c/commercial-divers

23

paul_ramirez•3d ago

I think the whole "always buddy breathe" thing is overblown in shallow water

Last month I was doing a hull inspection in San Diego harbor, maybe 15 feet down, and my regulator started free flowing out of nowhere. Buddy was 30 feet away on the other side of the boat. Instead of swimming over and sharing air, I just did a controlled emergency ascent. Took maybe 10 seconds. People act like you're going to die if you don't grab a buddy's octopus every time, but in shallow warm water with a direct shot to the surface, going straight up is faster and safer. Has anyone else actually timed how long a CESA takes versus buddy breathing?

4

the_holly•4d ago

Overheard a surface guy on the radio tell his dive buddy to 'just ignore the deco stop if you feel fine' last week in the Gulf

I sat there for a second wondering if I should pipe up, then remembered the guy has 20 years in the water while I've only got 4, but has anyone ever actually had to talk a senior diver out of skipping stops?

23

blair_chen81•4d ago

Spent $45 on a really good neck dam and it saved my whole dive day in Alaska

I was working on a bridge pier in Ketchikan last October and the water was just brutal cold (you know, like 38 degrees). I kept getting water trickling down my suit no matter how tight I sealed things up. A guy I trust from the union hall told me to try a silicone neck dam from Commercial Diving Supply instead of the cheap rubber ones. It cost me $45 which felt like a lot for a piece of silicone but I figured what the heck. First dive with it and not a single drop got down my back. I could actually focus on the job instead of shivering my way through each bottom time. Has anyone else found a random piece of gear that made that big a difference for not much money?

19

nancy_king29•5d ago

Old school Kirby Morgan vs the new Chinese knockoff regulators

I remember when a Kirby Morgan hat was built like a tank and parts were everywhere. Last month I tried one of those budget regulators from overseas to save some cash on a side job in Galveston. The thing started free flowing at 60 feet and the second stage felt like a toy. Has anyone else had issues with the cheaper gear or am I just set in my ways?

25

williamhenderson•5d ago

My old Diving hat from 1995 finally gave out on me

Last week I was doing a bridge inspection in Port Arthur, Texas and my old Desco hat started leaking around the neck dam. That hat was with me since my first job on the Gulf rigs back in 95. I had to switch to a new Kirby Morgan 21 I picked up at a salvage sale, and it just feels different, not bad, but not the same. Any of you guys hang onto gear way past its prime just because it worked?

18

theajohnson•6d ago

Unpopular take: My Kirby Morgan 37 is way better than my old KM 28

I spent 5 years diving with a KM 28 in the Gulf and thought it was fine until I got a 37 last spring. The weight difference on my neck after a 6-hour shift in 45-degree water is night and day. Has anyone else made that switch and found the 37 helps with fatigue more than people admit?

8

hannah_wells•7d ago

Lost comms 80 feet down off the coast of Galveston last month

Was doing a non-destructive testing job on a platform leg near Galveston, about 80 feet down. My comms unit just went dead mid-sentence, total silence from topside. I had a backup buddy line but no one could hear me. I went through my emergency hand signal checklist with the tender, but he was new and froze up. I had to surface slow on my own with no go-ahead, which felt sketchy as hell. Took 15 minutes but I made it up and got chewed out for not waiting longer. Has anyone else had a comms failure and had to just bail on the dive?

4

theajohnson•12d ago

That old timer in Port Fourchon told me to always double check my tank valves before a dive.

I blew off his advice last month, skipped the check, and ended up with a freeflow at 60 feet that cost me a whole day and $300 in lost gear; has anyone else had a simple safety step save their bacon?

24

the_jake•13d ago

The shift that went from perfect to nightmare in 90 minutes

Last Tuesday off the coast of Galveston, I had one of those days that started amazing and then flipped hard. We were setting anodes on a pipeline in 80 feet of water, vis was crystal clear at 15 feet, and my lift bag work was spot on. Then my pneumo line got tangled in a riser clamp and I spent 45 minutes hanging upside down trying to undo it. By the time I surfaced, my neck was wrecked and I had salt water in every crevice of my drysuit. Has anyone else had a single piece of gear just ruin an otherwise perfect shift?

28

quinncoleman•13d ago

I thought dry suits were just marketing hype until I hit 45 degree water off the coast of Astoria last fall

Two hours in and my core temp felt like I was standing in a heated garage, that's when I realized spending the extra $1,200 was worth every penny and I haven't touched a wet suit since.

17

zara_sanchez•14d ago

TIL I was tying my lift bags wrong for two years

Had a supervisor on a job in Port Arthur pull me aside after watching me fumble a 50-foot bag lift and showed me the proper half-hitch setup, and now I'm wondering how many other little things I've been doing backwards this whole time... anyone else have that moment where you realize a basic skill was completely off?

17

phoenix_grant•15d ago

Tried a Kirby Morgan 37 for the first time on a job in Norfolk and my neck still hurts

Ive been diving with a classic 17 for years but last month the client insisted on the 37 for a bridge inspection. The extra weight on my head after 3 hours underwater was brutal. Learned that lighter helmets have a cost too when it comes to stability in current. Has anyone else switched hats and regretted it for a specific job?

11

miasanchez•15d ago

Vent: Tried the 'slow and steady' approach on a deep wreck dive and nearly ran out of air

Everyone always talks about being methodical down there, taking your time to check every bolt and weld. But last week off the coast of Galveston, I spent almost 20 minutes just finning around a single section of a sunken shrimp boat, and my tank dropped way faster than I planned. I had to cut my inspection short and head up with barely 500 psi left. What I learned is that being too thorough can actually be dangerous if you lose track of your gas consumption. Has anyone else had this happen where sticking to the textbook almost got you in trouble?

22

thea602•16d ago

Dropped $400 on a fancy drysuit valve and it froze shut on my first deep dive in Puget Sound

Bought a top-of-the-line inflation valve thinking it'd be bulletproof, but at 100 feet in 45-degree water the damn thing seized up and I couldn't adjust my buoyancy. Had to abort the whole job and swim up with a buddy hauling my gear. Anyone else had a 'upgrade' fail in the worst way?

15

olivermason•16d ago

Hit 1,000 hours underwater last month without even realizing it

I was just logging dives for my records and added up the total. Came to 1,042 hours since I started working commercial in 2019. Mostly pipeline inspection jobs around the Gulf. It snuck up on me, you know? I remember thinking 100 hours felt like a big deal back in training. Now it's just part of the routine. Has anyone else had a number like that pop up and surprise them?

25

sammartinez•16d ago

Took me 3 dives to figure out why my mask kept fogging up on the Gulf job last month

I was out with a crew near Galveston and every single dive my mask would fog within 5 minutes. I tried all the usual tricks, spit, defogger spray, even lighter soot. After wasting way too much time on the surface I realized the seal was getting a tiny bit of salt water inside when I hit the water. One little rinse with fresh water before each descent fixed it completely. Has anyone else run into a simple fix that took way longer than it should have to figure out?

4

paige166•17d ago

Had my lift bag pop at 60 feet and it changed how I rig everything now

After 12 years of diving, I was at a job off the coast of Galveston last month when my lift bag shot to the surface because I had the dump valve open too wide. I always thought I had it down, but that near miss made me realize I was using way too much lift for the load weight. Anyone else have a stupid mistake that finally made you double-check your rigging every time?

8

emma96•17d ago

Sat 30 feet down with a busted lift bag for 45 minutes

Lift bag zipper failed on a salvage job in Norfolk harbor. Took me 45 minutes to wrestle it to the surface without losing the load. Anyone else have gear fail at the worst possible moment?

11

jake747•20d ago

What's the deal with surface supplied vs. scuba for salvage work?

Last month in Newport Harbor, I tried using surface supplied gear for a hull inspection, and it took forever to get the hose untangled from a mooring line. Last week with scuba tanks, I finished the same job in half the time but had to watch my air like a hawk. Which setup do you guys prefer when you have to work around a lot of underwater obstacles like lines and chains?

24

paige166•20d ago

That old diver who told me to never trust a drysuit zipper on a boat...

Last summer off the coast of Galveston, I followed his advice and packed a spare zipper repair kit in my bag, and when my main zipper blew out 40 feet down, I was able to fix it in 10 minutes instead of aborting the whole dive.

7

ramirez.vera•21d ago

Stubborn lift bag finally convinced me to switch to a bigger dump valve

I always used those standard 2 inch dump valves on my lift bags, thought anything bigger was overkill. Then last month off the coast of Galveston I had a bag start to runaway on me with a 500 pound anchor. It took me way too long to dump air and I almost lost the whole rig. Swapped to a 4 inch valve the next week and the control difference is night and day. Anyone else ever had a close call because you skimped on gear specs?

10

ruby659•21d ago

That job in Galveston taught me to double-check my lift bag rigging

Last month I was working on a pier repair in Galveston and my lift bag came loose mid-ascent because I'd used a cheap shackle. The bag shot up and I had to swim hard to avoid it. Now I only use rated hardware and check every connection before I go down. Anyone else have a close call with gear failing underwater?

24

spencer_gonzalez1•22d ago

TIL my old dive knife was a real problem after a close call on a rig in the Gulf last month.

I had to pick between a blunt-tip rescue knife and a standard serrated edge, and going with the blunt tip probably saved me from a nasty cut when my line got tangled in some old cable.

-1

felixlane•26d ago

Appreciation post: The worst visibility I've ever had was on a job in the Gulf last Tuesday.

We were supposed to be inspecting a pipeline at 90 feet, but the silt was so thick I could barely see my own gauges. The current kept shifting and I spent four hours just trying to stay oriented and not get my umbilical tangled. Has anyone else had a job where you basically had to work blind?

21

corah75•26d ago

Serious question, what's your take on the new OSHA regs for saturation diving bell comms?

I was reading a report from a North Sea job last month where they had to add a third, totally separate comms line to the bell. The dive supervisor said it was because of a new rule about having two backups instead of one. That seems like a huge change for deep jobs. How are you guys handling that on your current projects?