[Richie]

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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

uttahere:

 

[Billy the Kangaroo]

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Scalloping, prawning - when/ where ?

Yum Yum.

 

[Richie]

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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]

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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]

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

 

[Hobby]

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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]

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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]

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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]

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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. ldman:

 

[Gavin Yates]

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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.      

 

[Hobby]

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Sorry lads,I've just been called out of work.I'd love to get into thishaving just read through the last 2 posts quickly.Please keep it open till Monday and I'll be back.FTR,Yes I do beleive we have/are guilty of sacrificing basic skills and mindset.
More on Monday if you want,have a good weekend all.Take care,Hobby.

 

[andy2tanx]

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gotta go with the above.  only yourself toi get you out of the water, and to rely on if it goes tits up, but its good to share.

if youre self sufficient you make a better buddy, that can be trusted more than a lad with no back up gear.

 

[Andy Winterburn]

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Would all solo divers please leave a note saying where they can be found (if things go wrong) and attach a bit of string so the body can be recovered without too much trouble. Oh and if you wouldn't mind doing the sudden death form, available at every good police station

.
BEFORE entering the water. Cheers :reaper:

 

[andy2tanx]

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There is a vast difference between self sufficiency and solo diving.

 

[nitrox]

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nowt wrong wi solo diving! if all is in working order and the diver is aware of all risk and is confident in his own capability and is sufficiently equipped, surely his buddy is the main point of faliure?
solo diving for me is a midweek thing on the coast when all my mates are at work, or if you fancy a dive and theres no one to buddy with at short notice, its not a problem if you go yourself.
i tend to find i see/find more as im not concentrating on looking around for a flailing buddy.

just my two cents

nitrox  

 

[John Gulliver]

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Like just about everybody else here, I prefer to dive with a buddy, because two pairs of eyes see more than one and discussing the dive afterwards with my buddy is half the pleasure for me. However, I confess to having done a couple of solo dives under special circumstances and would consider doing so again under the same circumstances. I think a well-trained, experienced, properly equipped diver (i.e with back-up for all essential items, including a redundant air source) should be able to dive a familiar site under good conditions alone without unacceptable risk. Personally, though, I wouldn't do so without surface cover - someone who can call for help if things go wrong. I believe diving with a competent buddy to be inherently safer than solo diving but the slightly increased risk of diving solo under the conditions I describe may be acceptable to the individual concerned. It's interesting to note, by the way, that PADI have shown signs of changing their policy on this issue and SDI even have a solo diving course. I believe that solo diving will eventually be accepted as a normal variant. After all, diving with nitrox was considered dangerous only a few years ago. I remember a leading article in Skindiver, with PADI's backing, a few years ago warning everybody not to use it.


(Edited by John Gulliver at 12:27 pm on Nov. 30, 2002)

 

[Big Steph]

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This is an issue that keeps cropping up.  Last year on the ScotSAC forum, the same topic came up.  Somebody mentioned that Instructors are effectivley diving solo, because trainees may not be able to execute an effective rescue.  Most divers have dived solo at one point.  I must say that anybody doing so is mad.  As for PADI banning Nitrox training, they soon changed their minds coz money was to be made.

 

[Mdemon]

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OK, this is way off-topic (I'll be back when I've read the other stuff mentioned), but how do you get prawns?  Do they congregate together?  Do you net them or pot for them?  And are there any on the south coast or is it just Scotland?

Mmmmm...Scallops...

Hungry of Devon

 

[Richie]

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They (Nephrops Norveggie something anyway) live in "U" shaped burrows in soft/silty bottoms  - you know what I mean. Bag over one end snorkel in the other and, if you have the right burrow, 1 prawn.
Lots of silt, zero viz, and prawns everywhere.

 

[budgy]

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When you regularly check glace your buddy during a dive your buddy diving, if your buddy doesn't your diving solo.  

(Edited by budgy at 11:34 am on Dec. 1, 2002)