Solo diving @ Little River?

[phreaticus53]

Thanks for all the replys and suggestions.
Since I will be diving with a buddy with backmount 104's I won't be doing any solo stuff, nor will I be going into real small stuff. Just swimming around under the ground, playing with the GoPro and getting some physical and mental exercise.
Oh, and giving the knees and hips a break to and from the water! The steps at LR would have been fun (not) with 104's on my back...I like the two trip, one tank each time version. Good test location, only place I can think of with more steps off the top of my head would be Alachua...?

[mag3]

Is solo diving OK at LR? I need to get in the water with a new sidemount rig to tweak hose lengths, cam strap positioning, etc. Will just stay in the cavern zone.
Over 3000 cave dives, so I think I know my limits! Not totally new to sidemount, just took a six year break.
Thanks for any current info.

Who is going to stop you? Solo diving is allowed at most sites except for state parks.

Actually, the last time I dove LR solo, there was a Columbia County Sheriff's deputy there on patrol, watching me set up. And, although he didn't say it was illegal, he did caution me against it. I did tell him I was "full cave" and experienced in Solo diving. He said, "Okaaaaaaaaayyyyyy...." and said nothing further. I think, perhaps, he saw my buddy "AL" there and the other redundant gear, and felt better, but I don't know.

[WEPIV]

Little River has long been my favorite solo diving spot. I used to dive there weekly (or a few times a month) and often by myself. I was concerned about it becoming a state park, as it might well do sometime down the road, but as for now, I'm glad it's still a free county park.

[Sludge]

I did tell him I was "full cave" and experienced in Solo diving. He said, "Okaaaaaaaaayyyyyy...." and said nothing further.

That's when I whip out my handy dandy SDI Solo Diver card.

[oceancurrent]

That's when I whip out my handy dandy SDI Solo Diver card.

Sadly, even if you whip out a full cave instructor card paired with an SDI Solo Diver Instructor card, the state parks and other places that have a no-solo policy won't care the least bit. It does not help that a small but vocal group of self-righteous divers condemn any solo diving under any circumstance by any diver. By the way, the SDI solo book also specifically opposes solo technical/overhead diving (see below). By this measuring stick, all of us who dive solo (including the vast majority of the big name divers of past and present) are outlaws.

[jerrwhy01]

I breathe a little less than 1/6 out of my right tank
Then breathe a little less than 1/3 out of my left tank
Then switch back and breathe a little less than 1/6 out of my right tank again..

Then it's time to turn around.

This keeps both sides within 1/6 of each other during the entire dive.

I don't have to do math in my head, I just remember my turn pressure and breathe halfway to it on the right, then all the way to it on the left then all the way to it on the right again.

That is how I do it as well.

[rob191]

I'm fully convinced if I breathed one down a complete third before switching, Murphy would instantly zap the full tank.

This situation is not that big of a deal. It does not matter if you breath 1psi from each tank until your turn around time or 1/3 of the first tank completely before switching. Your most vulnerable point in the dive is when you are at turn time and both tanks are 1/3 depleted. At that point if you lose a tank you have to exit from your max penetration on 2/3 of one tank.

Breathing 1psi from each tank to keep them even still puts you into this situation when eventually you are at thirds on both tanks and ready to turn the dive. If you lose your fullest tank at any point on the dive before this max penetration but have breathed your other tank down 1/3 then you will obviously be more than capable of exiting this shorter than max penetration distance on that same 2/3 of 1 tank. If you lost it the second you switched after breathing 1/3 of the first tank then you would only be half way into the cave and with a full 2/3 tank. You basically are at thirds at that point and have the same gas reserve as any normal dive but have lost some gear redundancy.

You could even argue that more dangerous than losing the full tank after breathing 1/3 of the other tank could be to lose the remaining 2/3 of that tank while retaining the full volume in the other tank. With a large over filled steel tank you'd be swimming completely sideways to the exit. This really is just a mental issue though because at some point you will breath 1/3 of that tank and be in the same situation as if you'd lost the full tank instead but hopefully have made it closer to the exit without mental issues creating more of a problem for yourself.

That being said, it is more conservative (even if unnecessary) to not breath the full third down on the first tank before switching and with steel tanks not containing helium you should definitely be off balance before this point and wanting a switch anyway.

I like to keep my tanks within 500 psi of each other mostly for balance but also to minimize possible gas loss even though I know I "should" not need that surplus and will eventually arrive at the same most vulnerable situation at turn time regardless of tank switching frequency. Bigger tanks will require switches with less pressure difference because more weight of gas is contained in each psi. Lighter gasses will enable larger differences before being noticibly of balance.

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[Diverlee]

This situation is not that big of a deal. It does not matter if you breath 1psi from each tank until your turn around time or 1/3 of the first tank completely before switching. Your most vulnerable point in the dive is when you are at turn time and both tanks are 1/3 depleted. At that point if you lose a tank you have to exit from your max penetration on 2/3 of one tank.

Breathing 1psi from each tank to keep them even still puts you into this situation when eventually you are at thirds on both tanks and ready to turn the dive. If you lose your fullest tank at any point on the dive before this max penetration but have breathed your other tank down 1/3 then you will obviously be more than capable of exiting this shorter than max penetration distance on that same 2/3 of 1 tank. If you lost it the second you switched after breathing 1/3 of the first tank then you would only be half way into the cave and with a full 2/3 tank. You basically are at thirds at that point and have the same gas reserve as any normal dive but have lost some gear redundancy.

You could even argue that more dangerous than losing the full tank after breathing 1/3 of the other tank could be to lose the remaining 2/3 of that tank while retaining the full volume in the other tank. With a large over filled steel tank you'd be swimming completely sideways to the exit. This really is just a mental issue though because at some point you will breath 1/3 of that tank and be in the same situation as if you'd lost the full tank instead but hopefully have made it closer to the exit without mental issues creating more of a problem for yourself.

That being said, it is more conservative (even if unnecessary) to not breath the full third down on the first tank before switching and with steel tanks not containing helium you should definitely be off balance before this point and wanting a switch anyway.

I like to keep my tanks within 500 psi of each other mostly for balance but also to minimize possible gas loss even though I know I "should" not need that surplus and will eventually arrive at the same most vulnerable situation at turn time regardless of tank switching frequency. Bigger tanks will require switches with less pressure difference because more weight of gas is contained in each psi. Lighter gasses will enable larger differences before being noticibly of balance.

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I found that when I carry a buddy bottle my anxiety is gone I didn?t t realize I had anxiety solo diving until I started carrying one.


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[diverdarren]

That's when I whip out my handy dandy SDI Solo Diver card.

Has that card actually ever allowed you to dive anywhere that you would not have been allowed without it?

[Nitrogenius]

Kakuk said that breathing one cylinder down by 1/3 may leave you too little gas if you have a total failure at turn range or so in your other tank. Haven't worked the math and possible redundancy/volume problems there yet.

if that was the case then thirds in general would not be sufficient planning reserve..
If you stay within your gas rule.. it does not matter when you actually switch, you will always have adhered to the rule.
You should chose your rule that for a critical failure you always have sufficient gas to get out..
Of course if you switch more frequently, A) it would not matter which of the tanks fails as they are carrying loosely the same quantity then and
B) if it does not fail at max penetration (at which point you would have both tanks similar empty) then it provides more cushion..
But then, if you breath one tank to thirds and have not touched the other but the "more empty" tank fails you even have gained extra cushion


So it makes sense to keep track of the "safety factor" applied and how this translates to gas rules..


Back to topic.. I switch as frequently as to keeping tanks within 300 psi in shallow caves (Mexico 20ft ish caves) and 500 psi deeper than that which roughly translates into a switch every 5-10 min..