Solo diving

[The Chairman]

For recreational divers ... if we're gonna promote the buddy system, let's teach people how to do it properly. Then they won't need to take a separate class to learn how to take care of themselves because their buddy wandered off ...

Bob, I don't think that most of the people I have met, who have taken this class, would suggest that this was their impetus. In fact, to a person, they did not enjoy looking after others or they liked to do activities where they could focus on their activity like photography or fossil hunting.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Bob,
Thats awesome because most do not. The reason for the redundant air is not so much for buddy seperation but for equipment malfunction. If you have a free flow you can breath off that till its empty & then go to the backup. I agree with promoting the buddy system but you should also be comfortable and able to survive if you are solo or lose your buddy. All my dives even with a buddy are planned as solo dives.

Mine aren't. I do solo dive, although I didn't take a class to learn solo diving. By the time I decided to start solo diving I'd logged over 2,000 dives, and had taken tech classes up through Trimix II.

That said, when I'm diving with a buddy ... or, as today, with two buddies ... I generally don't take a redundant air supply unless our dive is extraordinarily aggressive ... either due to profile or diving conditions. We do not assume we're going to lose a buddy. We make it our job not to.

Awareness is a learned skill ... it starts with an attitude that it's not "normal", "expected", or "inevitable" that you will lose your buddy. Once we've established that, then I teach the techniques for making sure it doesn't happen. These skills are a fundamental part of my AOW curriculum, and you cannot pass the class without demonstrating that you've learned them.

I think taking a solo class is a great idea for people who wish to solo dive. I think it's a lousy idea for people who think it's a substitute for learning proper buddy skills ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[atedeschi]

The OP was asking for opinions and thats what I offered. You can challange what I post Ill defend or discuss. It may have good info but this type of info should be intergrated in other courses to make you a better and more well rounded diver. Not have a special course for everything. That was my comment about money was about. When I first got my instructor I was excited and got a handful of specialty instructor certs but I try to integrate those little specialties in to the core course how it used to be before you can get a card for everything. Example is drysuit diver, this can be intergrated into AOW or Intro to tec without making the student pay for another course for a card they will never use. Grant it the skills in the course are good but can be easily covered quickly while teaching a more core class. Again these are just my opinions.

 

[fire_diver]

I have been on boats that required this cert to dive solo.

I see that as a bad outcome of the course. It's thinking like that which spoils scuba diving. Should they ban any cameras unless you have the UW photo card? Should they ban divers from boats without a boat cert?

 

[The Chairman]

I think taking a solo class is a great idea for people who wish to solo dive. I think it's a lousy idea for people who think it's a substitute for learning proper buddy skills ...

Bravo, Bob, Bravo!

 

[Jax]

I see that as a bad outcome of the course. It's thinking like that which spoils scuba diving. Should they ban any cameras unless you have the UW photo card? Should they ban divers from boats without a boat cert?

Frankly, I wish they would ban people from boating without being certified / licensed . . . but I digress . . .


Boats have a choice - force insta-buddies on people, let just anyone dive solo, or require a cert to dive solo. The first is unpopular, the second is fraught with litigious peril, and the last is at least supportable by the industry.

 

[The Chairman]

I see that as a bad outcome of the course. It's thinking like that which spoils scuba diving. Should they ban any cameras unless you have the UW photo card? Should they ban divers from boats without a boat cert?

Perhaps they should allow you to cave dive without a cave cert, dive a rebreather without that class or dive NitrOx (heck, even use %100 O2 for deco) without the cert?

To suggest that taking pictures or diving off of a boat increases your risk indicates that you don't understand WHY this cert exists. Maybe you should take the class?

The few boats that I know that require the cert have been required to do so by their insurance companies. That makes sense to me.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Frankly, I wish they would ban people from boating without being certified / licensed . . . but I digress . . .

Boats have a choice - force insta-buddies on people, let just anyone dive solo, or require a cert to dive solo. The first is unpopular, the second is fraught with litigious peril, and the last is at least supportable by the industry.

Most of the boats I dive on let me solo dive if I choose to ... some will even let me do solo tech dives if I choose to.

I wouldn't expect the same treatment in some tropical place where they're used to dealing with relatively inexperienced divers. That, in part, is why I choose my dive vacation locales carefully. It's not dive op's responsibility to make rules that make me happy ... it's my responsibility to make sure I know what their rules are before I get on board ... and make my diving choices accordingly ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[The Chairman]

Not have a special course for everything.

Yet, solo diving was (is) frowned upon by the diving community in general just like cave diving, trimix, etc. Having specific protocols to follow for such an activity to be done in a consistently safe manner necessitates a certification.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Yet, solo diving was (is) frowned upon by the diving community in general just like cave diving, trimix, etc. Having specific protocols to follow for such an activity to be done in a consistently safe manner necessitates a certification.

I think this is a great point ... one only needs recall the Nitrox wars of 20 years ago to understand why. Solo diving is going through similar growing pains at this point in time.

It does concern me, however, when I see people with very little experience asking about solo diving. I do firmly believe that one of the specific protocols necessary for solo diving is adequate diving experience to have learned how to deal with problems underwater, and in a calm manner. That typically is something that comes with experience and self-confidence that very, very few newer divers can attain ... even at the 100-dive mark ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)