Solo dive and Metal detecting

[Overvoltage]

For you metal detecting divers:
Do you prefer to solo dive when you are metal detecting swimming holes and beach areas or do you insist on diving with a buddy?
If you do solo dive, I am assuming it would be a beach/shore walk in dive, how deep will you go by yourself?
If you do solo dive, do you take any extra safety precautions? If so what do YOU do?
If you dive with a buddy, how far apart do the two of you get when you are metal detecting.
Do you take any extra safety precautions when diving with a metal detector? If so what are they?

I know this is a very controversial topic. There are people who feel very strongly about both sides to this topic. I want to hear you opinion.

 

[mudpuppy]

Thats a real problem aint it?

In just about all pursuit oriented sports, in my experience, most 'Buddys' aint worth a Tinkers cuss! They are never on time, ill prepared if they do show up, and you generally have to babysit THEM throughout the duration of the event! And to top that off, they are the one who through no effort or skill, manage to out hunt YOU on a spot YOU found!

Really tough to find a good Buddy....In my 56 yrs on this Planet, I've only found one really great Buddy...we really knocked it down too...he had skills I didnt have, and vice versa, and our alliance made each other really good at what we were up to at the time...made each other 'better' on account of it...so it was a unique situation in a span of time where we both showed up and were serious about what we were after...I did not have to worry about an emergency either, on account of this guy had all the skills and was not going to run off and leave a guy if SHTF....nor was I...

This applies to all Buddys, from divers to mushroom hunters...tough to find a good buddy, so whats a guy to do? If he cant find a really great Buddy, you gotta go alone and be super cautious and prepared is what, or Life passes you by....

My great Buddy is somewhere in the wilderness of Montana, havnt seen him in 20yrs...Lord, I miss that guy, plus, we were the exact same physical size, so we could swap clothes, boots, and gear like a couple of girls!... I bet its nearly impossible to find a great dive buddy.....
Mud.

 

[Overvoltage]

I have detecting buddies that I can not count on when on terra firma let alone as a dive buddy. I have also found that most, if not everyone at the local dive shop could care less about metal detecting a swimming hole. So what is a guy to do? I guess hone the skills in self rescue and go for it.
Dang Mud, Wish we lived closer.

 

[mudpuppy]

Well? Where do you live? You want to find gold or what? I aint getting any younger here! I'd sure like to do a mega subsurface ransack just once...travel fast and light and really knock it down!
Mud

 

[GeorgeinSC]

I never dove alone. Dive Instructor was adamant that one should never dive alone. However finding a metal detecting dive buddy might be a hard item to locate. You may not have a choice but to dive alone.

As Mud says a Real Buddy is very hard to find. In my 74 years I have had one Real Buddy. We hunted, fished, and generally had a blast out of life until he left this earth 12 years ago at the young age of 64. When I look in my Dictionary at the word Friend his name is all that appears. 37 years of hunting, fishing, shooting and other outdoor activities were not nearly enough.

I just wish that he and I had been into metal detecting back then. We would have had a blast.

 

[Overvoltage]

George, I'll be down your way June 20 & 21 (Saturday & Sunday) to do my open water certification dives if everything goes as planned and the weather cooperates. I will be going out with Charleston Scuba to Trophy Lakes first on Saturday 20th and to the Charleston 60 Sunday 21st. Hopefully we can meet up and do a little beach detecting while I'm there.

 

[fongu]

Good friends that you can trust are hard to find. Guess that's why I'm a loner. In my physical state, I wouldn't want anybody to depend on me. I don't say that in a mean spirited way, it's just reality. Old fongu ain't what he used to be.

 

[Dancer]

I ain't got no buddy, I ain't got no pardner, I'm a lonely frogman, I don't have a home.

 

[Barry NY]

hi. you're diving and detecting in under 15' of water where the gold is...what could possibly be life threatening?
worst case you run out of air and have to dump your lead and surface in a few seconds...

 

[landman]

Did all the time with an electric hooka. My precautions were being in a lit, free of
obstacles. Where you feel safe. Plus I was in 10-25ft water. If I do this again, I believe
I'd equip myself with 2 spareair's and an inflatable. I do not see anything wrong with solo diving.

 

[GeorgeinSC]

Keep in touch and we will see if we can put in a little time at the beach. If nothing else the Scenery is nearly always quite good.

 

[PSS1963]

I can see both sides of this one. Done my share of solo-diving, partly by accident as a consequence of our poor viz in New England and partly by design - either couldn't hook up with a buddy that day or was going on a charter (lobster, scallop or wreck) and buddying in those situations is either loose or non-existent. In the case of lobster and scallop hunting, the charters basically take you to the spot and its every man for himself. On these lobstering outings in particular I sometimes don't see another soul for an entire hour long dive, but there the depths are short (keep it under 35' for more bottom time). But, I've also dove wrecks at 95' where there are other people nearby but they aren't looking after you, nor you them. I don't do those deep ones without a redundant air supply so an out-of-air thing is less likely to be a crisis. But whether you are shallow or deep a physiological event (heart attack, stroke or other) is probably the biggest threat. A lot of the people on this forum (myself included) are over 50 so this is a real issue.

I lost a good friend and dive buddy last year to an accident and to this day we're not sure what happened. She wasn't diving with me at the time, but in a group of five up in Maine waters. They were ending the dive and returning to the boat - I think Anna was bringing up the rear. She didn't surface with the others so they went back down to look for her and found her face down in only 25' of water - she was 60.

BTW, Anna took my avatar photo on a night dive in 2004. That was one of the best dives I ever had. Decided to scan the picture (it was taken on 35mm) and use it as a tribute to her.

- pete

 

[mudpuppy]

Wow...Sorry for your loss Pete..Anna sounds like a really great adventurous soul...You are right, we are mainly old people in various stages of declining health...diving is not for the physically weak...hell, the effort is monumental just hauling gear and getting in a wetsuit...
My daughter warns me all the time about how dangerous shallow water diving is on account of people dont fear it as much, so they tend to take shortcuts and not pay attention, things like that, she said she would never fill tanks for me even though I told her my plans of only going down 15' and detecting alone...she knows how I am, still, whats a person to do? There is not a great partner that matches the parameters required....thats a nice picture and good memories of your friend...
Mud

 

[togamac]

hi. you're diving and detecting in under 15' of water where the gold is...what could possibly be life threatening?
worst case you run out of air and have to dump your lead and surface in a few seconds...

One thing that could go wrong is that you get snagged by something your knife won't cut, for example a piece of barbed wire fencing or submerged junk. Carry cutting tools for the wire and anything you're wearing. If it's a body part, Sayonara!

 

[Overvoltage]

Pete and Mud, I hear ya on the getting older. I told my Wife I wanted to learn to scuba before I get too old to do it. I just turned 48 and I am in as good of shape or better than as I was 20 years ago. I am actually doing a Marine Corp Mud Run May 16 with my 18 year old son. So hopefully I have a few more good years left in me.
Pete, sorry to hear about your friend. That is awesome that you have a special way to remember her with your avatar.

 

[frogmanungar]

Ive been diving now for 45 yrs. Certified in 1970. Have had ONE close call where my dive buddy gave me air and that situation involved going into a cave entrance with a high volume of water. An accident just takes a few seconds and is unpredictable in this case who ever thinks the mouthpiece on there regulator would come off! The next breath was water. Well other than that Nothing else over 45 years. I have been alone and didn't like it. I plan to go alone only in shallow water detecting will probably use a pony bottle to dive under and retrieve targets (under 10 feet) Know the area well and no currents, my wife will be swimming in the same beach area also. Normally with real diving in deeper water the way I trained, and like has already been mentioned a real buddy comes along once in a lifetime , I just couldn't go alone on a real dive any more.

 

[scotthowes]

I dive alone because who would want to bury them selves in the mud unless they enjoy both diving and metal detecting . My other thought about having a buddy is if you cant save your self, no one else can. Your buddy can only tell the recovery team where they last saw your bubbles. Just be safe in the end.

 

[fongu]

Sorry to hear about your friend, PSS1963. Glad your avatar is a tribute to her.

 

[Jason in Enid]

I solo dive all time, both detecting and general scuba diving. Most dive partners would be completely useless in an emergency anyway. PLan your dive, consider the hazards, find a solution to those hazards, enjoy your dive.