c/commercial-divers

Wet suit vs dry suit for harbor work, dry won after 4 months of Boston winters

Twenty years in and I just learned my salvage knots were wrong

I've been tying the same clove hitch setup for anchor lines since my first job in Port Angeles in 2003, and a decompression buddy finally showed me a different wrap that holds way better on wet rope. He spotted my old method slipping during a practice pull and asked if I'd ever lost gear that way, which I had twice. Anyone else pick up a bad habit from an old timer and only fix it when someone newer came along?

Still skeptical about dry suits with built-in boots after 2 seasons

Got a suit with molded boots last spring, mostly because my old booties kept slipping off at the worst times. Did a few harbor jobs in Tacoma and honestly they held up fine. But I still wonder if I'm just getting lucky. The ankle seal is a pain to get over my feet and I've had to patch one spot already. For anyone who's run these longer, do they start leaking around the boot seam after enough deep dives? Or am I overthinking it? My last suit lasted 7 years, I'd hate to replace this one in year 2.

Hitting 1,000 logged dives, my logbook tells a weird story

Passed 1,000 dives last month on a pipeline job near Galveston. I started counting back in 2004 on a salvage gig in Norfolk, never thought I'd get there. Flipping through the old paper logs, I saw I did 212 dives in 2011 alone, that was a brutal year on a rig in the Gulf. Now it's maybe 60 a year with inspection work. Makes me wonder, for the guys pushing 5,000, does the work ever feel routine or still get your heart going?

Walked the Chevron platform last week, still mad about the hose rack setup

Went out to one of the older Chevron platforms in the Gulf last Tuesday to do some inspection work, and the hose storage on the main deck is a straight up tangled mess. Nobody can tell me who's in charge of air hose management, but someone's got to take ownership because I watched a tender trip over lines twice before lunch. Is that just a platform life thing or does your crew actually keep a color coded hose layout for the dive station?

Tried a $30 dive computer case from Amazon, now my backup battery lasts twice as long

I usually keep my spare battery in a ziplock inside my dry bag, but last month a seal failed on a job near Port Hueneme and soaked everything. Swapped to a hard plastic case with a rubber gasket, the kind meant for phones, and noticed my backup battery holds charge way longer now. Guess the constant pressure changes in the bag were draining it slowly. Anyone else run into battery drain from storage setup, or is this just a me thing?

Diver down flag got tangled in a prop wash off Port Canaveral, nearly lost my buddy

We were doing a hull inspection on a barge last Tuesday and the current flipped my flag line around the thrusters, so now I zip-tie a second weight to the float and double-check the angle before anyone goes under, anyone else had close calls with gear getting sucked into wash?

My backup air hose got pinched on a Shell job, now I carry a spare regulator too

Out on a platform near Houma last month, my primary reg started free flowing real bad during a bell run. I grabbed my backup hose from the gear bag, hooked it up, and guess what, the damn thing had a pinch in it from where I shoved it under the deck box. Took me 25 minutes to realize the gas wasnt flowing right, and the super was yelling at me over comms. Swapped to the third reg I had in my truck, finished the dive, but that was a stupid close call. Now I keep a spare diaphragm kit and a back up reg in a dry bag at all times, not just the one hose. Has anyone else ever had backup gear fail because it sat too long in one spot?

Hit 2,000 logged dives and it hit me differently

Logged my 2,000th dive last week on a hull cleaning job in Norfolk. I keep a paper dive log book, same one since dive 400, and flipping back through the early pages made me realize how much the basics carried me. I was 22 and cocky, now I'm 34 and double check every O-ring and strap before splash. Has anyone else hit a milestone number and felt like it measured something other than just time underwater?

Bought cheap neoprene for a Gulf job, paid for it in shivers

Ran a solo weld inspection near Port Fourchon last month and figured a $60 Amazon drysuit underlayer would handle the 55 degree water. Big mistake. By minute 20 my legs were cramping so bad I cut the dive short and lost a half day's pay, about $350. The local shop guy handed me a proper crushed neoprene hood and vest combo for $120 and the difference was night and day. Lesson learned the hard way: never cheap out on thermal protection just because the surface temp looks fine. Anyone else find out the hard way that budget gear fails in the deep?.

A dive supervisor's comment fixed my buoyancy problem for good

Last year off the coast of Galveston, a supervisor named Dave watched me surface and said, 'You're swimming like a paddle boat, not a diver.' He pointed out I was kicking from my knees instead of my hips, which made me burn through air fast. I switched to slower, full-leg kicks and started using my dry suit to fine-tune trim instead of scrambling. Has anyone else had a supervisor catch something basic that totally changed their bottom time?

Heard a dive supervisor say something that stuck with me in Port Allen

Was waiting out a rain delay on a barge job down in Port Allen last month. Supervisor was chewing out a tender for not double checking the band clamps. He said, "The surface is where accidents get planned, the bottom is where they happen." Guy wasn't being poetic, he was dead serious. I've been diving for 6 years and I never thought of it that way, but it's true. Most of my close calls trace back to something dumb I skipped on deck, not what I did underwater. Since then I've been slowing down my pre-dive checks, even when the client is pushing. Anyone else have a sup or old hand drop a line like that that actually changed how you work?

Just crossed 3,000 logged dives and that number honestly snuck up on me

I was going through my logbook for an inspection job in Port Fourchon and realized I hit 3,000 total dives, which feels wild since I remember stressing about getting to 100 back in school. Has anyone else hit a milestone like this where the count just crept past you without noticing, or do you track those numbers deliberately?

Hit 2000 logged dive hours last month, numbers still feel weird

I passed 2000 hours on my logbook doing bridge inspection work off the Cape Fear River in Wilmington. Thought I'd feel more seasoned or something, but honestly it just showed me how much time I've spent in cold, dark water. The milestone mattered because my insurance premium finally dropped, which is the real win. Has anyone else had a dive count sneak up on them like that?

Had a perfect 80 foot dive last Wednesday and everything just clicked

I've been working a bridge inspection job down in Savannah for the last 2 months. Wednesday we had a simple bottom survey, nothing special. But the viz was crystal clear, current was almost zero, and my Kirby Morgan felt like it was built for me. Finished the whole run in 45 minutes, no comms issues, no gear problems. Found a small crack in a support piling that the sonar missed too. My supervisor said "nice eye" and that was it. Made my whole week. Anyone else have those days where diving just feels effortless?

Mixed gas mix-up almost got me at 100 feet off Pensacola

I was running a hot tap on a gas line off Pensacola last spring. My gas analyzer started flashing a bad mix on my trimix, but my tender was insisting the numbers looked fine topside. I called the dive and surfaced anyway, and it turned out my helium tank was reading 15% low. Has anyone else had issues with gas suppliers sending questionable fills?

Hot take: Dry welding vs wet welding for harbor repairs, I made my choice

I had to pick between doing dry welding with a habitat or just going wet on a dock repair job in Galveston last month. Dry welding meant renting a habitat for $3,000 a day and dealing with all that setup time. Wet welding was way cheaper but the welds look rougher and you gotta worry about hydrogen cracking. I went with wet welding because the customer couldn't wait three extra days for the habitat to arrive. It held up fine for the temporary fix but now I'm second guessing if I should have pushed harder for the dry option. Has anyone else had to make this call and regret it later?

Tried a Kirby Morgan band mask for the first time in 15 years and it felt totally different

I dove with a KM band mask back in the early 2000s and hated how it sat on my face. Last month I had to use one for a job off the coast of Galveston and I swear it felt like a whole different piece of gear. Maybe my head shape changed or they tweaked the fit over the years. Anyone else go back to old gear and find it works way better than you remembered?

Warning: don't waste money on those cheap dive computer straps

I spent $60 on a 3-pack of no-name rubber straps for my Shearwater off Amazon and three of them snapped on me within six dives in the Gulf. The last one gave out at 30 feet and my computer floated off into the murk. Anyone else lose gear to crappy accessories?

I finally saw the stats on how decompression sickness rates dropped since the 80s

Was reading through some old Navy diving manuals my buddy gave me and noticed a chart about DCS incidents. Turns out back in the early 80s there were like 12-15 cases per 10,000 dives in commercial work. Now it's down to 2-3 per 10,000. I always figured it was safer now but didn't know it was that big a change. Anyone else notice how much more strict the tables and deco stops have gotten compared to what the old timers talk about?

Had a reg freeflow at 90 feet and my buddy froze up on me

I was working a bridge inspection job in Charleston last fall, swapping out bolts on a support piling. My first stage started freeflowing out of nowhere, dumping air fast, and my buddy just stared at me through his mask like a statue. I had to grab his hose and signal him to shut my valve while I switched to my backup regulator. We made it up fine, but that 30 seconds reminded me why you never assume your partner will react right in a pinch. Any of you had a dive partner go blank on you when things went sideways?

Ran into an old dive buddy at Lowe's and he changed how I think about my mask

Realized I was using the wrong weight belt for 2 years after a buddy pointed it out off the coast of Galveston

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?

PSA: That fancy sat phone rental service I was skeptical about actually saved my ass on a pipeline job near Galveston last month.

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?

Took me 6 hours to fix a stuck knife valve on a sewer outfall job

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?