Does anyone out there dive "solo"? Why do you ? How do you do a bubble check ? (rearview mirror, or do you immerse your gear in the water first before putting it on? ) I really like the idea of "the team" and I feel a lot of comfort when I am surrounded by (competent) divers, so I am curious to know if anyone on this forum dives solo and why ? (not to mention having someone to share the dive with afterwards) I also understand that some agencies have a "solo" certificate ? (I have heard of solo cave diving in the UK where the vis is really bad and a buddy becomes more of a reliability than a ressource, but let's put aside this crazy type of diving for now please ....)
I'm doing a solo diver course next month. Solo isn't suitable for diving outside of NDLs or in an overhead environment, virtual or otherwise. There are increased risks but dives should still be within the individuals comfort zone. Why do it? Well I've dived with a number of UKDers and frankly I'm safer on my own. Only joking. People may solo dive for a number of reasons such as lack of a regular buddy etc. There are extremes of opinion about solo diving. It possibly reflects the character of those that undertake it, such as a strong sense of independance and confidence in your own abilities. Some may train to solo dive and never solo dive but do the course to improve their self-reliance skills, making them a better buddy as a result. HTH
I dive solo now and againg, the best dives iv had are the battleships in scapa but its nice to dive with buddies as theres someone to chat to before or after
Solo diving simply doesn't appeal to me, although I know people who do it. What I would say though is those I know who do technical solo diving are sufficiently self-sufficient underwater and carrying adequate redundany that they shouldn't need a buddy. They also have sufficient diving experience to risk asses the dangers of diving solo and (rightly or wrongly) feel that they are able to do it safely. Bear in mind that technical agencies teach you to be self-sufficient and whilst IMVHO the jump from self sufficently to solo diving is HUGE, you are already trained to think about the "what if" and always ensure you have (and can use) redundant equipment for use if things go wrong. Where I do worry about people going solo is relatively inexperienced divers wo have not got the range of experience needed to fully understand the potential consequences of not having a buddy in the water to look out for you. Also those diving with inadequate equipment to get themselves out of the **** when things go wrong, or who have the equipment but insufficient training/experience to enable them to use it to it's potential.
Solo diving is as much about the planning for avoidance of problems in the first place, as management of them if they do occur. My big concern is entanglement.
just because you have a buddy does'nt mean that the dive wont have its solo diving moments. the better the buddy pair the less the solo bits will be. 2p
Interesting. Indeed Major Clanger, this is one of the risks I would classify has very high when diving solo. I know of people who's first stages got trapped in a line....
My attitude to solo diving is simple. Diving is a social sport for me. If I can't point stuff out, and investigate nooks and crannies safe in the knowledge that my mate is there to pull me out I'd find it not only uncomfortable, but also very boring. The best page of my wetnotes says "don't turn around but theres the biggest f**king lions mane jellyfish I've ever seen right behind you" and "Look at the size of this bloody gun!" All those moments would lose their fun on my own.
I know someone that spent 40 minutes trapped inside an ASDA shopping trolley in 3 metres of water. Says it was the scariest experience his life. It just sounds so dumb I can't help laughing at him about it.
Our club instructor came close to drowning in 18inches of water at Guildy. Fell backwards in the shallows wearing a twinset and was stuck with his head under water. Club members laughed at first thinking he was mucking about. He wasn't and would have gone if they hadn't eventually realized and pulled him up.
The best page in my wet notes has a picture of a "anatomically correct" stick man with the words "Show us where uncle Howard touched you" - you won't get that solo diving!
