Solo = Technical Diving Specialty

[wedivebc]

I agree that solo is not technical. To me technical requires techniques, equiptment, depth and breathing gases out of the ordinary range of recreational scuba. Not having a buddy on a 25 foot solo dive does not make it a technical dive.

Captain

So by your definition a cave diver in Akumal is not a tech diver either.
I say solo encompasses techniques and equipment outside the ordinary range of rec diving and since it is impossible to get a consensus on what tech is, the solo diving forum may as well stay put.

 

[matt_unique]

Who says a solo dive will be 25 ft and not 300 ft? All we know is the diver will be alone.

A 300' dive under any circumstances is technical. A cave dive under any circumstances (in my opinion) is a technical dive. A solo dive in itself is not technical.

I was just curious why solo was grouped under technical. It appears it was an ease of organization thing because some of the techniques for tech dives are utilized by solo divers.

--Matt

 

[ArcticDiver]

Gotta confess I think this whole thing about solo diving is a hoot. I just got back in town after 9 days solo off the road system in Alaska. My base camp was 22 miles from the nearest road and is a house I built there. Solo travel and living in this area is a routine thing for many people. Certainly no more or less dangerous than scuba diving.

As for lumping it with others; I think that is perfectly appropriate. As humans we all try to figure out ways to make us feel unique. For some that is "Tech Dving", whatever that is. For others it is "DIR", or "Deep" and so on. But these all have one thing in common. That is the extra passion their participants feel about what they do and how they do it.

I always remember that in reality unless the person is getting paid for diving, it is all recreational. As long as that person is happy with what they are doing and how they are doing it they go with my blessings.

 

[captain]

So are you saying that all solo dives are technical dives no matter what the conditions but only buddy dives that exceed certain conditions should be consider technical dives.
I say the 25 foot solo dive is not technical and any 300 foot dive solo or buddy is technical. Just being solo or buddied in and of itself does not define what is technical and what is not technical.

Captain

 

[otter-cat]

I had always defined "tech" diving in my mind as any dive where an immediate, normal ascent to the surface is not possible, whether that is due to deco obligations, or due to physical obstructions (e.g. wreck, cave & ice diving.)

However, I still think that it is appropriate to include solo-diving in the tech forum. Although it doesn't (necessarily) share the quality of a blocked ascent to the surface, it does share the important distinction that it should only be undertaken by divers with the additional equipment, training, and EXPERIENCE to manage appropriately the additional risks imposed by solo diving as compared to "standard" recreational diving with a buddy.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

I think they put Solo under a Tech catagory because this is the collector forum for all the oddities, specialties like cave and wreck and Solo, and cults like DIR, HOG, GUE. N

I suspect you are correct as "divers with disabilites" is also in that section and that is an incredibly poor place for it to be as I suspect the majority of persons with disabilites interested in diving and divers who have disabilities are not going to be inclined to look in the tech forum.

I had always defined "tech" diving in my mind as any dive where an immediate, normal ascent to the surface is not possible, whether that is due to deco obligations, or due to physical obstructions (e.g. wreck, cave & ice diving.)

However, I still think that it is appropriate to include solo-diving in the tech forum. Although it doesn't (necessarily) share the quality of a blocked ascent to the surface, it does share the important distinction that it should only be undertaken by divers with the additional equipment, training, and EXPERIENCE to manage appropriately the additional risks imposed by solo diving as compared to "standard" recreational diving with a buddy.

I agree with you on both counts. One of the features of most tech training is that buddy team or not, they teach the use of a redundant configuration and promote a high level of self sufficiency to enable divers deal effectively with emergency situations. Those are necessary conditions for a solo diver.

And the non politically correct turth is that many deep wreck and cave divers often dive solo, so the two areas overlap to a fair degree.

 

[MikeFerrara]

So are you saying that all solo dives are technical dives no matter what the conditions but only buddy dives that exceed certain conditions should be consider technical dives.
I say the 25 foot solo dive is not technical and any 300 foot dive solo or buddy is technical. Just being solo or buddied in and of itself does not define what is technical and what is not technical.

Captain

I guess it depends how you define "technical" I've never really cared for the term. We have diving, shallow, deep, in OW, in an overhead, within "NDL's" and not and on and on. Any of these can create a situation that requires actions, skills or equipment outside of what divers may be trained or practiced in so maybe specialty is a better word than technical.

An example. From entry level up through instructor ratings in main stream recreational dive training divers are taught how to deal with an low on air or OOA situation. The order of actions PADI teaches are Normal ascent (this is for low on air not out of air), alternate air source ascent (using a buddies alternate), ESA, buddy breathing and buoyant ascent. When solo diving, even at 25 feet, for an "out of air" situation you are denied 2 or the 4 choices (remember normal ascent is for low on air not out of air) and one of the choices you are denied is the number one choice..using a buddies alternate. The number 3 choice (buddy breathing is also not a possibility. So...unless you add equipment and skills that are usually not taught outside of technical training you're left with ESA or a buoyant ascent....niether of which are good.

So, is it technical? I don't know but you need more than you were taught if you only have "recreational" training.

What about entanglements? You can't handle those in a mannor taught as the first choice because that requires a buddy.

What about equipment checks? Those are taught with a buddy.

It's not rocket science and you might not need a class to learn but it is a special case which falls outside most "recreational" training even at 25 ft.

 

[captain]

I suppose my view point on this subject is colored by my diving history. Having taught myself to dive several years before formal dive training was readly avaiable in most areas of the country most of my early dives were solo for lack of avaible buddies either formally trained or self taught. From the opinions expressed in the various forums about what is a solo dive and what is a good buddy I would have to say that the vast majority of my dives have been solo even though I may have entered the water with another diver. Note I did not use the term buddy for the other diver. My partner and I were both aware that we would probably at some time in the dive be seperated by a distance beyond what would be considered a buddy pair. Most of these dives were spearfishing or hunting dives which tend to be a solo by nature. Also because of the non existence of some of the equiptment now available all of these early dives were done with less equiptment than is considered necessary for even basic O/W today. Because of this personal experience I tend to look at the discussion about whether solo is or is not technical and what equiptment / training is needed with a biased viewpoint. While I am not in any way encouraging anyone to do as I did I feel that the subject of solo diving has become a mountain instead of a mole hill.

Captain

 

[Jim Baldwin]

Captain,

I agree with your statements. I too started diving back before there were BCD's, octos, or I ever heard of a computer. When my buddy and I saw our first BCD in 1982 we questioned why anyone in the world would need one of those things to dive.

Doing search and recovery diving in North Louisiana you never saw your buddy, your hands or your gauge. If you could see two feet that was a great dive. As you would get close to the bottom looking for bodies or vehicles the silt and debris would cloud everything up. So I did a lot of solo diving in zero visibility.

When I go to Cozumel and wife wife doesn't want to do a night dive I grab my gear and jump off the dock with my camera. I may be under an hour in less than 20 feet of water. I just don't consider this a technical dive.

I do technical diving with all the necessary gear, backup gear, stage and deco bottles. And yes, I dive with a buddy or as a team but there again I carry everything I need to be totally independent.

When I was shooting pictures with a friend in the Cayman Islands a few years ago, the divemaster came up to me as I was getting back onboard and told me that they did not allow solo diving in the Cayman Islands. My buddy and I met back up at the anchor rope after about 45 minutes and surfaced together. She had seen us diving alone. This was all in 35 feet of water with 100' vis and no current. When I surfaced I still had a half a tank of air. Didn't consider this a tech dive.

There are lots of people who do solo diving and although it goes against the teaching of most if not all agencies it is a fact of life. And for those of us who are photographers and spearfishermen it is routine.

Jim
Louisiana

 

[aquakiwi]

I'm a solo diver I don't consider myself a Technical diver, hopefully I'm self reliant and
self sufficient but I'm only really applying what I was taught long ago in OW sans the
buddy and with redundant air and a few extras. I guess its possible to do a solo Tech
dive If one wishes, not for me tho.