05-20-2003, 07:22 PM
Fred,
The depth limit they talk about for solo diving is twice the depth that you can freedive to. The idea is that if you can freedive to 40' you are acutally doing 80'- down and up. As a result you should be safe diving to 80' by yourself if you have a pony bottle that is at least as big as 1/3 of your gas supply.
Having said this I know of too many divers who died much shallower than this- one with 1,800 psi of air still in his main tank and his pony bottle FULL when I found it. Pony bottles are not the same as a buddy.
As I said in another post, If your single and have no kids, go do what you want- it's a free country after all. If you have a spouse or children who count on you for anything I no longer see any excuse for divng solo.
I was told when the solo diver course first came out that resorts in the Carribean loved it. They said that this was because if someone dies while solo diving their body usually falls down the wall a 1,000' or so and their is no recovery of the body for the insurance companies investigation. This all transates into a lot less liability for the resort. I do not know for sure how true that is, but that was the story I heard at the time. One thing that I do know is that the waiver is pretty lengthy.
Jon
The depth limit they talk about for solo diving is twice the depth that you can freedive to. The idea is that if you can freedive to 40' you are acutally doing 80'- down and up. As a result you should be safe diving to 80' by yourself if you have a pony bottle that is at least as big as 1/3 of your gas supply.
Having said this I know of too many divers who died much shallower than this- one with 1,800 psi of air still in his main tank and his pony bottle FULL when I found it. Pony bottles are not the same as a buddy.
As I said in another post, If your single and have no kids, go do what you want- it's a free country after all. If you have a spouse or children who count on you for anything I no longer see any excuse for divng solo.
I was told when the solo diver course first came out that resorts in the Carribean loved it. They said that this was because if someone dies while solo diving their body usually falls down the wall a 1,000' or so and their is no recovery of the body for the insurance companies investigation. This all transates into a lot less liability for the resort. I do not know for sure how true that is, but that was the story I heard at the time. One thing that I do know is that the waiver is pretty lengthy.
Jon