Solo Dive Cert

[Freedive WI]

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

[freedivernd]

From Jon \"...twice the depth that you can freedive...\"

That seems crazy too me.. I was thinking more along the lines of 0 to -50'. I think that's where I'd rather stay if (o.k. - when) I'm solo. Preferably less than that maybe.
Fred

[Freedive WI]

But they say you could dive to 158' solo. You don't want to try that one out?

This was written in a book called "SOLO DIVING" written by an instructor from California. THe book is in its second printing.

IF we all followed that logic then Herbert Nitch could dive to 600' solo. ;D

Jon

[tbrown]

I think that the way they do things in New Jersey and other places (sump diving comes to mind) is sort of a red herring. Although I have never dove out there, from most accounts, what they are doing is a little outside of recreational diving anyway. SDI considers Solo Diving a form of tech diving. That's why they teach it and PADI, NAUI, and SSI don't. I really think that Jason hit the nail on the head. If you use your buddy for a crutch, you need to work on your own skills. If your worried about your buddy skills, practice them. If you have a problem with a person not being a good buddy, avoid diving with them. And if you have money eating a hole in your pocket to spend on training, I'm sure you could find another route to take. Or you could always donate it to my gear fund ;D.

[SmithDiving]

From our perspective solo diving is technical diving and we don't recommend it. I like the sentiment expressed in the previous replies and agree that being self-sufficient underwater is the ideal. That being said I'm sure everyone has at some point had to ask for help from thier buddy. One exercise we really like is to have everyone do a post-dive review to analyize any problems that came up during the dive and try to figure out how things could have been done differently to avoid those problems. This makes for a safer dive next time and better buddy understanding. Next time you have a problem that requires your buddies help, think about how you would have handled it if your buddy wasn't there.

[DRE]

Since when has solo diving become some kind of technical diving? If anything, solo tech diving is the biggest nono ever, as the tasks and risks involved with tech diving increase exponentially. BTW: SDI offers the solo diving cert, not TDI - and it is mainly there to have divers pay for another certification so some of the major divecruise operators in the Caribean won't have to worry about legal implications if some of their clients decide to die by themselves...

[beeger]

I second DRE's sentiments on solo diving. I also agree with Smith's comments around a post-dive review ... this is always a good idea whether you are talking about a shallow/short dive or some major deep/long dive. I do not consider solo diving to be "technical" diving any more than I consider it to be "recreational diving." Solo diving is just additional risk taking that does not need to be applied to any diving. What is a bad idea in 30' of water is still a bad idea in 160' of water.

Regarding the pony bottle: I don't think this a good solution to anything. Note that when I say "pony" I'm implying redundant backgas, as opposed to some sort of deco/stage bottle which, even with a single tank setup, would have something different than backgas in it. If you think you need a pony to solve a perceived problem then you probably need doubles, as well as better buddy skills, and more familiarity/practice in the local diving conditions.

Good thread.