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"Safe" limits for a solo diver
- Thread starter NicInKorea
- Start date
Thread Status: Hello
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Just to add a couple points. The experienced diver is more likely to have a serious accident because they push their boundaries. These people die all the time, even with safety cover. The inexperienced dont die very often. The person with some experience is the one that will get caught out.
It seems to me, with your experience in scuba, you are the perfect candidate to get into the area of great danger. You will know enough to get into trouble, but not enough to get out of it (you wouldnt be asking the question if you did).
If 20m dives are too deep for you, then that indicates you are no where near good enough a freediver to be safe on your own. (even if it were ever safe for a more experienced freediver). Therefore the safety standards learned over many years MUST be employed. They will save your life.
I would suggest that diving one third your max depth could be safe, but by adding the alone factor, even that depth becomes dangerous.
Does it matter? We see free climbers without ropes. One mistake will kill them and they still climb, its in their blood. I have heard it said that the closer a person feels they are to death, the more they feel alive.
This is not the philosphy of freedivers.
We feel alive because we have employed safety protocols. Diving without them spoils everything we want to feel. There is nothing there for us, at any depth, when we dive alone.
Sometimes its all about who you dive with. Thats what makes a perfect dive.
Having said all that, (I havent dived for about 8 years). But I am doing some very extreme solo swimming. Sometimes I feel its very much like diving alone. Its either staying wet or staying dry, and I cant do what I do, unless I stay wet.
It seems to me, with your experience in scuba, you are the perfect candidate to get into the area of great danger. You will know enough to get into trouble, but not enough to get out of it (you wouldnt be asking the question if you did).
If 20m dives are too deep for you, then that indicates you are no where near good enough a freediver to be safe on your own. (even if it were ever safe for a more experienced freediver). Therefore the safety standards learned over many years MUST be employed. They will save your life.
I would suggest that diving one third your max depth could be safe, but by adding the alone factor, even that depth becomes dangerous.
Does it matter? We see free climbers without ropes. One mistake will kill them and they still climb, its in their blood. I have heard it said that the closer a person feels they are to death, the more they feel alive.
This is not the philosphy of freedivers.
We feel alive because we have employed safety protocols. Diving without them spoils everything we want to feel. There is nothing there for us, at any depth, when we dive alone.
Sometimes its all about who you dive with. Thats what makes a perfect dive.
Having said all that, (I havent dived for about 8 years). But I am doing some very extreme solo swimming. Sometimes I feel its very much like diving alone. Its either staying wet or staying dry, and I cant do what I do, unless I stay wet.
I agree with the contributors who advise caution - there is no such thing as truly safe solo freediving. Sure you can stick to shallow dives, time your surface intervals, take a large water-bottle on your float ... etc., but who will help you out if you do get into trouble despite this?
This is one of the things that makes freediving a really frustrating hobby. You learn, then find it nigh impossible to find a buddy who is reasonably matched for ability, has enough money, leave allowance or freedom from family commitments to travel, and wants to go to the same place at the same time. Never mind finding someone that you would be happy to spend a week with.
As far as I know I'm the only freediver in my town (of 100,000 people). The only long-term solution is to try to recruit and train more freedivers, so that it isn't such a minority hobby. But that will require more teachers, and more publicity. I spoke to a SCUBA diver at my local pool, and he said he belonged to a club that ran eight or so trips a year for 12-20 divers. If only!
This is one of the things that makes freediving a really frustrating hobby. You learn, then find it nigh impossible to find a buddy who is reasonably matched for ability, has enough money, leave allowance or freedom from family commitments to travel, and wants to go to the same place at the same time. Never mind finding someone that you would be happy to spend a week with.
As far as I know I'm the only freediver in my town (of 100,000 people). The only long-term solution is to try to recruit and train more freedivers, so that it isn't such a minority hobby. But that will require more teachers, and more publicity. I spoke to a SCUBA diver at my local pool, and he said he belonged to a club that ran eight or so trips a year for 12-20 divers. If only!
If you interested in going to freediving trips let me know by PM and will send you some info - there are other freedivers in Kent if you don't mind travelling a bit, maybe you can team up and form a club...
SPY Tour of California + Matthew Busche + Commercial 2012 - YouTube
Bit like this fella?
Here's my 2p:
I never do more than 20metres, not even a full length when I don't have a buddy. Instead I concentrate on swimming on the surface and just breathing less whilst doing lengths so that when I do have a buddy (Which is hardly ever because I work too much, but thats another story
) I can potentially go further 
That's awesome! =)
I have been free diving solo for about a year now. What I really enjoy is the experience of doing something that is so different from the normal day to day life, and, as a bonus, I can return home sometimes with tasty lobsters, fish, or other yummy sea critters. This has been keeping me active on almost every day when conditions are good, and some days when conditions are not so good. I would absolutely appreciate buddies that would do what I do, and I have been attempting to find people like that, but there doesn't seem to be many around. Here in north shore Massachusetts, where the water has warmed up to a balmy 58 degrees since I started the season at the beginning of April, and a good day for visibility is 10-15 feet, there is apparently more SCUBA than free diving enthusiasts. (I'm am also enrolled in a SCUBA cert class starting next week).
I only free dive solo because I haven't yet found people who want to go out there every day - I believe it is more dangerous for me to be a couch potato waiting around to get heart disease. So, does anybody from north shore MA / seacoast NH want a free diving buddy?
I only free dive solo because I haven't yet found people who want to go out there every day - I believe it is more dangerous for me to be a couch potato waiting around to get heart disease. So, does anybody from north shore MA / seacoast NH want a free diving buddy?
Hey Steveed,
Have you tried getting in touch with the Massachussetts spearo club?
About Us - The Massachusetts Freedivers Spearfishing Club
Wellington ad man dies off Kapiti | Stuff.co.nz
This happened close to where I live at the end of last year. An experienced diver diving with a buddy. The fact is that freediving and spearfishing have inherent risks. This guy had other divers with him (incl Dave Mullins) who went down straight away, and he still died.
Diving on your own adds a huge amount of risk. There is no one to go down straight away looking. A solo diver's body may not be found until it washes up on a beach, or it may not be found at all.
It is very tempting to dive alone when you don't have buddies, as you just want to get out there. Enjoying the sea, keeping fit, wanting to catch some food for dinner... all those things seem really good reasons to do that solo dive. Especially if the diver has done it plenty of times before. But I guess all it takes is that one time for things to go wrong which may result on the solo diver never returning from that dive.
It's hard for those left behind. Hard no doubt in this case where he was with people, and I imagine incredibly hard when the diver takes an unnecessary risk - especially if the body is never recovered.
No fish is worth dying for IMO.
This happened close to where I live at the end of last year. An experienced diver diving with a buddy. The fact is that freediving and spearfishing have inherent risks. This guy had other divers with him (incl Dave Mullins) who went down straight away, and he still died.
Diving on your own adds a huge amount of risk. There is no one to go down straight away looking. A solo diver's body may not be found until it washes up on a beach, or it may not be found at all.
It is very tempting to dive alone when you don't have buddies, as you just want to get out there. Enjoying the sea, keeping fit, wanting to catch some food for dinner... all those things seem really good reasons to do that solo dive. Especially if the diver has done it plenty of times before. But I guess all it takes is that one time for things to go wrong which may result on the solo diver never returning from that dive.
It's hard for those left behind. Hard no doubt in this case where he was with people, and I imagine incredibly hard when the diver takes an unnecessary risk - especially if the body is never recovered.
No fish is worth dying for IMO.
Sorry, but this is a complete misinterpretation. Eric de Vries, the victim, spearfished from a boat with another guy. Dave Mullins just happened to be close (200m) with another boat and a group of freedivers. He hurried to help, but you cannot expect being able to save a diver who blacked out 200m away.
From the report about the accident it does not look the two spearfishers dived really in a buddy-system. In such safety system, the surface buddy watches the submerged one closely and without interruption until he surfaces, and another at least 30 seconds after surfacing (the highest risk of a BO), and only then he goes down himself. The article quotes the buddy of Eric in this case, telling he "lost sight of him close to the surface". You cannot lost a sight of your buddy close to the surface if you are watching him. It means he was perhaps relatively close, but minding his own spearfishing, just checking up and then what the buddy does. This is not buddy diving, technically it is still solo diving, just with another diver being at the same spot. If you are lucky it may sometimes help, and is better than when there is nobody at all, but it has nothing to do with safe buddy diving.
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I disagree with the bold italic part, because I think a true solo diver dives much more conservative then one that believes that he's observed.
Otherwise indeed a buddy should take his job seriously. However I understand the big brother buddies may feel are forcing upon their friends. I've had some occasions where I had different views on this subject, and though my friends are really forgiving and cool, I still feel some apprehension asking them to keep their buddy (me) in mind.
On the solo diving issue:
- I think consistency is very important.
Often stories of accidents go along with inconsistent circumstances. (food, health, weather, time of day, sea, materials, hydration, etc)
- Also keep your temper under control. Any feelings doubt is to be recognised and respected. As soon as you detect that feeling, return up.
- Limit the in water time. The longer you are diving and in the water, the more you get used to changing circumstances (like energy, tiredness, hydration, body temperature etc.) In other words your feelings and perception of them change during a dive session.
- A computer alarm can break you out of 'the spell' that time and depth may play on your mind, but it's you that need to be mindful.
- Adjust your load-out/ equipment. Have stuff for eventualities. Wear a line connected to dive buoy. Whistle, water, first aid, super glue, knife, phone etc.
- report to your relatives your day/dive plan, stick to it.
- Realise you've 1 live, you are the only one being very, very remote from any possible help. Love your 1 life.
Ok I misinterpreted the article and as someone still new to this I clearly have alot to learn about the specific definition of a buddy and the specifics of how the buddy system should work according if followed correctly.
The point I was making and still make is that diving on one's own is dangerous and taking the risk is not worth it and just wanting something for dinner isn't a good reason for diving on your own.
Yes, of course you are perfectly right. I just would not put buddy freediving and freediving solo in the same basket. Yes, there is always some risk everywhere, but frankly told I have yet to hear about some fatal accident at freediving with proper and real buddy safety system involved. So far I am aware only about a handful of cases of failed No Limits dives, and a case or two at freediving under ice, which are both very extreme cases of freediving and I would not really count them as regular freediving accidents. I heard just some uncofirmed rumour about an accident many years ago at some competition. In contrary, at spearfishing, recreational freediving and snorkeling, there are several hundreds of fatal accidents every year. It is very difficult to get to the real data, because the accidents are very rarely reported to DAN, but based on their data and on data collected by Terry Maas, the number of drawned freedivers averages around 15-30/year in every Mediteranean country alone, and then even higher in Brazil, USA, and other bigger countries.
So I do not think there is any comparison in safety of propper buddy freediving, and freediving alone (resp. with a buddy just diving at the same spot). Statistically taken, I think the risks of an accident at a propper buddy diving are not that higher than when walking on the street or driving a car. In contrary, at solo freediving, the risks are likely higher than at any extreme sport.
Well, it may be higher than you think. You will not always get to know about all accidents in your country, as long as it was an amateur spearfisher or a snorkeller not known in the community. And it does not always appear in the news either.
So for example in the official database at DAN, there are 60 reported freediving accidents worldwide in 2008, but that's just a tiny fraction of the real accidents, and only from some countries.
http://www.divewise.org/dan-stats.html
The real numbers can be easily 10 times higher. Of course, that's just a speculation and no hard fact, but you can be pretty sure that the real numbers are much higher than those officially reported to DAN.
The numbers of 15-30 annual deaths in the Med countries come from Terry Maas, who spent a lot of time and a lot of research on this topic after the tragic accident of his son. But those numbers are already around ten years old, and they are no official statistics.
You can help keeping the statistics better, by reporting accidents at DAN: BH Incident Report, but sincerely I hope you will never need to fill that form.
So for example in the official database at DAN, there are 60 reported freediving accidents worldwide in 2008, but that's just a tiny fraction of the real accidents, and only from some countries.
http://www.divewise.org/dan-stats.html
The real numbers can be easily 10 times higher. Of course, that's just a speculation and no hard fact, but you can be pretty sure that the real numbers are much higher than those officially reported to DAN.
The numbers of 15-30 annual deaths in the Med countries come from Terry Maas, who spent a lot of time and a lot of research on this topic after the tragic accident of his son. But those numbers are already around ten years old, and they are no official statistics.
You can help keeping the statistics better, by reporting accidents at DAN: BH Incident Report, but sincerely I hope you will never need to fill that form.
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