Buddy vs solo

[NEON]

Is there no end to the perverse and unclean practices being promulgated on this forum?

Who would pollute a perfectly good hot dog with chili (great by itself, but keep it away from the hot dogs!) or (shudder) cole slaw?

And anything including wonder bread can't be thought of as "right" in any context!

Now I'm going to get two hot dogs (I'm a caver - redundancy is important) with brown mustard and sauerkraut! And extra napkins.

Mike

Some may call this "hot dog strokery", but the only way to eat a hot dog is SOLO.
No wonder bread and no corn syrup in various colours - ketchup, mustard or relish!
Although I'm with you on the redundancy...

[phillip1]

You make some excellent points, but your opening statement is flawed in my opinion. If you only consider dives that were classified as "accidents" then clearly the buddy or buddies were not able to help change the final outcome. That is why it was an accident and not just a good dive. However, I'm sure there are quite a few "good dives" that might have been incidents/accidents if it were not for a good buddy. You can't use accidents to determine when the buddy system worked because by definition of an accident, it didn't.

Of course there is no way to determine how often a buddy (or lack thereof) changes the outcome of a dive without a crystall ball.

I agree, i am sure there have been many dives were a buddy's help avoided a major accident, but I am sure there are as many if not more situations were the actions of an experienced solo diver got him or her out of trouble too.

For example in the UK almost all dives are solo dives and in extremely adverse difucult sump conditions, I don't think that there is an any greater proportion of accidents than in the US were it is the oposite and most dives are in buddy teams.

[adam0321]

Well that being said then we should only dive with people better then us? No one will ever want to dive with me

[diveconjeff]

So after thinking about this for just a little bit, I am getting to like diving solo, even when I have company. In general, I am more comfortable with fewer buddies, based on less chance of someone else "making things interesting".

If things do get interesting, how much can you really count on a buddy anyway? Some of the accident reports talk about teams that finally reassembled after exiting the water. Where's the team/buddy redundancy there? At least there is someone to get the search started I suppose.

I currently enjoy my solo dives with AL, they give me an opportunity to grow. To date I have kept them fairly conservative, diving systems where I already have basic knowledge. I have used them more to peek at nooks and crannies that a team would otherwise swim right by. Swim less, and see more. I don't have to be concerned about how fast or slow someone else is going. I can totally focus on just my dive.

I enjoy my buddy dives. The post dive camaraderie can be outstanding. Buddy dives provide an opportunity to share a beer, to review, to discuss and to gain another perspective on the just completed dive.

As I have gain more experience, I am continually amazed at how much more there is to learn, and how much more rewarding the progress becomes.

Heading to MX this week, diving w/ German. Try to leave some cave for all you folks next week. Wish my timing had worked out better, sounds like you all are going to have a blast. (Not that I am crying to much though )

[Neptuno]

Phill, first, you are having too much time.. read playboy more often please..

I think is a personal thing, but, in the way a buddy can help you is not just in gas, just remember the cave collapse where you FK up you knee, could be worse and not be able to walk, we could carry you out easily, solo would have been a pain to get back in the water and swim back, claim out, etc.
there are lots of small collapses here in the caves, one could trap you a little bit and could be hard to get out alone, I had a little one the other day digging in a hole, a big rock fell in my back, roled on my ass and stuck my way out backwards, I made it out by myself but dave was behind laughing, if I get stuck badly he could get me out, a medical problem, a bad gas problem(like we also had), I can think of a very large number of situations a buddy could save your life and only a few involve amount of gas carried, is about a second brain, extra 2 hands and extra 2 legs that could carry you out in a problem, you could get stuck with a lot of gas, that could make your pain even longer.....

[phillip1]

Touché!
I did mess up my knee but I was super lucky and was still able to walk for an hour after so I was able to get back out alone, had it been much worse and I had been solo i would have been in a world of trouble, so definitely the fact that you guys were there would have made a major difference.

On the other hand had I been solo I would not have listened to Thomas who said to move the big rock in the first place and i probably would not have done it, lol..
I am paying for that big time now with the surgery and down time.
I will never ever move rocks around in a cave again.

I agree with everything you say, what i meant is when we dive we are all self reliant, and i don't feel safer cause anyone is there, I know I can count on you guys in a pinch and vice versa but I do not rely on that or feel safer for it.

Also I think that solo diving I would be way more conservative as far as getting out in a dry cave and walking around, I actually would not do it alone for the simple fact that it is super dangerous with falls, collapses etc..and being alone in a situation like that could be a major problem.

I will not move rocks in cave, i will not move rocks in a cave, I will not move rocks in a cave, I will not move rocks in a cave..................

[sea2summit]

A completely hypothetical complete loss of backgas is real low on my reasons for taking a buddy.

I know someone that dives a single 80 saving all his backgas for failures. Course he has the SAC rate of a 90 year old field mouse.

Well that being said then we should only dive with people better then us? No one will ever want to dive with me

I've always subscribed to this and luckily I've been able to find a lot of divers better than I am that have been willing to dive with me. I think the really good one's pitty the newbs.

[Dsix36]

My thoughts on solo diving are from other divers:

I strongly believe that any diver not mentally prepared to be solo on a dive is inadequate to the task and using another diver as a crutch. However this fact doesn't stop me realizing diving with a competent buddy is always the best policy. ---- Mark Chase

The only way to dive solo and remain safe, is if you refuse to dive with an idiot. ----- Dave Sutton

I really prefer to dive solo, but some places won't let me!

[phillip1]

My thoughts on solo diving are from other divers:

I strongly believe that any diver not mentally prepared to be solo on a dive is inadequate to the task and using another diver as a crutch. However this fact doesn't stop me realizing diving with a competent buddy is always the best policy. ---- Mark Chase

The only way to dive solo and remain safe, is if you refuse to dive with an idiot. ----- Dave Sutton

I really prefer to dive solo, but some places won't let me!

My point exactly, using another diver as a crutch is a false sense of security and a house of cards waiting to crumble in the event of a real problem.

[Neptuno]

Touché!

On the other hand had I been solo I would not have listened to Thomas who said to move the big rock in the first place and i probably would not have done it, lol..

I will not move rocks in cave, i will not move rocks in a cave, I will not move rocks in a cave, I will not move rocks in a cave..................

I'd say, will not listen to thomas again instead of not move rocks again, or even better, you should say, next time will send thomas to move the rock, next time will send thomas to move the rock