solo diving and safety!!!!!!

[ccr_ada]

Solo diving, what is the big taboo ??

I’ve dived solo for years, one of my first ever dives was a river dive solo in zero viz. When I then started diving with a club I was frowned on for doing such diving
I kept it quiet when I progressed to dropping of a family member’s boat out on the south coast of the UK, only knowing the depth (at that time it was around 20/30m ) to see what I could see / get for tea ;}
Then I got more adventurous having completed nitrox courses with different agencies.
I got more confident but the club I was in nagged me about using the ‘devil’s gas’ 
And finding a buddy got harder so when booking on UK trips I would ask if the skipper minded if I dropped off on my own, most knew me and had no problem I don’t think I have ever been refused ...

Then I did my mod 1 course got more adventurous now, I had  buddies to dive with but now it was coming down to time in water I like diving when I pay for a trip I want to dive not sit on a boat that’s just the taxi to and from the dive site, but my buddies only wanted to do around the same times as they used to on twins, so I stayed in, they got out, I usually followed them after 15m or so, after well, why pay for all the courses, the gear and boat and then sit on the boat ?

I then thought about becoming an instructor so me and a few buddies booked up and went back onto OC to do the course it had been a few years on the box without touching OC but its like riding a bike old twins back on, and we were off, the course wasn’t as I remembered it this time, I was teaching it at the end of the instructors  course I was not impressed (it may have been the instructor I just couldn’t put my finger on it  )a few months later some more buddies were doing the same instructor course with a different instructor, so I booked up again paid my dosh this time it included deco procedures. I thought it would be better I was so wrong the two instructor courses were for the same agency and nitrox, adv nitrox and the last one was for deco procedures, as well the course was run and passed by all again but I started thinking how different they were it was as if they were different agency courses in my eyes, the skills were poor and the teaching material was poor as well so I decided to carry on with my diving, do a bit of instructing in the club I’m in as there are only a few instructors and give teaching a miss at the tek level.  I  could see that even teaching complete novices you need the skills of solo diving as you cant expect a novice to save you when on a tek course and you have an instructor and 2 students or more there is none looking after the instructor   
And then I got a scooter (what fun ;} )so me and my buddies would enter the water together all go off in different ways but meet up at a set time and place to exit the water together this put lots of time on my unit as it was fun and at an inland site was not possible to dive solo.

Now diving all sorts and doing long dive times and deeper depths the group I dive with get in together and split on the bottom I enjoy not having to watch my buddies any more on the bottom and see more of what I want usually a wreck I have more fun that way yes sometimes I see them on the wreck depending on how big it is but a quick ok and I’m off ferreting yes I have been stuck in a wreck and in line but stay calm and you can sort things out I don’t panic easy I think some people are suited
to solo diving and some will always remain in buddies as for resort diving they are there to make a quick buck, you’re there a week or two and most resort dive centres are padi  and the padi system is so stuck on buddies think its time for all organisations move on and recognise solo diving as for a course in solo diving ?

How can you teach solo diving anyway ? I know there are courses but I think you know when you are ready and some do before they are ready but we are all on a big diving curve as for the different agencies how can they not condone solo diving as there instructors are vertically always solo when teaching,  there is nothing better than time under water and experience under water.

 Technology is moving on and the thing I would like to see is a boat to diver tracking device so the boat knows were you are as with CCR the boat cant see bubbles. I’ve skippered boats as well it gets twitchy when CCR’s go under and you cant see were they go with OC you have some idea where the divers are it may cut down on the amount of lost divers each year as well it cant cost too much to develop a device that is water proof and can be used as a deep diving location tool as well from a boat then we may never hear about a missing diver again !!! this would help all diving from holiday resorts to novice teaching if a diver gets separated to a solo diver not returning on time this would be good for OC, SCR and CCR diving

So if there is such a system why is it not being used by the mainstream and at an affordable price ( what is an affordable price for your/a divers life ) I don’t mean an eperb!! but a local say 1 or 2 mile locater that is on all the time when wet say fitted in your dive computer?? Then fitted to diving boats as standard like o2 on a boat

Just my experience and feelings

ATB

CCR_ADA

[watersmurf]

i think solo diving is one of the best ways to enjoy the depths of our under water world, the ultimate freedom of weightlessness is superbly  enhanced by the feeling of independence, and the aesthetics aren't ruined by other diving coming in and out of frame. here you can truly feel at one with nature, just like you have stepped back into a more primeval world. BUT this must be regulated heavily as anyone who has ever worked as a divemaster or instructor knows the competency of most divers rivals that of a wet sponge. also, often divers that might have the skill and experience seem to have gear that represents their experience and maybe very old and bordering on unsafe. so maybe for now, solo diving should be confined to the the first steps of tech diving, and regulated so that only those properly equipped can perform solo dives.
as for electronic tracking devices, they are on the market and would cost a DC about $1000 per diver they want to equip. when a small DC can have 20 or more divers in the water at one time, this is not likely to become standard practice any time soon. there is actually a good little article about this on

[Rod Abbotson]

Whatever happened to Surface Marker buoys! Maybe Ive been diving for too long! "Electronic tracking devices" !

Being an instructor and guiding divers in the UK Med and Red Sea since 1984 I think I can safely say that when I am solo diving the risk is less. When Im tec diving I go back to the buddy system.
My center also caters to a growing number of solo divers who dive with a standard tec rig with redundancy and stay within recreational limits. Maybe there should be a course for this....
At the moment only SDI and SSI do a solo diver cert as far as I know and this is with normal recreational kit!

Rod
Aqaba

[Tisom]

Hey, I am taking an Engineering class and a semester project and final projecft for next year is to design and build something that solves a problem. So, everyone give me your ideas on what to build to make diving safer and/or easier.