as the percentage of fatalities puts it in my 'too dangerous / uncontrolable' basket and I think it is irresponible for me to do it when I have a family. If I was still young, single and fit enough maybe I would re-evaluate the risk level and on-going repurcussions if the unknown did occur.

Diving alone, for me, presents an unacceptable risk - if something goes wrong [like you suffer an unexpected seizure, or stroke] a buddy could assist getting you to shore and getting medical help. Alone you would probably drown. We are not fish and the ocean is not our natural environment. We should always treat it with the utmost respect - and in doing so have a lot of fun and adventure in it.

Anyway who would you have a beer with and swap stories after the dive if you were alone?

 

[Gary D.]

Hi all, this is my first posting so please bare with me.

I totally understand the motivation of wanting to dive alone: self reliance, adventure, no one else to worry about, or have to organise etc. But I truely believe that diving is a 'team' sport, much like hiking, skiing, and surfing.

I'm based in Australia and grew up at bording school, where I spent year 9 living in the Victorian mountains at a campus called Timbertop. We went on 20 klm. runs, five day hikes, downhill skiing in winter etc. and the first thing we learnt [some through theory and others through practical experience] was don't do dangerous activities alone no matter how competent you are [or think you are].

I knocked myself out skiing a couple of years ago [I'm now 40] skiing a run alone [but with friends further down the slope] and skiied another run with them because I didin't know that I had been unconcious. They assesed my behaviour, had me rest and called patrol. I was medi-vacced to hospital with concussion. To this day I don't know what happened and can't remember. On my own I may have kept skiing and plowed into a tree with dire consequences.

I have had friends break the cardinal rule of not surfing alone who have had encounters with large sharks[which tend not to approach a group of surfers]. In the last two weeks we have two diver deaths by Great Whites and one surfer attack by a Great White. If the surfer had been alone he would have bled to death on the beach.

People fly alone and die from a heart attack, stroke, or asma because they did not have a back-up pilot. OK they probably know the risk and accept it but a back-up plan for the unexpected is, I think, part of risk assessment. We all think it wont happen to us - until it does.

I guess my point is - some sports are just not designed to be done alone [Aron Ralston who hacked his arm off after 6 days can tell you that]. Boards hit people unexpectadly in the face, sharks have a taste of your leg and find your not what they thought you were and if alone you bleed to death, if accompanied you get to hospital and have a great scar and storey for life.

All 'extreme / dangerous' sports have levels of risk that we assess and base our actions on. Personally I don't want to sky dive again because I and my family have agreed that the risk is to great if something goes wrong. I also won't mountaineer as the percentage of fatalities puts it in my 'too dangerous / uncontrolable' basket and I think it is irresponible for me to do it when I have a family. If I was still young, single and fit enough maybe I would re-evaluate the risk level and on-going repurcussions if the unknown did occur.

Diving alone, for me, presents an unacceptable risk - if something goes wrong [like you suffer an unexpected seizure, or stroke] a buddy could assist getting you to shore and getting medical help. Alone you would probably drown. We are not fish and the ocean is not our natural environment. We should always treat it with the utmost respect - and in doing so have a lot of fun and adventure in it.

Anyway who would you have a beer with and swap stories after the dive if you were alone?

An activity that is far more dangerous than diving, flying, skiing, hiking and many more is done alone on a regular basis. That activity is driving to the site of the activity what ever it might be.

One thing a lot of people forget is "IF" you or your buddy has a serious problem you or your buddy are now a SOLO diver, SOLO Skier, SOLO Hiker, SOLO Climber or what ever else. Once one or the other is unable to help the other you are on your own with a lot more tasks to deal with.

Gary D.

 

[Wreck]

I guess I look at solo diving as being another alternative to not diving at all. I like the buddy system but I am not going to miss an opportunity to dive. I practice self reliance. I adjust my dive plan accordingly. I know the risk. I make an educated decision. If I go to a scuba park and there are 40-60 people diving, I don’t feel I really need a buddy. Everyone there is my buddy. I have been diving and snorkeling since 1964.

Nothing opens your eyes more to the inventiveness of Murphy's Law than sheer experience. That awareness can come at a very costly price. I think I'll go out on a limb and say that most people never really understand what their risk/limitations are until they get hurt or are about to die.

I could answer the original poster with some additional issues faced by solo divers, but having answers for all of those (and maybe even all of Sheck Exley's list of 100 what-if's) is not what's going to make you a safe solo diver. Having the right equipment is not what it's all about. Having the right training is not what it's all about. This is why many experienced divers caution against it to most reacreational divers and don't bother to offer specific reasons. It's something only experience can teach you.

Don't ever think you've got Murphy taken care of - he can always surprise you.

 

[Wreck]

I've thought about what would happen if a crazed diver ripped the regulator out of my mouth, and I couldn't get to my Air 2. Or if my regulators stopped working, and I swam over to an inexperienced diver, gave the out of air signal, and he fumbled around trying to find his octopus.

Many divers necklace their "octo" so they can grab it with just their mouth. Hands-free, no fumbling, out of the way, and right where you need it.

 

[seaseer]

I've solo dived a few times, it was fun. If you are properly trained, follow procedure and the limits you set for yourself, the risk should be very minimal. I personally have a very detailed dive plan, don't push myself beyond any limits, and have at least two sets of redundancy. I dive with a pony bottle with separate regulator system, two knives, scissors, dual computers and dual air pressure readouts. I also limit myself to no deeper than 30 feet, no current, and pick dive sites that are very public. Some of you may think, "that's just crazy". I used to think that also, mainly because I was uncomfortable about my abilities, but if you are properly trained and disciplined, you gain that sense of what you can and can't do. I gained my confidence through the years by diving tough dives, fast currents, and doing some things that were down right scary. Given that, I know I'm reasonably save when I solo dive with conservative limits. Yes, the risk is a little greater without a buddy, but not that much. To each their own. Happy diving.

 

[stevetim]

An activity that is far more dangerous than diving, flying, skiing, hiking and many more is done alone on a regular basis. That activity is driving to the site of the activity what ever it might be.

One thing a lot of people forget is "IF" you or your buddy has a serious problem you or your buddy are now a SOLO diver, SOLO Skier, SOLO Hiker, SOLO Climber or what ever else. Once one or the other is unable to help the other you are on your own with a lot more tasks to deal with.

Gary D.

I love your first statement about driving to the site being far more dangerous than solo diving.

He is right, you know? Besides, a car is basically life support for the duration of your trip. How many of us actually open our car hoods on a regular basis to clean, maintain, and make sure our car engines are working as well as our dive equipment? Just weigh the number of hours you wash and check your dive gear vs. the number of hours you check your vehicles and all the sudden it makes sense. Of course anyone whom makes like 5 dives a year(e.g.) doesn't fit into this category. If you aren't worried about a catastrophic failure of your car as you drive, don't fear it with something you actually take care of on a regular basis.

And by the way, I am not advocating solo diving. It's people's choice to do it and that's that. Just like stubborn people who still won't leave their homes in New Orleans while there is no water, food, electricity, or anything capable of supporting their families, much less their lives.

 

[ayubimoak]

Not really sure if the reponse from WWOLFSON was to my original input on this thread, but if it was, it sure sounded like my input ruffled this diver's fins a bit.

An individual's decision to dive solo is a personal choice and one that he/she in the end must choose to live (or die) with. Personally, I have never gone diving with anyone less experienced than myself and usually dive with someone a few years more experienced than myself and someone that is familiar with the dive site/profile/area etc. However, that being said, it would be pretty narrow-minded and plain stupid to put your safety and well-being in the hands of your buddy by assuming that they will save "your sorry butt." So it is important to be honest with one's self as to whether or not they could rescue their buddy in an emergency or not. Diving with a more experienced person doesn't automatically mean that you no longer have to worry about your own safety and can haphazardly go off and goof around! It just means that you at least have some form of a "human" redundancy available. Regardless of whether or not you dive solo or with a buddy, it is important to maintain a certain level of proficiency in such things as first aid, CPR, etc., that can be acquired and honed through PADI's EFR and Search & Rescue courses. Saying you can rescue someone and actually doing it for real are two very different things. Fortunately, I have never had to administer first aid or CPR to another diver, but having the knowledge, the skill, and the real confidence to do so in an emergency can make a lot of difference and could possibly save someone's life. I came to this realization after diving in Mexico earlier this summer. I began to wonder if I could actually assist or save another diver should the need arise, and I honestly couldn't answer my own questions. So I enrolled in the above-mentioned courses.

Rather than getting emotional over a webboard thread and posting a random emotional response, well-thought out comments and dialog are what are really helpful, informative and useful for other divers. Otherwise, your are simply wasting your time responding, regardless of your experience level or diving expertise. You can be an "experienced" or "seasoned" diver and still make mistakes (or have gear fail on you, even redundant gear!), but the failure to admit that to yourself ultimately is far more dangerous than solo diving at 30 ft in clear water under favorable conditions with plenty of redundant gear.

First, I dive solo AND I dive with a buddy. Which I do depends on the situation and the buddy available. I've been diving since 1971 and have always done this. Diving solo requires no more care than PROPER diving with a buddy. That implies that BOTH require skill, judgment and experience. Diving with a buddy doesn't give you license to do foolish things in the belief that your buddy will save your sorry butt. And, by the way, are YOUR rescue skills up to date so that you can do the saving if necessary?