Posted by Karl S. on December 04, 2001 at 14:59:33:
In Reply to: backpack diving and solo diving posted by SeaSerpent on December 03, 2001 at 14:32:13:
there is a good book on the DAN reading list about solo diving protocols, for anyone curious about that type of diving.
TDI also teaches a class about solo diving, for anyone interested in learning about it more.
you should definitely not try solo unless you have done one or both of the above, or else that would be irresponsible.
solo is not for everyone.
there are specific protocols for solo diving, that first need to be learned and that should not be exceeded. in other words, there is a right way and a wrong way to solo dive, just like everything else.
solo is one of those closet things that more divers do than admit to.
if you had a room full of divers discussing solo diving, and only the divers who had never dived solo were allowed to be present, the room would probably be empty, except for the very newly certified divers.
solo happens whenever a D/M or A/I sets a dive float or retrieves one before or after an open water class. this often happens while the other available DMCs are busy buddied up demonstrating the fins-on rough water entries and exits for the class.
solo happens for a lot of photographers, even when they start out "buddied up."
solo happens when you go spearfishing too, before very long usually, whenever a silvery flash of a large fish's tail sweeps by at the edge of sight.
solo used to associated with "abalone fever" until the DFG banished tank diving for abs and made it into a freediving sport about a decade ago.
solo diving used to be on a TV show back in the 50s and 60s.
everybody knows seahunt-MikeB is not a sockpuppet. he is about 6 and a half feet tall, strong swimming, thrill seeking, death defying friendly guy. dont try to freedive as deep as he does, its not good for your lungs. they could get seawater in them by mistake, even though you kick back up as fast as you can, popping your ears all along the way.
backpack diving was unavoidable 20 or 30 years ago, when backpacks was all that there was. its a lost artform now, fun to try again occasionally, if youre properly enough experienced with it already. since it has been superseded by B/Cs and wings now, it is almost impossible to get enough experience these days to do it safely, and not recommended. essentially you weight for slightly positive buoyancy at the surface, and then you kick down. sort of like freediving, although some freedivers weight for neutral buoyancy, which is inherently unsafe too.