Just got back from a 3 week stint on a rig off Aberdeen. Water temp was 6 degrees C. Gotta say, the cold is brutal but the currents there are nothing like what I deal with in the Gulf. Down in Louisiana we got murk and alligators but way warmer. Old timer told me the North Sea will kill you faster with hypothermia but the Gulf will drown you in a tangle of lines. Who here has done both? Which do you think is the tougher work environment?
Was working a salvage job in San Diego and the D-ring on the bag let go. We had to send a tender down with a backup bag and re-rig the whole thing before we could even surface. Has anyone else had a D-ring snap on them unexpectedly?
We had a 10-day window off Port Fourchon to repair a riser on a platform, and the weather cooperated the whole time. Usually I'm fighting 3-foot swells and zero vis, but we had calm seas and 15 feet of visibility every single dive. My supervisor said it was the best stretch he'd seen in 5 years. Has anyone else ever had a job line up perfectly like that, or am I just jinxing my next one?
I was at a shop in San Diego last week picking up some o-rings and this kid, probably mid 20s, was talking about how he only uses wireless intercoms. Made me think about all those years I spent cutting my teeth on a KMB 18B with that clunky hardwire setup off the Louisiana coast in 2007. Sure, wireless is nice and all, but I still carry a backup hardwire reel just in case. Anyone else keep old gear around for peace of mind?
My old Suunto D6i just blanked out on me during a routine inspection dive on a platform leg. I was alone at depth checking a weld when the screen went black. I had to abort the dive and do a controlled ascent, which messed up my whole schedule. My backup was in my bag on the boat because I got lazy. Do you guys always carry a backup computer on every jump or do you roll the dice like I did?
She said 'you're fighting what you can't see instead of working with what you can feel' and now I've started trusting my hands more in zero vis situations, has anyone else shifted their mindset like that after a conversation?
Bought a set of 4 50lb lift bags off eBay for $120, figured they'd do the job for salvage work on a wreck near San Diego. First dive with them at 60 feet and one blew a seam on the second lift, lost a good chunk of a day. Anybody had better luck with a specific brand that won't leave you stranded?
I was shooting the breeze with this guy Gary who's been diving since the 80s, he was telling me about how he still packs his own valve o-rings because the factory ones are junk. That hit different because I've been fighting a slow leak for months and just assumed it was the suit itself. He said to pop the valve apart and regrease everything, told me most guys never touch them until they fail. Has anyone else found a simple fix like that that saved you a huge headache on gear?
I was pulling chain off a wrecked barge off the coast of Louisiana and my depth gauge ticked right past 200. That extra 50 feet of bottom time wrecked my deco schedule and I sat in the chamber for almost 4 hours after. Has anyone else pushed past their usual working depth and gotten surprised by the hit it takes on your body?
I was gearing up by the water and that little thief just swam right over, grabbed the strap with its mouth, and took off toward the pier - has anyone else had marine life swipe their gear before you even got wet?
I was out on a job near the Galveston jetties last Tuesday, inspecting a riser at about 90 feet. Noticed the anodes were bolted too close to the weld zones, like within 6 inches. Anyone else run into this on offshore pipelines and have to decide whether to flag it or just let it slide?
I went with scuba on a job in Port of Seattle last month cause the boat was small, but the current almost pulled me under, so I'm wondering if surface supplied gear with a harness would have been safer for a 2 hour shift - what do you guys use for shallow water work like this?
I was cleaning gear last weekend and noticed a date stamp on my Si-Tech inflator valve. Looked it up and it was made in 1987, which is 8 years before I was born. Found the info in a scuba gear history forum where someone was dating old parts. Kinda wild to think about how many dives that little thing has been through. Anybody else ever check the age of their random gear pieces?
Honestly, after 3 years of diving I finally tried shoving my backup reg in a freezer bag before a murky harbor job last Tuesday and it kept it totally crud-free when I had to switch over. Has anyone else got a weird trick like that for keeping gear clean on dirty sites?
Was on a job in Port Fourchon last week swapping out a wellhead valve, and one of the senior guys watched me pull out a specialty tube of zipper lube. He told me he's been using plain old Vaseline from the drugstore on his Viking suit for 15 years and never had a leak. Now I'm wondering if I've been throwing money at the wrong stuff this whole time. Anyone else ditch the expensive brands for something cheap and it worked better?
Last month I was working a salvage job at 180 feet in Galveston. Decided to try this modified schedule I read about from some diver forum. Thought I was playing it safe with extra stops. Came up feeling fine but 30 minutes later my elbow was screaming. Spent 12 hours in a chamber and learned real quick that the old tables exist for a reason. Anyone else ever cheap out on deco and regret it?
Figured out it was just a tiny piece of grit in the seal, but I must have taken that whole assembly apart three times before I saw it. Anyone else waste a full afternoon on something that simple?
About 5 years ago I was working a bridge job near Lake Charles, 60 feet down with zero viz. My Kirby Morgan kept flooding through the neck seal and I was getting frustrated. An old timer named Earl came over during a break and told me to flip my drysuit neck seal inside out before putting it on under the hat. He said I was pinching it wrong. I tried it the next dive and it worked perfect, no more leaks. Anyone else have a random tip from a guy on site that fixed a common problem for you?
My old band mask finally gave out after 10 years of abuse. The rubber was cracking and the seal was shot. I had about $2,500 set aside and I could either get a brand new KM 37 or a fresh 300 foot umbilical for my current setup. I went with the mask because my umbilical still had life left in it. Big mistake. The mask is solid, no complaints there, but on my next job the umbilical started leaking air at the fitting and I had to borrow one from the dive supervisor. Took a whole day to sort out. Should have just fixed the old mask and gotten the umbilical. Anyone else ever make a gear call that backfired?
I was doing a hull inspection on a tugboat last Thursday and my brand new drysuit seal let go at the wrist. Water got into my thermals and I started shivering bad within 10 minutes. Had to call the dive and surface early which cost the client a half day at $800. Has anyone else had trouble with those new silicone seals from the 2024 batch?
I tried to fix a stuck zipper on my Viking suit myself with one of those budget repair kits from Amazon. The zipper tore worse after 20 minutes, and I had to pay a shop $150 to replace the whole thing. Lost the $50 for the kit PLUS the repair cost. Has anyone else had a bad experience trying to DIY gear fixes?
I was doing a bridge inspection near Portland and my suit started getting stiff. Realized the inflator valve was stuck shut and I couldn't add air to level out. Had to finish the job fighting the squeeze and breathing heavy the whole time. Popped up with a headache and bruised ribs from the suit compression. Anyone else had a valve fail mid shift and how did you handle it without panicking?
My first time welding on a pipeline in 60 feet of water off Galveston, I was using all my energy to hold position against the tide. The supervisor said I was making it harder by tensing up instead of letting my body relax with the flow. Has anyone else found that loosening your grip actually gives you better control down there?