Re: solo diving
Posted: Sat Sep 25, 2010 9:28 am
Kelly, do you remember how quickly and neatly we solved Peter's bad gas problem the other night? Wasn't that better than having him launch for the surface and hope?
Although I rarely do it (and so far, only for things like setting floats for classes) I have nothing intrinsically AGAINST solo diving, for those who want to do it and who have the experience and the equipment to mitigate the risks. I believe that people should be free to free climb or do extreme skiing or any number of other high-risk activities (heck, I dive in CAVES). But I do think it isn't a great idea to do any of those things until your skills at a basic level of the sport are really solid, and in diving, I also think it's important to have some significant insight into how YOU handle problems underwater.
I have had a buddy who was a strong diver and had about 40 dives under his belt, totally panic and behave absolutely irrationally because of a flooded mask. He almost quit diving over it. I have had an episode of complete disorientation and vertigo in dark water, at the top of a wall where I didn't know where the bottom was and I couldn't see. I found out that day that I CAN stare panic in the face and push back at it. I also found out how close to us it lives in the water.
I think anyone who is thinking about diving alone, should have had some experiences with things going wrong to the point where they really had to grab themselves by the nape of the neck and say, "Shape up and focus!" Because when things go wrong in the water when you are alone, that's precisely what you have to do; but unlike when you dive as part of a team, you have no fallback if your efforts to pull yourself together aren't adequate.
I CAN dive alone; I choose not to, mostly because I have a pretty amazing supply of good dive buddies (more, actually, than I can find time to dive with), because I really enjoy sharing the wonders of the dive with someone else, and because diving as a team is part of the fun of the dive for me.
Although I rarely do it (and so far, only for things like setting floats for classes) I have nothing intrinsically AGAINST solo diving, for those who want to do it and who have the experience and the equipment to mitigate the risks. I believe that people should be free to free climb or do extreme skiing or any number of other high-risk activities (heck, I dive in CAVES). But I do think it isn't a great idea to do any of those things until your skills at a basic level of the sport are really solid, and in diving, I also think it's important to have some significant insight into how YOU handle problems underwater.
I have had a buddy who was a strong diver and had about 40 dives under his belt, totally panic and behave absolutely irrationally because of a flooded mask. He almost quit diving over it. I have had an episode of complete disorientation and vertigo in dark water, at the top of a wall where I didn't know where the bottom was and I couldn't see. I found out that day that I CAN stare panic in the face and push back at it. I also found out how close to us it lives in the water.
I think anyone who is thinking about diving alone, should have had some experiences with things going wrong to the point where they really had to grab themselves by the nape of the neck and say, "Shape up and focus!" Because when things go wrong in the water when you are alone, that's precisely what you have to do; but unlike when you dive as part of a team, you have no fallback if your efforts to pull yourself together aren't adequate.
I CAN dive alone; I choose not to, mostly because I have a pretty amazing supply of good dive buddies (more, actually, than I can find time to dive with), because I really enjoy sharing the wonders of the dive with someone else, and because diving as a team is part of the fun of the dive for me.
I agree about the risk mitigation I am going to wait for a long while and pick up a pony before I dive solo, and yes I agree about the great supply of buddies, its more fun to dive with experienced people to learn from them. I just find that the alone time underwater is quite uplifting and more looking for a rare ...moment alone in the big fast world. but no rush on my part, agree with the statements made by all those more experienced and wiser!!!
is such a great part of diving. I imagine my self looking in a mirror saying, "Wasn't that a great Dive?" 
