SOLO Diver Skills

[Richie]

I ma sure this has been raised before but I was wondering what the REAL opinion of the forum was on solo diving. :washmouth: (companionship aside) Current training and doctrine seems to label any solo diving as a cardinal sin but in reality how often has anyone had to assist a buddy who is a) well trained, b) happy in the water, c) adequately equiped and d) is in an open and only moderately deep environment. Buddying is obviously essential in cases when there are novices involved or the situation through depth, duration wreck etc demands it.
Are we taking the element of adventure out of it if we know that just about whatever happens all will be fine.
Some of the buddies I have ended up diving with particularly abroad have been dire and have ruined a potentially great dive.
Buddies are also a total pain when scalloping or prawning - you have to share the spoils.
Any thoughts anyone :outtahere:

[Billy the Kangaroo]

Scalloping, prawning - when/ where ?

Yum Yum.

[Richie]

Scallops in loch Creran - probably wiped out by larhge salmon farm there now and Prawns in the mud of Loch Melfort.
Muds another reason to do it alone!

[Hobby]

Richie,we had a big discussion re.this on page 4 of this forum not long ago.Have a look at "Solo Diving" and also "Self Sufficient diving" on the same page,I reckon most points have been covered there,and they're worth a glance before lighting the fire again!
Count Henry Russell said in "Recollections of an Old Mountaineer"(1834):-
"To climb with a friend is pleasure;to climb alone is an education"
I reckon the old guy has a point in reference to diving too Take care,Hobby.

[Richie]

Thanks Hobby I will.
This was a serious question and not a wind up. No fire lighting intended.

[Hobby]

Sorry Richie,when I said firelighting it was meant in a humourous way!One of the beauty's of this forum you'll find, is that someone can come along with a perceived bone of contention and actually get reasonable feedback on it.There are "other places" where you'll find direct answers telling you not to do certain things(or to do it their way?)
Here you'll find people favouring pros and cons for issues,but not many "in a box".Many people on here are multi agency(and multi generation)trained and experienced.IMO you're likely to get amuch more balanced and eclectic view on things.We went on about your issue for a while and it spawned my follow on on self sufficiency(you'll see the link).Please add your thoughts and comments on here after,as there's still much to learn for us all!
Hobby.

[Dr Stevil]

Good point Hobby, there's a big difference between 'self-sufficiency' and 'solo' which can get lost in discussions like this.

Another point which doesn't seem to have been raised before, but which I was reminded of by someone else's post on encountering a 'truly' solo diver (ie one person on their own with no shore cover etc): isn't it a bit of a sad "Billy-no-mates" thing?
regards
Steve

[Hobby]

Funnily enough I said this very thing to Ammers some time ago,we were talking re.solo divers.The point being that they may be very good and self sufficient .... or have the social skills of a Camel.
It can be an issue I suppose,certainly at work the solitude at times could be very refreshing,maybe it's a bit like the "back to the womb" theory.However,never known a foetus try and cut its' way out with a Broco torch before so maybe not!Regards,Hobby.

[Richie]

Hobby,
I've had a quick skid through - supposed to be working - I agree that self sufficency is the way to go whatever the situation. As you say a panicing buddy is not much use! The emphasis on kit currently may be good for the industry but are we losing out on the basic skill sets, becoming a group of button pushers rather than trying to integrate as far as our feeble lungs etc will allow into the aquatic environment. I am not advocating a return to the crap we used to use but the training cycle advocated by some agencies is so short the possibility of being at home in the water is virtually nil. i witnessed a potential student at a Red Sea resort being told emphatically that she did not have to be able to swim to qualify. Could that person be confident in the water. The same goes to some extent for those who amass a wealth of bits of paper and stickers in the Med and otherwarm places. Stick them into 40 m of 6degree water with 1m viz at 9:00 pm in january. Happy bunnies? Me neither and I've done it.(solo)
I think the essence is total confidence in your own abilities, minimal kit including redundancy adequate for the dive and no more, and think about/ understand what you are doing.
I do have a small understanding of the commercial side of things having nibbled at the edges whilst fishfarming- pump replacement, pipelines, recovering kit/boats/motors dropped by dear colleagues. But also in having to go into the water when all instincts say no way. Night-time, cold, solo, and having to do it all by feel. Its all in the mind - things will go wrong but if you are truly confident it will go a long to making it a pub yarn rather than a disaster. :oldman:

[Gavin Yates]

My views are all divers should be as self-sufficient as possible. Own redundant air source and back-ups of essential kit.

However, I don't want to dive alone. I like having someone to point things out to or have thing pointed out to me. I like to be able to go "Did you see that ??" post-dive.

But, I don't criticise solo divers. It's their choice and with the right skills many will flourish.

The only codicil is - when everything goes wrong - when Mr Murphy pays you a visit - you only have YOU to get you out of the water and hence only yourself to blame if you can't.

And as a member of this board pointed out to some of us - it's never the diver that is left standing by the graveside.

Diving is a calculated risk - it all depends on how big a risk you're willing to take.