Solo Diving
#1
Posted 10 February 2006 - 07:49 AM
Do YOU (and why) ??
If NOT, do you feel it is Heresy??
Norm
#2
Posted 10 February 2006 - 08:08 AM
"For the diligent diver, closed circuit rebreathers are actually safer than open circuit scuba." Tom Mount
#3
Posted 10 February 2006 - 08:18 AM
"just your average Joe from Minnesota, also known as Keith"
#4
Posted 10 February 2006 - 08:27 AM
BUT: I'm diving with a stell 120 with NITROX - AND - a 19 cu ft pony on a separate reg. That reg is on my right side and on most every dive I close my eyes and practice taking a few breaths. I also carry a 6' sausage and 150 ft of line. And waterproof flares - two of them.
http://www.irishmans...m/mar15_02c.htm
I've never had a problem underwater, but have been a ways away from the boat when I surfaced. One time there was a strong current and I surfaced 1/2 mile away and drifting further away. It was 4 - 6 ft seas and I had a full tank of air and was riding low in the water. The 3 ft inflated sausage wasnot very visible [ now have the 6 footer ], but I held my flashlight over my head. The boat saw the flickering of the light from a mile away. Now, I've got the waterproof flares [ 2 of them ] and shoot them off every 4th of July to be replaced by new ones. Sometimes they all go off on the 4th, sometimes none go off! I've now also got a BIG AirForce type smoke / flare pod to carry along.
Geo / The Irishman
Edited by FlIrishman, 10 February 2006 - 08:28 AM.
#5
Posted 10 February 2006 - 08:53 AM
Nice thing about Ginnie is running into Fellow Solo'er's, and doing Same Platform, Same Karst dives...
nhb
Did it for years though I now mostly team dive. There is less risk diving alone than there is taking out a new student or diving with a dangerous diver.
#6
Posted 10 February 2006 - 09:57 AM
#7
Posted 10 February 2006 - 10:29 AM
Norm
No. I need someone to follow 'cause I get lost easily.
#8
Posted 10 February 2006 - 10:33 AM
Yep, I make the occasional solo dive. I started doing it after I got tired of trying to hook up with buddies that have don't have the same flexibility to dive when I want to go!
Also, more peaceful diving when you aren't worrying about someone else.
KSG
#9
Posted 10 February 2006 - 10:46 AM
With that said, I have solo dived since the mid 60's... at least in areas I am reasonably familiar with. About 80-85% of my diving is solo and I greatly enjoy it that way. As a videographer, it is almost essential that I dive solo... or have a buddy who is very attuned to sticking in one place for long periods of time (like another photographer which most of my "regular" buddies are).
Based on my own experience (not universal by any means), I am at least 20X more likely to experience a problem diving with a buddy than I am diving solo. That is one reason I try to dive only with buddies who I know fairly well.
Even when diving solo, I am almost always at a site frequented by many divers (our dive park), or diving off the King Neptune which gives me a backup in the event something should happen.
I dive with a HP120 tank for its large capacity and a completely redundant air supply (19 cu ft pony). I dive equipment which I consider to be highly reliable (Mk 10/G250's on both tanks), and maintain it regularly.
However, in areas I'm not familiar with I always dive with a buddy (even if they are not familiar with the site either). Preferably it is one of my regular female buddies because they are all outstanding divers (mostly instructors) and I truly feel that generally (but by no means always!) females make better buddies due to their attention to relationships (both buddy and ecological).
I do not "tout" my solo diving, especially where dive classes may be present. I just do it. I don't want the classes to think solo diving is fine for them, and have no problem if instructors point me out as an example of how not to dive. Most instructors at the dive park know me and my experience level so this is a rarity.
Edited by drbill, 10 February 2006 - 10:48 AM.
#10
Posted 10 February 2006 - 11:33 AM
How do you know the Leader isn't lost also?
Norm
Good point. I guess because I haven't gotten lost yet, so someone must know what they're doing. That's why I got my son certified. He has a better sense of direction than I do.
BTW, did you listen to your VM? I wonder if it came out.
#11
Posted 10 February 2006 - 11:53 AM
By all that is wet, I do hereby swear, (politely), and attest, upon pain of never diving again, (real or imagined), that I understand and affirm, that I agree to the above.
_________________________________________(log in name signature)
Signed and Dated
#12
Posted 10 February 2006 - 01:07 PM
"The edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who know where it is are those that have gone over." Hunter S. Thompson
#13
Posted 10 February 2006 - 07:06 PM
#14
Posted 10 February 2006 - 09:01 PM
"When I die, please don't let my wife sell my scuba equipment for what I told her I paid for it." -- Anonymous
#15
Posted 10 February 2006 - 11:16 PM
Eric
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