What gear changes when you go to solo diving

[bigman241]

I am planning on doing my ow cert. this jan. I want to solo dive. My dive buddy is my dad and i doubt he will be wanting to dive as much as me.
No i do not plan on solo diving when my ink is still wet on my ow cert. A year or two down the road.
But i plan to buy my own gear and would like to head toward being ready for solo. I already plan on having my reg for diving. A pony setup and a octo for a back up. From what i understand a pony is a most. I want the pony even if i am buddy diving. Something i find hard about using someones air. We had a local guy drown because he got a leg cramp when swimming. His brother in law would not help him because he said he was pulling him under and his life vest would not hold both of them. He dumb A** give him your vest and swim to shore for help.
My main dive buddy will be my dad. I trust him 100% heck he would take his tank off and give it to me. As i would do the same for him. But i do not want to relay on someone safing me if i run out of air or my reg breaks.
What else should i look at when buying gear that will work for solo diving or atleast not need to buy something twice.

[bigman241]

Also a local diver told me solo diving is like nasa you need a back up plan for you back plan.

[Scuba Pete]

I have never done solo diving before, but i would imagine you would want total redundancy. Meaning 2 tanks, 2 regs, 2 of everything incase something were to happen. I think that SDI has a solo diver certification. I think that is the only agency that offers it. I would suggest taking that class when the time came. The way that we dive we prepare as though we are alone, but we dive in teams. Every one of us can self rescue. IMO a pony is good but doubles are better. I would think at least one person here has doven solo before so they would know better than I. If not there are other forums that I know that people dive solo all the time.

[skdvr]

I am sure that you will be able to find plenty of local divers around you that will have the same passion for diving that you do. When any of my normal buddies are unable to dive with me when I feel the need, I get on a few boards or send out emails to buddies to contact thier buddies and generally I find someone that wants to go diving too.

That being said I do solo dive sometimes but only very easy dives in places that I have been many many times. I dive double HP120's and I will also take a 40cf Pony with me. I would still go if diving singles but my setup would be something like Primary 2nd stage reg and backup 2nd stage reg, wing inflation hose, drysuit inflation hose, and SPG on my main 1st stage that is on my back gas. On the pony I would have a 2nd stage reg, SPG, and an inflation hose that I can connect to my wing or drysuit for buoyancy control. I would have my main light as well as 2 backup lights, at least 2 cutting devices (normally I carry a small knife and a pair of shears) lift bag incase I get in trouble and need to mark my position or to help with lift if I have a wing/BC problem and I am not wearing a drysuit, and a backup mask in my pocket.

Solo diving is just not as simple as getting in the water just like you would for any other dive. You have to keep in mind that only you can save you. When you buddy dive you have an extra set of eyes, hands and brain power to help get you through something. A simple dive can turn real bad real quick when you are by yourself and you really NEED to have the experience and equipment to handle it...

Phil

[scubadiver888]

Originally Posted by bigman241

Also a local diver told me solo diving is like nasa you need a back up plan for you back plan.

I'm getting to the point where I'm gathering information on solo diving. This statement seems like a good way of summarizing solo diving.

The first thing you need to be a solo diver is an understanding of WHY you are taught the things you are taught as a recreational diving using the buddy system.

Once you understand WHY you are taught all the things you are taught you can then start thinking about how not having a buddy affects that. The other thing is to talk to as many solo divers as you can. Find out what things have gone wrong and how they survived.

For example, I was reading about someone who had 1500+ dives (800+ solo) and they had equipment failure at 70 feet. Turns out that some debris in the tank clogged the valve. The odds of it happening were thought to be a million to one (I've read three people who had this happen since, so obviously not THAT rare). A safe ascent rate is one foot per second. He had breathed out, tried to breath in and got nothing. Using a safe ascent rate it would take him 70 seconds to get to the surface with NO air.

Turns out he got complacent and didn't bring his pony bottle. Only had a large single tank and no redundancy. He survived but he wasn't sure how.

Another scenario, you get tied up in mono-filament line. Normally your buddy can cut you loose. No buddy. Do you have a cutting device that you can reach from the place you normally keep your hands? If it is on your shoulder or calf you might not be able to reach it.

Bottom line, the more experience you have the more you can anticipate what can go wrong and prepare for it. Most the guys I know who solo dive have well over 500 dives and usually get in 100+ dives a year.

[navyhmc]

A few thoughts:

Don't worry about solo at this time. Scuba Pete is correct, as of right now, the only agency that has a solo course is SDI and at the very least they have a requirement of 100 dives to take the course. Take your time and dive. Get used to diving, take the AOW and Rescue diver courses well in advance of a solo course.

Learn to rely on a buddy before you learn to rely on yourself. If your dad can't dive, get with a local dive club and dive with some of the seasoned divers-they will usually take you under their wing and teach you a lot.

As far as a pony, get the rest of your gear first. A pony is not necessarily a must. As a new diver, adding a pony to the mix is adding additional task loading that you may or may not be able to handle. When you first start out, you need to concentrate on bouyancy, depth, tank psi, bottom times and most imprtant, having fun. Adding additional items such as a pony can lead to mistakes in other areas when you are concentrating on the pony and not the things you should be focusing on-like that loggerhead turtle that's munching away on some kelp.

From what you have posted, your first step is your OW. Learn the basics before thinking about the advanced. And that 100 dives: Don't sell yourself short, don't do a bunch of bounce dives to get that 100 dives. The reason for that number is so that you are a competent diver. If you go into a solo course with 100 20minute dives to 20', it's going to be painfully obvious when you so the skill dives and no offense, a bounce diver will not pass-it's not that it's insanely difficult, it just requires a lot of confidence in oneself in a crisis and be able to control yourself in an emergency. You have to show a mastery of sorts of all the major aspects of sport diving.

Solo is sort of like Nasa in that you plan, you have back up plans and you have already done pre-planning for eventualities and crisis' before they occurr. It's gas mamagement, coordination, and more planning.

My rig is probably a lot like skdvr's I dive a wet suit so my wing is a dual wing. I use a 40 cu ft for planned dives below 60 and a 19 for under 60 and have either a 121 single or double 119's

[fire diver]

I solo dive about as much as I have a dive parter and I'm going to echo what the others have said. The thing you need in order to solo dive is that ability to stay calm. You can fix ANY problem underwater as long as you have enough air. In order to "fix" your problems you need to have the right gear. You need to have a backup depthguage and timing device for a safe ascent if your computer dies. You need to be able to cut your way free of entanglements, and have a backup cutter if you loose the primary. You need to be able to dof and don your gear underwater to free yourself from entaglements you can't cut. MOst inland diving can be pitch black by 50 feet at noontime so you need a light and a back-up light to see your gauges, the area, and hazards. Since you can't fix problems without gas, you need a fully redundant air tank and regulator set should you suffer a catastrophinc loss of back-gas (such as a tank o-ring rupture, or full freeflow at depth).

The most important thing have when solo diving is the ability to stay calm when the excrement hits the ventilator. The ability to remain calm is what will allow you to work through problems. Ideally, you have been diving long enough to have experienced several problems while diving with buddies.

[MSilvia]

Originally Posted by bigman241

I am planning on doing my ow cert. this jan. I want to solo dive. My dive buddy is my dad and i doubt he will be wanting to dive as much as me. No i do not plan on solo diving when my ink is still wet on my ow cert. A year or two down the road.

It's a reasonable goal, but solo diving isn't something to rush into. Don't think of how long it'll take to be ready in terms of years passing... think of it as something you might be ready to consider after spending around 75-100 hours underwater. If your dad isn't going to want to dive as much as you, you might look into meeting some other dive buddies so you can build up the experience you'll need.

Originally Posted by bigman241

But i plan to buy my own gear and would like to head toward being ready for solo. What else should i look at when buying gear that will work for solo diving or atleast not need to buy something twice.

This is a good way to look at gear purchases, but I would advise concentrating less on what you need to HAVE to solo dive, and focusing more on what you need to KNOW. The gear required for solo diving isn't likely to make the stuff you get for diving with a buddy obsolete... it's more about carrying the additional tools you'll need in order to be able to self-rescue. Having those tools won't do you much good unless you know why you're carrying them, have practiced using them, and have the experience and composure to be able to use them while still underwater in an emergency situation that would make many new divers panic and head for sunshine and seagulls.

[bigman241]

I agree i have no planns of bounce diving. I just want to dive. I do not think it would take me long to do 100 dives. But from what i am reading 100 might not be enough
Question what if your using your scuba gear for like snokling. Say within 5 or 10 feet. Is that still something i should wait on.

Originally Posted by navyhmc

A few thoughts:

Don't worry about solo at this time. Scuba Pete is correct, as of right now, the only agency that has a solo course is SDI and at the very least they have a requirement of 100 dives to take the course. Take your time and dive. Get used to diving, take the AOW and Rescue diver courses well in advance of a solo course.

Learn to rely on a buddy before you learn to rely on yourself. If your dad can't dive, get with a local dive club and dive with some of the seasoned divers-they will usually take you under their wing and teach you a lot.

As far as a pony, get the rest of your gear first. A pony is not necessarily a must. As a new diver, adding a pony to the mix is adding additional task loading that you may or may not be able to handle. When you first start out, you need to concentrate on bouyancy, depth, tank psi, bottom times and most imprtant, having fun. Adding additional items such as a pony can lead to mistakes in other areas when you are concentrating on the pony and not the things you should be focusing on-like that loggerhead turtle that's munching away on some kelp.

From what you have posted, your first step is your OW. Learn the basics before thinking about the advanced. And that 100 dives: Don't sell yourself short, don't do a bunch of bounce dives to get that 100 dives. The reason for that number is so that you are a competent diver. If you go into a solo course with 100 20minute dives to 20', it's going to be painfully obvious when you so the skill dives and no offense, a bounce diver will not pass-it's not that it's insanely difficult, it just requires a lot of confidence in oneself in a crisis and be able to control yourself in an emergency. You have to show a mastery of sorts of all the major aspects of sport diving.

Solo is sort of like Nasa in that you plan, you have back up plans and you have already done pre-planning for eventualities and crisis' before they occurr. It's gas mamagement, coordination, and more planning.

My rig is probably a lot like skdvr's I dive a wet suit so my wing is a dual wing. I use a 40 cu ft for planned dives below 60 and a 19 for under 60 and have either a 121 single or double 119's

[navyhmc]

Originally Posted by bigman241

I agree i have no planns of bounce diving. I just want to dive. I do not think it would take me long to do 100 dives. But from what i am reading 100 might not be enough
Question what if your using your scuba gear for like snokling. Say within 5 or 10 feet. Is that still something i should wait on.

To a point, it's not the quantity of dives, it's the quality. It those dives wehre you have to do some complex problem solving that add to the mix.

10'-15' can get you in as much trouble as 60' nothing sucks like being at 5' below the surface, caught in fishing line and knowing that you are so close to the surface but it might as well be a mile away-panic and you're done. Stay with a buddy!!!!