I always thought heavier was better for getting down quick, so I had a 50 pound belt that I used for everything. Last month during a job on a platform jacket, this older diver named Rick watched me gear up and just shook his head. He said I was fighting the water instead of working with it, and offered me one of his 35 pound belts to try. Soon as I dropped in, I felt way more control and wasn't burning through air just to stay neutral. Turns out my buoyancy was all off because I was overcompensating with the extra weight. Now I'm wondering how many other simple gear habits I've got wrong that I never thought to question. Anyone else have a basic piece of kit they used wrong for way too long?
I used to think renting a sat phone for offshore work was a total waste of money. $150 for a week seemed like a ripoff when my crew chief just used his cell. Then I got stuck on a leaking valve 3 miles offshore with no cell signal for 6 hours while the tide was coming up. The rental unit had SOS texting and GPS pinging to dispatch. My supervisor finally stopped laughing at me after I messaged him. Now I rent one every job, no question. Has anyone else found a piece of gear they swore off until a bad day changed their mind?
I always thought I could wrestle with those big knife valves no problem. But last week on a sewer outfall inspection in Baltimore, I had one jammed halfway open and nothing I tried would budge it. After 4 hours of beating on it with a sledge and using a cheater bar, my tender suggested we just take the actuator off and check the gate itself. Sure enough, a chunk of concrete was wedged behind it, took me another 2 hours to chisel out. Has anyone else had a simple piece of debris eat up half your dive time?
Was fighting a slow feed on my lifeline for an hour, finally just disconnected the whip hose and ran a thin zip tie through it. Has anyone else done something dumb simple that actually solved a big problem?
Told a new guy at the docks here in Port Fourchon that forced equalizing is how you blow an eardrum, has anyone else run into supervisors giving dangerous advice like that?
Was down in Norfolk last week having coffee with an old welder friend named Chuck, someone I've known since we worked on the same salvage job back in 2010. He asked me about my wet welding technique and I told him how I usually run hot and fast with 6013 rods. He just shook his head and showed me a photo of a weld he did underwater that looked like it came from a shop floor. Said the key was slowing down my travel speed by about 30% and paying more attention to my arc length instead of just blasting through. I tried his method on a repair job for a barge dock near the Elizabeth River and the bead lay down so much cleaner I barely had to grind. Now I'm wondering if there are other little adjustments like this that could save me time underwater. Has anyone else had a mentor who made you change a habit you thought was fine?
I keep seeing new guys in our field just ignoring their ears until it hurts. In my experience, that slow steady equalization every few feet saves you from a blown eardrum and a week off work. Last month I was on a job in New Bedford harbor and watched a helper try to force his way down 20 feet without equalizing once. He was out for three days with pressure damage, lost close to $800 in pay. Has anyone else noticed this becoming more common with the younger crew?
Had a thruster on my SeaBotix ROV start acting up during a bridge inspection job down in Jacksonville. Thought it was a simple seal swap, should take an hour tops. Ended up fighting with corroded bolts for 4 hours, then found the shaft bearing was shot. Had to wait 3 more hours for a ride back to the shop, then another 4 hours to machine a replacement bushing. Next time I'm keeping a spare bearing set in my truck. Anyone else run into parts that just seem to take forever to get right?
Bought a KM-17 off a guy in Houston who said it was 'barely used'. Turned out the oring groove had a hairline crack and it flooded on my first dive to 60 feet. Anyone else get burned buying used gear online?
Two weeks ago I crossed 1000 logged hours on a salvage job in the Gulf. Everybody talks about the bends or gear failures. Nobody mentions how your inner ear just gives up on balance. I stepped onto the boat after a 6 hour shift and hit the deck like a sack of bricks. Took me three days to walk straight again. The dive supervisor laughed it off said it happens to everyone around 1000 hours. Felt like something they should mention during training not after you eat fiberglass. Has anyone else hit a weird physical wall at a certain hour count?
I been diving commercial for about 8 years now and never really kept track of the numbers. But a buddy of mine made me start logging everything a few years back so I could spot patterns in my gear failures. Last month I hit exactly 1,000 logged dives and it hit me different than I thought it would. I mean that's a thousand times I've been underwater working on something... pipes, boats, whatever. It just made me think about all the close calls I had in the early days that I barely remember now. Has anybody else hit a round number like that and felt weird about it?
Was doing a gig in Norfolk last month on a salvage job, 60 feet down for about 45 minutes. Felt fine coming up, but my buddy noticed my umbilical had a tiny kink near the manifold that I missed before splash. That kink was messing with my gas mix without me knowing. The shop supervisor chewed me out saying I should always do a full hose pressure test before every dive, not just a visual. Now I spend an extra 10 minutes checking fittings and flow rates. Anyone else skip the pre-dive hose test and get lucky?
I was working a 100-foot depth inspection on a natural gas line near Port Fourchon and noticed the visibility was way worse than usual. Turned out there was a silt runoff from a nearby dredging operation that nobody warned us about. Has anyone else run into unexpected vis changes from dredging or construction nearby?
I always figured any trilam would work the same, but after a 40-minute bottom time at 80 feet near the Hood Canal bridge my buddy let me borrow his compressed neoprene suit and the difference in warmth and mobility was night and day. Now I get why guys are so picky about shell vs neoprene for cold water work. Anyone else changed their mind about a specific gear setup after a rough day under?
The silicone skirt kept pinching against my drysuit hood and made my voice sound like I was talking through a pillow, has anyone else had that issue with certain mask brands?
I always cut line and webbing by pulling the blade toward me. Last month a old diver named Sully at the shop in Galveston showed me to push the knife away from my body instead. Has anyone else had a basic habit that took way too long to fix?
I used to swear by my Kirby Morgan 17 band masks for everything. Did 5 years of inshore work in Galveston with that setup, thought it was bulletproof. Then I got a contract in the North Sea where the water temp was 38 degrees, and my comms kept cutting out through the hardwire. Switched to a full face AGA with a voice amp module after a supervisor told me "your words sound like garbage in that KM." The AGA saved me 3 hours of deck delays on a pipeline inspection job last November. The difference in clarity and seal in cold water is night and day. Anyone else made the jump from band masks to full face for colder dives?
I replaced my neck seal back in October and after 30+ dives in Puget Sound this winter the rubber has gone from stiff and uncomfortable to soft and flexible and I'm wondering if anyone else has noticed how much temperature and frequency affects the lifespan of these seals.
I was on a repair job at a dock in Galveston last Tuesday and my cutting knife was so dull I couldn't get through a 2 inch rubber hose. Ended up having to swim back to the boat to grab my backup knife, which wasted a bunch of bottom time. Now I keep a spare sharpener clipped inside my wetsuit pocket so it's always on me. Has anyone else had crap tools mess up a dive?
I stopped by the Gulfport yard to pick up some gear for a job coming up next month. Saw a whole stack of Kirby Morgan masks being stored with the neck dams just thrown on top of them in the sun. Those things are like $400 each and they're just cooking in UV rays and heat. Anybody else see gear getting treated this badly at their local yard?
I was counting up my logbooks over coffee and realized number 1,000 was coming up, so I marked it by finding a bolt stuck to a pipe that looked like a happy face, which felt about right for this job... has anyone else hit a weird milestone underwater that caught them off guard?
I was working off the coast of San Diego on a pier inspection job. My primary cutting tool slipped out of my hand and sank into the silt. I had to decide quick between going after it blind or calling it a loss and moving on. I spent about 10 minutes feeling around in zero visibility before I grabbed it by the hose. It was a close call and it made me rethink how I clip gear on my harness. Do you guys go after dropped tools or just mark it as gone? Has anyone else had a near miss like that?
I see guys on job sites in the Gulf all the time using those $300 masks from China and they leak like crazy below 30 feet. Had a guy next to me in Port Fourchon last month waste an hour on a simple hull inspection because his face seal kept flooding. Spend the extra $150 on a real KM 37 and you won't have to fight your gear every dive. Anyone else notice the quality difference or am I the only one who cares about not breathing water?
I spent a full 90 minutes wrestling with a corroded zipper pull that should have been a 5 minute fix because I forgot to carry spare dental picks, and now I'm wondering if anyone else has a go-to trick for frozen zippers on old suits.