The soloist

[tropitan]

I came to diving relatively late in life (I'm 48, certified this year). However, I have been going into various wilderness environments, often solo, since about 10 years old.
I have 100's of solo hikes, hunts, backpacking etc. I understand the risks, prepare for them, accept them, and then go do my thing. Not to say I haven't had just as many with friends and family along.
I have about 30+ dives, most of them from shore, and solo diving really appeals to me. Sometimes my buddy can't dive with me this week. I have found it difficult to find buddies here; it seems most folks and dive shops focus on boat dives. I prefer shore dives.
I yearn to dive by myself.
I feel comfortable in and under the water.
My question then, is this: Is it prudent to dive solo at this stage of my diving experience? and if so, what redundant gear would you suggest? I live in Kona, Hawaii, where the diving is tropical (aka easy), the water is warm, little current, surf, and surge. There is little to no chance of entanglement.
My intent would be to do so slowly, and to stay above 30 feet in an area I have dove perhaps a dozen times. My thinking is this would allow me to do a CESA if the need should arise. After having spent alot of time on this board, and in this and other forums, I feel I have done my homework. Any and all suggestions are warmly welcomed. Thank you.

 

[pir8]

There is a Solo Class in the SDI system that would answer probably all of your questions.
A pre requisit for it is 100 dives though. I would recommend taking a Rescue class first, actually I won't give you a solo class if you haven't already done Rescue.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I don't know the area, but beach dives with depths less than 30 feet and not much current, well that doesn't sound like you should have too much trouble. I would carry no redundant gear (except the usual two knives).

This assumes you have a lot of physical strength and stamina that will get you out of trouble if a current picks up, the weather turns bad, you screw up navigation, you break a fin strap, etc...

I personally would be much more nervous going on an over-night solo outing in the woods than a solo beach dive, but then I've done many beach dives.

 

[Doc Intrepid]

Is it prudent to dive solo at this stage of my diving experience?

My intent would be to do so slowly, and to stay above 30 feet in an area I have dove perhaps a dozen times. My thinking is this would allow me to do a CESA if the need should arise.

What's the difference between these guys and you?

News: Aron Ralston Amputate his own Arm

The Top Wilderness Survival Stories | Outside Online

Survival of The Fittest - TIME

Solo diving is, and will likely always be, a controversial subject. Divers are taught to dive with buddies for many reasons, but high on the list is the fact that the number of things that can go wrong underwater is nearly infinite (including medical issues, equipment issues, environmental issues, psychological issues, etc.). A buddy is often the most efficient and effective means of resolving crises.

(Buddies can create problems also, no doubt. Still, assuming you choose not to dive with morons, your buddy can help you in situations where you cannot help yourself.)

Solo diving is fine, when things go well, as they nearly always do. How many sportsmen have you heard of who are forced to amputate an arm or leg? Darned few, considering how many solo hikers there are. Still...it happens from time to time.

The difference between being trapped in the wilderness, though, and being trapped underwater is the length of time in which you have to make a decision. Then too...if you're trapped beneath a wreck when you lunged beneath it to grab a lobster, if you're caught in a gill net and cannot free yourself, or if you get caught in current and cannot make it back to the boat or the shore (all of these things have happened to solo divers within the past 5 or 6 years, and some of them are reported on this board,) you're simply out of luck.

So can you do it? Sure. Is it prudent? As you describe your intentions above, probably. (I submit, however, that there may be a gill net or other similar issue where you live, in one form or another.)

Just recognize that things will go fine in 99% of the cases, and if you avoid the other 1% life will be good. If you don't avoid the other 1% of situations, however, your chances of being able to un-screw the situation are fairly slim.

Regards,

Doc

 

[tropitan]

Hello Doc,

Your point is well taken. The difference between me and those guys is, if I get a body part caught in a crack at 3 feet or 30, my ass will probably be shark bait. I understand that risk and accept it (small though it may be). After considering many of the mishaps I may encounter, the 'limb caught in a crack' seems to be the most likely. There are lots of rock and coral reefs where I dive, and the lesson is to 'keep your hands to yourself'. The net situation is a possiblility, but very rare. I have seen free-floating pieces of net while on fishing boats, but very, very infrequently. Thank you for your perspective.

 

[Nemrod]

Everybody is so dramatic. Oh h----. Get a few more dives under your belt and go for it. Start shallow, stay close, maintain controlled conditions by picking places that you are familiar with, spread your wings from there. There is no magic number of dives, no special equation, no required equipment configuration that will guarantee your safety, there are no guarantees. Nobody can decide for you but you and besides, safety is way over rated. Welcome to solo.

N

 

[tropitan]

Thanks, N.

 

[DaleC]

Welcome to the solo forum T.
Everyone is different so I'll just add my 2CW for what it's worth.

I am also an older diver (45) with a similar background to yours (including solo rock and ice climbing). You know the risks and also know there is no one else to blame if things go south.

Rather than a specific number of dives I would say someone is ready to think about soloing if they are self disciplined, fully understand and accept the risks and if they approach diving as a pastime to master in all respects. Instead of thinking solo I think self sufficient (which is mind set that will make one a better buddy as well). For me this means wanting to learn the gear inside out, learning and practicing skills repeatedly, learning the theory behind dive practices, learning and understanding current and tide characteristics, maintaining fitness etc...

I also think a person should be able to resist peer pressure and dive within their limits. This means to start, soloing what other might consider boring or newbie sites and being able to call a dive if you feel "funky". Part of the learning curve is just getting used to being alone in the water which can be both freeing and frightening (often in the same dive).

For me (at this stage of soloing) this means diving in bays or lakes, having a known bottom below and no overheads. I also stay above 80 - 90ft. (to avoid narcosis) and above 50ft. if I don't have my pony. Most likely things will change in the future but that's where I'm at right now. It also works for me because most of my soloing revolves around studying and collecting species in that zone.
I always carry 2 cutting tools, a b/u light, signaling gear and often have a spare mask and 30cuft. pony. I practice accessing and deploying my gear, removing my BCD, breathing with a free flow and taking my mask off u/w etc...

That's all I can think of right now. Doc makes a good point that there are many things in diving that can sneek up and bite us on the a$$ but, if approached the right way, soloing can be a viable option for some. This is a good forum to ask the questions you need to ask without getting flamed for even considering them.

 

[dave4868]

I yearn to dive by myself.
I feel comfortable in and under the water.
My question then, is this: Is it prudent to dive solo at this stage of my diving experience? and if so, what redundant gear would you suggest? I live in Kona, Hawaii, where the diving is tropical (aka easy), the water is warm, little current, surf, and surge. There is little to no chance of entanglement.
My intent would be to do so slowly, and to stay above 30 feet in an area I have dove perhaps a dozen times. My thinking is this would allow me to do a CESA if the need should arise. After having spent alot of time on this board, and in this and other forums, I feel I have done my homework. Any and all suggestions are warmly welcomed. Thank you.

Great questions and excellent suggestions from all!

Your idea of going "slowly" as you begin to dive solo is a good one, as the primary risk in solo diving is mental, that is, panicking and doing something dangerous in response to an otherwise managable situation underwater.

Going slowly will not only give you time to improve your skills, it will give you time to learn how you respond emotionally to stressful situations, possibly even get a sense of your threshold for panic. The key will be gradually testing your limits without any white-knuckle, high-risk surprises!

The fact that you're comfortable and competent in other solo outdoor activities may be a good indicator for your aptitude for solo diving. There's something particularly and instinctually challenging when confronted with the prospect of drowning, however! :shocked2:

Although it's not for everyone, you'll probably find that solo diving is just like buddy diving, but without the hassles and false sense of security.

If you employ good self-assessment, self-reliance and cool-headedness and are equipped as needed to address potential scenarios, you'll achieve the level of safety you want.

Since the biggest factor is mental, you'll be the best judge of whether or when to dive solo, IMHO.

Dave C

 

[biz_nate]

Dale, you make some good points, but in my opinion, there's more to be considered than simply a self-sufficient midset. I agree that understanding your gear (including how to handle failures underwater), practicing skills, learning theory (here I'd submit that things like equipment configuration theories, basic Physics, a little bit of meteorology, are more helpful than things like DCS, but hey- maybe that's the engineer in me talking) are quite important.

I suspect though, that the reason SDI requires 100+ dives for their solo class, is that at that point you've probably handled most of the common failure scenarios (the things they teach you in OW) a number of times. As a mountaineer, I'm sure you understand that there's a difference between the way one drills a scenario and the way they actually deal with it- especially the first few times that scenario is encountered. Solo experience in other environments will certainly yield a good mindset for failure resolution/mitigation, but the other side of that coin is that the Physics of your environment is entirely different. It does no good to have a clear head if, while clearing your mask, surge pushes you into something pointy (3-dimensional, dynamic situational awareness), or you start a bouyant ascent. It's rare, but not that rare, that you'll have to multitask- maybe something happens to your mask while you're shooting a bag. Those are the sorts of things you don't drill for, but learn to handle after lots of diving.

tropitan, I can't judge your skills. Maybe you're there, and ready after 30 dives. It's not inconceivable. I'm just saying that though the soloist mindset and clarity in trouble may carry over, proper instinctual reactions in the undersea environment still need to be learned.

Anyone who's read my recent post in this forum knows that I've still got a ways to go as well. I posted that while trying to back kick over a rock of interest, I ascended 10 ft. Obviously that skill needs some work. However, I knew the entire time that I was ascending, and when I reached an unacceptable height, I stopped kicking and dropped.

You've received some great advice in this thread, particularly regarding the Rescue Diver class. My experience with the class was that they (PADI, in my case) focused as much on self rescue as rescue of others. Additionally, the first aid class that you take with it could prove invaluable in an emergency (although I'm sure you've already received a lot of that from your mountaineering days).

My .02 psi...

-Ben