Solo in 20 ft dangerous?

[Tigerman]

Three divers is considered optimal for cave diving. It gives the most amount of resources, short of being a gang dive. If one diver has a problem there are two others to assist. All divers just have to understand that no one is the odd man out. All three are part of the team.

I was more referring to odd numbers as if youre coming to a dive op alone or you have a single diver join your boat. 3 people that have planned to dive together works quite fine, ive done that some times (altho not in caves), but its a bit different than the setting I was thinking of.

 

[DeepSeaExplorer]

Well... regardless if the third diver is a new addition to the group, s/he should be considered as part of the team. I think this may be the root of the many of the 'insta-buddy' problems is that the original two have difficulty accepting responsibility for diving with the third. I've done a fair amount of pickup dives and as long as everyone accepts that this new person is part of the team, there are few if any problems.

 

[Rockhound76]

I haven't read the full thread (forgive me), but I get the gist of much of it. My opinion, fo what it's worth:

1) Insta-buddies (I used to call them pickup buddies..you pick them up are the boat) can be worse than diving alone. They may be poorly trained or experienced or simply have bad buddy skills. I'd rather an insta-buddy say "I'll see you on the hang line when it's over" than to go through the motions and force me to shorten or screw up a dive because if I'm their "real" buddy, I have an obligation to be just that....

2) To dive with a good buddy is the best way to dive. Period. Not only do you have someone to provide a safety backup, you have someone to back up your outrageous stories (a good one will lie with you....uh...that didn't sound right, but you know what I mean...they'd help you fabricate the details...)

3) There are places and times when solo diving is okay. Diving w/o a pony (a nice size one), diving after only 20 OW dives or diving when conditions are deep or dark or swift is not the time or the place.

I used to dive solo a lot. Mostly, it was because I couldn't find a reliable buddy and I felt the conditions reduced the risks (<70', shore dives, w/ spare air and gear in an area I was familiar with....) I like it because I was able to concentrate on my photography and not a buddy (like my brother, god-luv-'em, who always disappears into the gloom, kicking like "Loyt Britches" and forces me to chase after....).

Now that I have my son as a buddy (darn good one), I feel much better. Solo diving may be "safe enough", but you need to be able to manage the increased risk...and the risk is increased, if only incrementally.)

 

[Lock Down]

Bad idea. most of the problems don't occur from physical problems, they occur from diver error either by lack of experience or lack of skill. I have done a few solo dives but I have actually stopped until I get some more tech training and more experience. It just isn't worth the risk, even if you have a redundant 40cft tank, spare mask, spare knife, smb, lift bag and are diving in a shallow quarry stuff can still go wrong. what if you accidentally find a huge mess of fishing line and realize it a second to late, then turn the wrong way. all of the sudden you are in a predicament where panic is very possible and lack of experience and skill could get you into more trouble. They are called accidents because you don't expect them to happen, and you probably didn't plan well enough.
just my 2 sheckles, Good Diving...

 

[Don Wray]

Posted yesterday:
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=200791

Just FYI...PooPoo occurs

 

[scubawally]

this topic seems to come up a lot on these forums... My feeling is this (i have conducted many solo dives as deep as 100 feet and as long as 90 mins) you only need one reel screw up in even shallow water to really ruin your day. For instance I was diving of of the Ogden Point Breakwater in Victoria British Columbia here in ol CANADA and in about 25 feet of water I was molested by what in retrospect was a rather small octopus. Now I will tell you this when that octopus was wrapped around my face and my mask and reg were nowhere to be seen it would have been nice to have a buddy to help pull him off of me

that is of course once he stopped laughing his ***** off


just something to think about

 

[tonka97]

Solo diving is a big no-no for many divers. I love it but I dive with a 19 cf pony bottle and have let other divers know that I am solo. I agree with Lehmann108.

+1
Redundant air source

Self reliance

You will learn more in 1 dive than with 10 dives following buddies.

BTW: I solo motorcycles too....MUCH more dangerous than SCUBA....

 

[Tigerman]

this topic seems to come up a lot on these forums... My feeling is this (i have conducted many solo dives as deep as 100 feet and as long as 90 mins) you only need one reel screw up in even shallow water to really ruin your day. For instance I was diving of of the Ogden Point Breakwater in Victoria British Columbia here in ol CANADA and in about 25 feet of water I was molested by what in retrospect was a rather small octopus. Now I will tell you this when that octopus was wrapped around my face and my mask and reg were nowhere to be seen it would have been nice to have a buddy to help pull him off of me

that is of course once he stopped laughing his ***** off


just something to think about

Part of the risk analysis prior to the dive and of course something to prepare for, even tho its not very likely at many locations..

 

[OceanObsessed]

I was molested by what in retrospect was a rather small octopus. Now I will tell you this when that octopus was wrapped around my face and my mask and reg were nowhere to be seen it would have been nice to have a buddy to help pull him off of me

You're lucky it didn't bite your face. I was with a buddy of mine when he got bit by one and it took a chunk of flesh out of his back.