biz_nate
Contributor
Oh, I almost forgot. Welcome to the (other) dark side!
The soloist
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I did experience a small test of my ability to think cooly in what, to some, could have had a different outcome:
Last week, my buddy and I were diving in a narrow lava canyon, about 40 deep. There were no overheads, but it was really narrow in places. At the end of the canyon, my buddy wanted to stay and explore some shallow caves; I decided to slowly head back the way we had come. After a few minutes, while emerging from a particularly narrow spot, my reg. hose caught on a rock and was yanked from my mouth. I calmly reached behind me, retrieved my reg. and continued on my way. I hardly gave it a second thought, but I could see where someone else could really be spooked by that.
It really is about how one performs under fire.
Thanks for suggesting the Rescue Diver class. It is on my list of things to do in the near future.
Last week, my buddy and I were diving in a narrow lava canyon, about 40 deep. There were no overheads, but it was really narrow in places. At the end of the canyon, my buddy wanted to stay and explore some shallow caves; I decided to slowly head back the way we had come. After a few minutes, while emerging from a particularly narrow spot, my reg. hose caught on a rock and was yanked from my mouth. I calmly reached behind me, retrieved my reg. and continued on my way. I hardly gave it a second thought, but I could see where someone else could really be spooked by that.
It really is about how one performs under fire.
Thanks for suggesting the Rescue Diver class. It is on my list of things to do in the near future.
DaleC
Contributor
Biz nate. I think we believe the same things for the most part, although a good discussion is always useful to "flesh out" a lot of details. BTW all of this isn't directed at you; just some Saturday night random rambling.
I certainly don't believe that, just because one thinks they are self sufficient, they are; but I also don't think there is a magical number of dives when one is suddenly "qualified". In my life experience someone is either wired that way or not and will act out those tendencies from the get go. Gaining experience by buddy diving is important (if one has a good buddy) but one can also begin soloing slowly too and play it off of what one learns buddy diving. Learn a skill/dive a site buddying... practice it in a controlled environment solo. As the experience grows, the controls diminish.
I also think there is something to be said for the quality of the life we live. So many people obsess about safety as if they think they can cheat death. What is the preferred way to die anyways? If I wanted to be absolutely safe I wouldn't get out of bed much less dive (which is not a safe thing to do). I'm not foolhardy (I have a wife and three kids) but I like having the feeling of being my own man too. Sure, that might ultimately cost me but that's the price we pay for living I suppose.
The problem IMO with the solo course is the prerequisite dives. I think the RD requirement is ok as rescue/risk assessment skills would be built off of it but by the time one has logged a hundred dives, done RD and is serious about diving I'm not too sure what one will learn. Redundancy? Dive planning? Situational awareness? Self rescue is the exception but that is a specific skill set that a hundred prerequisite dives doesn't prepare for (unless one actually gets entangled) so why not teach it right away. What is the benefit of denying someone this skill set for 100 dives?
In the end the solo course takes a lot of flack and is seen by many as a "bureaucratic hoop" to jump through. That is because the people who can take (mostly) don't feel they need it and the people who need it, can't take it.
I think if an agency really wanted to effect solo diver outcomes the people who would benefit the most would be newer divers intent on soloing. The prerequisite IMO is there out of concern for the agencies a$$ (liability), not the divers. But I am also a realist and couldn't expect otherwise.
I sometimes refer to a particular dive that changed the way I view diving in general and set me on the self sufficiency path. Four of us set off to do an advanced dive that only one of us had first hand experience with. We were basically playing "follow the leader" (as many groups do with a DM). Near the end of the dive something happened that (while it ended well) could easily have turned into a fatality. After analyzing the dive I saw many errors (which I take responsibility for) that all stemmed from putting my dive in someone Else's hands. From that point on I decided to take ownership of all aspects of my diving.
When I buddy, I buddy well. All of my preparation is at my, and my partners, disposal. The only difference is that (within my self imposed limits) I could do the dive with, or without, the buddy.
I think all this kind of talk is good as it sheds a lot of light on the subject of soloing from many different perspectives. Like the DIR approach to caving, the only way to develop any kind of dependable understanding is to learn it, test it, refine it or reject it. Unlike DIR, with soloing there is no "one size fits all".
I certainly don't believe that, just because one thinks they are self sufficient, they are; but I also don't think there is a magical number of dives when one is suddenly "qualified". In my life experience someone is either wired that way or not and will act out those tendencies from the get go. Gaining experience by buddy diving is important (if one has a good buddy) but one can also begin soloing slowly too and play it off of what one learns buddy diving. Learn a skill/dive a site buddying... practice it in a controlled environment solo. As the experience grows, the controls diminish.
I also think there is something to be said for the quality of the life we live. So many people obsess about safety as if they think they can cheat death. What is the preferred way to die anyways? If I wanted to be absolutely safe I wouldn't get out of bed much less dive (which is not a safe thing to do). I'm not foolhardy (I have a wife and three kids) but I like having the feeling of being my own man too. Sure, that might ultimately cost me but that's the price we pay for living I suppose.
The problem IMO with the solo course is the prerequisite dives. I think the RD requirement is ok as rescue/risk assessment skills would be built off of it but by the time one has logged a hundred dives, done RD and is serious about diving I'm not too sure what one will learn. Redundancy? Dive planning? Situational awareness? Self rescue is the exception but that is a specific skill set that a hundred prerequisite dives doesn't prepare for (unless one actually gets entangled) so why not teach it right away. What is the benefit of denying someone this skill set for 100 dives?
In the end the solo course takes a lot of flack and is seen by many as a "bureaucratic hoop" to jump through. That is because the people who can take (mostly) don't feel they need it and the people who need it, can't take it.
I think if an agency really wanted to effect solo diver outcomes the people who would benefit the most would be newer divers intent on soloing. The prerequisite IMO is there out of concern for the agencies a$$ (liability), not the divers. But I am also a realist and couldn't expect otherwise.
I sometimes refer to a particular dive that changed the way I view diving in general and set me on the self sufficiency path. Four of us set off to do an advanced dive that only one of us had first hand experience with. We were basically playing "follow the leader" (as many groups do with a DM). Near the end of the dive something happened that (while it ended well) could easily have turned into a fatality. After analyzing the dive I saw many errors (which I take responsibility for) that all stemmed from putting my dive in someone Else's hands. From that point on I decided to take ownership of all aspects of my diving.
When I buddy, I buddy well. All of my preparation is at my, and my partners, disposal. The only difference is that (within my self imposed limits) I could do the dive with, or without, the buddy.
I think all this kind of talk is good as it sheds a lot of light on the subject of soloing from many different perspectives. Like the DIR approach to caving, the only way to develop any kind of dependable understanding is to learn it, test it, refine it or reject it. Unlike DIR, with soloing there is no "one size fits all".
DaleC
Contributor
During ascent in strong current with near zero vis we lost one of four divers. After three of us surfaced together we did a limited search and then initiated a CG rescue. It turned out Diver #4 surfaced around a point and was fine but there was about 20 minutes where we sat helpless on the surface and thought we'd just lost a buddy.
From my perspective this is how it unfolded:
At about 50 ft. or so we were swimming in fairly good vis (10- 15 ft.) in a loose group. The signal to ascend was given and we began going up. at about 30 ft. the vis dropped to nil. I saw a yellow flash of a fin in front of me and then it was gone. I became seperated from the group and continued to ascend when I bumped into someone hovering. I maintained contact with him but could not see the diver he was maintaining contact with. I could feel the current taking us but did not want to lose contact a second time so I held on and we surfaced together. We waited for Diver #4
to surface and when he didn't we swam against current to the rocks. We looked upstream without luck but did not understand how far down current we had drifted so our attention soon turned down current, watching for Diver #4 to ascend. After about 5 minutes we knew he wasn't coming up and discussed going down to look but the vis was nil and the current made an underwater seach pointless. Low on air we probably would have lost more divers that way. Shortly thereafter we signaled a boat that searched up current and down current and then initiated the CG search.
Some of the things we did wrong were:
Diving as a foursome instead of two pairs. A BIG MISTAKE This meant that during the 15ft. SS we each had contact with "someone" even though one of us was absent. (#4 became separated, ascended the wall and left the water 3 minutes up current from us). To be fair, we ascended into a zone where the vis became almost nil but two separate buddy pairs would have at least known they were missing someone where as a foursome we did not (until we surfaced 3 minutes later).
Not all of us had the same plan. This manifested when doing an OW 15ft. SS. Diver #1 elected to do the SS. Diver #2 maintained contact and did the SS. Diver #3 maintained contact and did the SS. Diver #4 lost contact and omitted the SS in favor of a direct ascent to get out of the current. Either course would have been ok but mixing them up was not.
It mainly boiled down to a lack of pre planning by all in favor of over reliance on one diver. I was lazy about my responsibilities because, until then, I was caught in the leader/follower mindset. Now I am fully engaged in the process.
From my perspective this is how it unfolded:
At about 50 ft. or so we were swimming in fairly good vis (10- 15 ft.) in a loose group. The signal to ascend was given and we began going up. at about 30 ft. the vis dropped to nil. I saw a yellow flash of a fin in front of me and then it was gone. I became seperated from the group and continued to ascend when I bumped into someone hovering. I maintained contact with him but could not see the diver he was maintaining contact with. I could feel the current taking us but did not want to lose contact a second time so I held on and we surfaced together. We waited for Diver #4
to surface and when he didn't we swam against current to the rocks. We looked upstream without luck but did not understand how far down current we had drifted so our attention soon turned down current, watching for Diver #4 to ascend. After about 5 minutes we knew he wasn't coming up and discussed going down to look but the vis was nil and the current made an underwater seach pointless. Low on air we probably would have lost more divers that way. Shortly thereafter we signaled a boat that searched up current and down current and then initiated the CG search.
Some of the things we did wrong were:
Diving as a foursome instead of two pairs. A BIG MISTAKE This meant that during the 15ft. SS we each had contact with "someone" even though one of us was absent. (#4 became separated, ascended the wall and left the water 3 minutes up current from us). To be fair, we ascended into a zone where the vis became almost nil but two separate buddy pairs would have at least known they were missing someone where as a foursome we did not (until we surfaced 3 minutes later).
Not all of us had the same plan. This manifested when doing an OW 15ft. SS. Diver #1 elected to do the SS. Diver #2 maintained contact and did the SS. Diver #3 maintained contact and did the SS. Diver #4 lost contact and omitted the SS in favor of a direct ascent to get out of the current. Either course would have been ok but mixing them up was not.
It mainly boiled down to a lack of pre planning by all in favor of over reliance on one diver. I was lazy about my responsibilities because, until then, I was caught in the leader/follower mindset. Now I am fully engaged in the process.
BobbyT22
Contributor
Be conservative and go for it. You are asking the right questions. When conditions are calm and clear, relax and do that shallow, easy, shore dive. You will learn a ton and it will be awesome. The most important skill you can have as a solo diver, IMHO, is the discipline NOT to dive when conditions aren't suitable, as your margin for error is reduced greatly. Last week I was in Oahu, and dove electric beach solo two consecutive days. It was calm, vis was great and the dive profile was shallow (25 feet). Entry and exit were simple, and it was fantastic to hang out at the end of the discharge pipe and just watch the sea life frolic in the warm outflow. Quite zen. I went back for a third day, but conditions were drastically different. A downpour had resulted in a heavy runoff which reduced vis to zero at the entry. Another diver exiting the water reported that vis was still good out a ways from shore, but I walked away, even though it was my last day to dive in Hawaii. Don't push it when soloing. Von Meier's book Solo Diving does a good job laying out a though process for risk assessment, and I recommend reading that as a place to start.
dumpsterDiver
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Actually, the opposite can be true. A solo diver is much less hindered by bad visibility than a buddy team. When the vis is less than 5-7 feet, the mobility of the team is compromised and much of the attention needs to be directed toward simply staying together. Of course, diving in low visibility is more dangerous than good vis.
billsreef
Registered
That's probably the best single piece of advice going when making the decision to Solo. It's also good to avoid the over confidence that can lead you into pushing it. In fact I made that very mistake yesterday while trying a new spot. Strong current lead me further astray than I had thought, and I got to make a nice long, humbling, surface swim back to shore and about a half mile hike up the beach to where my truck was parked.
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