It's time for a Solo Cave Diver certification

[Rick Palm]

It's time for agencies to offer a solo cave diver course for advanced practitioners, develop appropriate standards on, for example, gas management like the rule of thirds, and issue a Solo Cave Diver cert card that might ultimately be accepted by the Florida State Park system for solo diving at sites like Jug Hole, Peacock, Madison, and other state parks.

Solo diving has been safely conducted by many practitioners for years at sites such as Little River, and Jackson Blue. There is an argument to be made that it can be safer than diving with a partner: you're responsible for only one diver, not two.

[Brent]

A solo diving card has been around for quite a while with IANTD. I've issued several of those cards. Granted, all agencies are not going to offer a card that has the controversy that this card has, and even if you have the card, some dive sites will draw a line in the sand.
Rick, your points are well made but it goes without saying, this is an uphill battle. Don't hold your breath on changes in our industry any time soon!!

[Rick Palm]

Additional solo cave diver protocols might include:

1) Carry five backup lights for a total of six lights. (A two-diver team also has six lights).

2) Carry spare mask.

3) No change to gas management: keep rule of thirds for margin of safety.

4) Strict use of primary and jump reels.

5) Notice on dashboard of vehicle of dive plan.

6) Test buoyancy control with near-empty tanks before diving with filled ones.

[bent]

3) No change to gas management: keep rule of thirds for margin of safety.

4) Strict use of primary and jump reels.

6) Test buoyancy control with near-empty tanks before diving with filled ones.

Is this a joke? Rule of thirds hardly gives you a margin of safety even in a team of two. Your other points are IMHO either pointless or should be done anyways.

I dive solo but I'm against a solo cave cert. Drawing attention to this is only gonna have downsides for us.
There are plenty of places where you can solo already... rattling the cage just to get into a few state parks such as peacock is a stupid move IMHO.

[mdax]

I don't see any reason for agencies to create a solo cave diving certification, nor does six lights seem reasonable to me.

Either you are self sufficient full cave diver with enough experience to approach solo cave diving, or you aren't.
Certs can't make up for experience, progressively learning the cave coupled with being really conservative

I don't think being safe solo diving has to do much with education, but rather how the person approaches risk and makes decisions.
Some very well trained instructors make some dip shitted decisions and rarely do solo divers die from a lack of understanding.

[bent]

Either you are self sufficient full cave diver with enough experience to approach solo cave diving, or you aren't.
Certs can't make up for experience, progressively learning the cave coupled with being really conservative.

This is exactly how I see it.

I would even say that a solo cert might entice people to solo dive who really shouldn't.

[Scuba Al]

Just another way for Ginnie Springs to restrict divers like requiring a CCR/Cave card.
Al

[Diverlee]

What brought this subject on , again. ??


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[Kelly Jessop]

What brought this subject on , again. ??


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Boredom? I guess with isolation we will see unique postings and 9 months from now a run on labor and delivery rooms. This subject has been beat to death, and a certification card won't get the state parks to change their policy,but somebody that has the time, take it to Tallahassee,because nobody here has the ability to make change.

[MORGAN]

...and 9 months from now a run on labor and delivery rooms.

When I worked in the ER and we'd have more than the usual number of women in labor come in, someone would always remark that there must have been nothing good on TV 9 months ago.