Donvolker:
Are you knocking solo diving in general, or are you opposed to some specific slant taken by the book in question? I haven't read it so I don't know which.
For a really good recreational diver...someone that dives at a DM level ( plenty of long time divers with only a basic cert, but huge skills from years of diving) , and diving in 100 feet or less, I am not preaching against Solo Diving. I think these divers short change themselves with the enrichment they could have in their lives from being able to "share" the diving experiences with buddies and friends....but I am not ranting about that either
If you don't like encouraging solo diving for misfits who need more supervised training, for example, I can kind of understand that perspective.
If you don't like solo because you're concerned it's like a tar pit that some idiots will wander into, that's a little different.
Richard.
I am not sure I can differentiate these two examples.....though I really like the word picture you created in the 2nd one, and I might have to borrow this in the future
What I am really saying is that I am afraid that if this book got lots of exposure....if every diver facebooked it to their network of friends, what would happen is that far too many divers badly in need of remedial training, would elect to buy the book, and adopt it's mantra.
I just think it is the wrong mantra, for too many that really do need someone watching them. Neither the book, or several Solo classes, are likely to "fix" the large number of divers I am referring to.
There is a large body of divers that would need much more help than a modularized class could give..... They would really need the PADI equivalent of GUE's Fundies.... Obviously scaled down, but still absolute in the skills being bullet proof and PROVEN. This group could then become good buddies or could be fine Solo Diving-- in less than 100 feet of water.
And there would have to be those from this group, that were FAILED, and that would then be encouraged to leave diving, because it is not the right sport for them. They can't be buddies or solo divers..they are never-evers. The dive industry does not accept that this group exists, because the individuals in the group have working credit cards. That needs to change also.
---------- Post added January 7th, 2013 at 05:06 PM ----------
So you found your solutions, but you don't like diving solo as a solution. Well, I don't like to depend on others, I don't like to deal with charters more than the necessary why is "Solo diving" a bad solution?
why is it wrong to be fully capable to dive solo? is not like you will drown if suddenly you decided to go with a buddy.
Fortunately for me, I know and am friends with alot of the charter boat Captains in Palm Beach...this makes things a lot easier.
Maybe for you and your husband, it is not such a terrible thing to solo dive....though you do miss out on being able to share some of the most fascinating adventures any of are capable of experiencing....I mean sharing the same moment--being there together....
But any dive instructor or DM "will" be effectively solo diving much of the time, as their charges are not buddies, in any stretch.
And any long time diver "will have" had dives they did that were Solo...and if they have been diving long enough, some of these solo dives will have been very memorable. While I love to put out DIR, obviously I have done dives that were solo dives, especially in my videography or in the old days with spearfishing. I am not asking you, or suggesting that I apologize for this...but I am suggesting that this is not the solution for "the masses".
Poor training issue statistically? what? do you think statistically the buddy training is a success ?
I have been diving a very long time, and have been on a huge number or "group" dives in this time.
I have seen too many divers in these groups have major problems that "someone" had to help them with...and had they not had assistance, they would have been likely to become stats themselves. Sometimes the help I saw came from somone else's buddy....a different buddy pair, a DM, me, or someone that was aware of the other divers with them, and who made it a point to see problems before they became emergencies. I think any real training needs to develop this, and it is a part of what buddy training is.
The failure that you correctly point out, is not in buddy diving, it is in a dive industry that has cut quality and modularized, to gain a larger market share, of a bigger population of people---and in this population, the skill sets and potentials are much lower than they were statistically in the earlier populations of adventurer types. They got away with this partly because of so many gear solutions to skill problems....and partly because diving to less than 100 feet is really incredibly easy to do. And they also got away with it because there were often "some" buddy aware divers nearby, that were there to assist when it was essential.
I don't see this as a fight between you and me...and many good friends of mine still spearfish, and they do it solo. The best bottlenose dolphin footage I ever shot, was from me solo diving Pauls Reef, and hearing 30 bottlenose in the distance.....This could not have been a buddy dive, it would have been far more likely to have made it impossible to be accepted into the pod as I was...not to mention I was moving at close to 5 mph for almost half an hour ( combo full speed kicking with monster DiveR fins, and full throttle on my Gavin Scooter)--so no buddy I dive with would have kept pace for 30 minutes.
I get that there are times when Solo is the answer. However, you won't see me writing a book about the wonders of Solo diving
Meanwhile, enjoy your solo dive, and I am totally fine with you shooting flounder in Pompano
