Solo wreck diving

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novadiver:
I feel the risk is increased when diving with a buddy you've never dove with before.

I don't do that either except for a very easy get aquainted dive.
There is a big differance between diving with a dive buddy and diving on a dive team .

Yep there is.
I've been paired with divers that should not be on the boat,
Why on earth would you?
and that always added stress to the dive.out of hundreds of dives I've done , six have gone bad.

It sure could happen if you make poor buddy choices but how is no buddy a fix for a bad buddy? I think a good buddy is the solution.
p. s. Did someone FLAME MY BRAIN ? all diving is in a hazardous enviroment.

No they didn't flame your brain. You stated that you have two of everything. Well you don't have two of your most important piece of equipment because that's your brain.

If you get a wrong idea in your head you don't have any one to put in their 2 cents. You also don't have the extra experience, the extra eyes or the extra hands.

IMO, you should stop reading rodales and buying into that TDI nonsense.

It's true that you should always be prepared and able to complete a dive alone but that doesn't mean that you have to do it on purpose.
 
Originally Posted by DA Aquamaster
Hmm..I have never thought of myself as a suicidal risk taker and have never done a solo overhead dive just to beat my chest and say "Ha - I did that".
I do conduct solo overhead dives because they are in many cases a lot safer than doing the same dive with a buddy. There is no buddy along to screw the viz, to panic, to need rescued, or to have to attempt to communicate with if the situation changes and the dive plan has to be altered or aborted. With no buddy to have to attend to I am free to totally focus on the goals of the dive and on any threats that I may encounter.
If you are properly trained equippped and experienced, a solo overhead dive does not have to involve anymore risk than it does with a buddy.
And unlike freeclimbing, training and redundant equipment will still enable you to ascend safely if you "slip" on a solo overhead dive
Couldn't agree with you more. After over 40yrs of diving primarily solo (mostly wreck including penetration etc), hunting, and camping generally the same way,
I know by now what I can do and my limits and equip. Leave it be a alternative and for me, what I really enjoy
 
Boogie711:
Divers who operate solo in an overhead environment are similar to free-style rock climbers. They are suicidal risk takers who put the lives of the search and recovery teams at risk for no discernable reward, other than to beat their chest, look down and say "Ha - I did that."
I have been solo wreck diving for the last 19 years, with 2000+ under my belt. Most of my diving is decompression diving with penetration, mostly all up here in the NE off the shore of Long Island and NewJersey. I'm not beating my chest as you claim, I just want to demonstrate that I at least am speaking from experience, not just opinion.

I am not a suicidal risk taker, rather, after weighing the risks I face between diving with a buddy and diving solo, I have made the decision to dive alone most of the time. When you make the decision to enter any overhead environment, you are crossing over into the realm of the technical. You are exposed to greater risk, and a lower tolerance for error or problem. Having a buddy does nothing to change that. You need to be adequately prepared, physicall, mentally, and gear-wise for anything that can happen. In this state, which is what we continuously strive towards, you are a totally independant diver, even if you are with a buddy.

Nobody would argue that in the absence of any problems, a buddy is not NEEDED. Desirable perhaps for various reasons, but not essential. It is the case when a problem occurs that the buddy becomes a usefull tool for the dive. The problem we face as wreck divers, is that having a buddy, in addition to providing amd additional level of backup, is also at the same time a libility underwater. You are at the mercy of the buddy, in terms of their skills and abilities. If they silt out the wreck, you have to find your way back out. If they run out of air, you need to donate yours. If they follow you in and don't know how to get back out, you have to lead them. In a buddy team, each is more likely to rely on each other, and are thus more likely to overextend their own capabilities. In an envirnonment where effective communication is difficult, the possibility of miscommunication , ("I thought you knew where we were going....) is much greater, and introduces additional risk.

When I dive alone, I remain fully aware that the only one there is me. I can rely on nothing that I don't have with me, and only my own knowledge and abilities. I am not subject to the goals and intentions of another, who might do things differently, I can do them the way that works for me the best. I am not subject to the errors, mistakes, or pequipment problems of anyone else, just my own. I have nothing to prove to anyone but myself, and I am not responsible for anyone else's life, just my own.

I don't say that my way is safer or better. I'm not trying to convince you that wreck diving is better accomplished alone than as a part of a buddy team. What I am saying is that there are risks and benefits to both ways, ones that every diver needs to asses and acknowledge for themselves. Only then can you make the decision which way is most appropriate for you. I teach wreck diving in this style. My students learn to be prepared as if they were solo, yet operate as part of a team. They learn a wide variety of techniques, and several different wreck penetration methodologies. They learn to identify risk, evaluate it, and then minimize it. Most of all, they learn to trust in their own abilities, and never, ever attempt to exceed them.

There is always more than one way to view a practice you disagree with. One way is to condemn it without ever understanding it. The other is to invite discussion, to better understand it, and then make a decision for yourself based on the whole picture. As divers, we should keep in mind that we can always learn something from different ideas, even if what we are learning is that the idea is not right for us.

Dive Safe,
Adam
 
Nicely said.
 
Wow... well, thanks for the other viewpoint guys. You guys must be phenomenal divers if every other diver out there has skills so poor they put you at risk.
 
Boogie711:
Wow... well, thanks for the other viewpoint guys. You guys must be phenomenal divers if every other diver out there has skills so poor they put you at risk.
You are very welcome, although it seems you missed my point completely if you think that is what I was implying.
 
Boogie usually understands the point completely, he is just likes to re-state things in such a way as provoke an argument if you don't happen to agree with his view of the world. I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.
 
DA Aquamaster:
Boogie usually understands the point completely, he is just likes to re-state things in such a way as provoke an argument if you don't happen to agree with his view of the world. I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.
Zzzzzz.....
 
Interesting thought regarding putting recovery teams at risk Boogie. Not sure why they would be at any more risk recovering a solo diver than a lone diver left by their buddy which is far more common.

I wonder though. The majority of dive accidents I see seem to be not from well trained, familiar and uncomplacent buddy teams, nor does it seem to come from experienced well trained, uncomplacent solo divers. They seem to come from that group in the middle. The, "I surfaced and noticed that my buddy hasn't been with me the whole dive.", kind of diver.

I choose to dive in well trained buddy pairs as a GUE trained diver. This is my mode. I am not going to try in vain to impose my will on you guys. There is enough unsolicited adivse going around.

Square pegs and round holes. Every see that episode of The Flintstones? Someday Fred ^ will understand.

To each their own.
 

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