c/commercial-divers

Warning: I picked the cheap Kirby Morgan band mask over the Ocean Reef

Last month I had to choose between a used Kirby Morgan 21 band mask for $1200 and a new Ocean Reef Neptune for $800 for my inspection work in the Gulf. I figured cheaper and new would be better since I'm only doing shallow harbor dives, not deep rig work. First week went fine but by week three the Ocean Reef's regulator started free flowing every time I tilted my head left. Had to surface three times in one morning to clear it out. The comfort was never right either, gave me a headache after an hour. Meanwhile my buddy runs a beat up KM21 he got for $900 and it's been solid for four years straight. Has anyone else regretted skimping on comms gear or did I just get a lemon?

Hot take: I stopped using a bailout bottle on shallow jobs and it actually made me safer

I know a LOT of guys in the Gulf who swear by keeping a pony bottle strapped on for anything below 20 feet. But last summer I was doing hull cleaning at a marina in Biloxi and I got tangled in some debris. Having that extra bottle on my side actually made it HARDER to maneuver out. I tried ditching it for a few weeks and my air consumption went down because I wasnt fighting the drag. Plus I had to be WAY more careful about my regulator breathing and staying calm because I knew there was no backup right there. That extra caution prevented me from getting into the same kind of mess in the first place. Has anyone else tried working shallow without a bailout and noticed a difference in their awareness?

Worst day of my career last Tuesday in the Gulf

I was doing a hull inspection on a platform about 30 miles off Louisiana when my comms unit went completely dead. Zero warning, just static in my ear for a solid hour while I was at 45 feet. Had to finish the job using hand signals with my tender, which took twice as long and made my shoulder scream. Has anyone else had a comms unit just die mid-dive like that?

Switched to a drysuit after 8 years of wet gear in Puget Sound

I used to just tough it out in a wetsuit even when the water dropped below 45F. Thought drysuits were too much hassle and expensive to maintain. Then last January I did a 3-hour inspection on a pier piling in Tacoma and couldn't feel my hands for like 2 hours after surfacing. My buddy on the boat was wearing a drysuit and sipping coffee while I was shivering like crazy. Finally bought a used drysuit for $400 and I can't believe I waited that long. Anyone else make the switch late and regret not doing it sooner?

Just hit 1,000 hours underwater and it hit me different than I expected

I passed the 1,000 hour mark on a job in the Gulf last week. I thought it would feel like a big milestone, but honestly it just felt like another Tuesday until I sat down and thought about it. That's 41 straight days of being underwater. My wife asked me if I felt different and I couldn't really explain it. It's not the depth or the pay that gets you, it's the sheer time spent in that environment. We did a 6 hour dive on a pipeline inspection that day and I didn't even blink. Has anyone else had a number like that sneak up on them and make you realize how much time you've really got in the water?

That dive supervisor in the Gulf told me my deco stops were too fast

I was working a 90-foot job near Port Fourchon last month, and the supervisor pulled me aside after a dive. He said I was rushing the 10-foot stops and to add 3 extra minutes per stop no matter how cold the water was. I thought he was being overly cautious until I saw his logbook showing 12 years without a hit. Has anyone else run into supervisors who are dead set on specific deco habits?

Shoutout to the diver who told me to always zip my drysuit pocket the right way

I overheard a guy at the dock in Fort Lauderdale say he lost his favorite dive knife because his pocket was zipped upside down, and after I did the exact same thing last Tuesday on a salvage job, I finally realized he was giving me a free lesson I should have taken seriously.

Knew a guy who kept skipping his deco stops on purpose

Worked with a diver out of Port Arthur last year who swore he could skip his 20 foot deco stop and be fine because he 'felt okay.' Three months later he got bent so bad he can't work past 30 feet anymore. Has anyone else run into guys who think the tables don't apply to them?

Overheard a newbie ask about "diving in the dark" and had to bite my tongue

At a dive shop in Port Townsend last week, I heard this kid ask the clerk if you need different gear for night dives because the water gets "darker down there." The clerk just stared at him for a second... I had to walk away before I laughed out loud. It reminded me that we all start somewhere clueless, even if it's funny at the time. Anyone else ever overhear a question that made you remember your own rookie moments?

Finally got my drysuit wrist seals to stop leaking after 3 tries

Was down at the Port of Oakland last week on a bridge inspection dive and kept getting these little trickles down my arms. Switched to a different brand of silicone on the third swap and it did the trick. Anyone else have luck with one type of adhesive over another?

Switched from weight belts to a dry weight harness 2 years ago for hull cleaning gigs in the Gulf

Honestly, I used to fight with a standard weight belt every single dive, getting bruised up and shifting loads. Now with the harness system, I can dial in exactly 40 pounds distributed right and my lower back doesn't ache after 4 hours underwater. Has anyone else made the switch and found it better for long bottom times?

Blew a valve at 120 feet off Louisiana coast last Tuesday

My drysuit inflator stuck open during a pipeline inspection and I shot up 30 feet before I caught it, scared the hell out of me and now I'm double checking every fitting before splash, anyone else had a runaway inflator?

Am I the only one who wasted $600 on a drysuit repair kit that didn't work?

Bought one of those fancy self-repair kits for my drysuit last month after I got a small tear near the knee. Followed the instructions to the letter but the patch peeled off after my second dive in 45 degree water off Port Angeles. Had to take it to a real shop and pay another $150 to get it fixed right. Has anyone else tried those kits and had them fail on a cold water job?

Warning: My umbilical hose blew a leak 60 feet down near Port Fourchon last Tuesday...

That old sat diver at the safety meeting shut me up real quick

I used to think those old school sat divers were just set in their ways, but this one guy Mike at a safety briefing in Houma last month said he'd rather pull a 12-hour bell run than deal with modern mixed gas computers. He showed me his logbook from the 80s with hand-calculated deco stops and no issues. Has anyone else had a crusty diver change their mind about old equipment?

Rant: My old regulator setup froze solid on a job in Lake Superior last January

I used to run a standard twin-hose reg with no dry-air kit, thinking it was fine for cold work. After 45 minutes in 34-degree water my second stage started free-flowing bad and I had to cut the dive short. Anyone else switch to a heated or dry-air reg after a close call in cold temps?

Remember cutting steel with a torch and a prayer?

Used to burn through 10 tanks of oxy-acetylene a week on a pier job in Boston back in 2009, now I just grab my hydraulic shear and slice through 3 inch steel in under a minute, how do you guys handle the switch to newer gear without losing the old feel for the metal?

That time a seal stole my fin off the boat in Newfoundland

I was working a harbor inspection job up in St. John's last fall and left my gear on the gunnel while I was suiting up. This big gray seal just swam right up, grabbed my fin by the strap, and took off with it like it was a toy. My buddy got it on video and the client still brings it up every time we see them. Has anyone else had wildlife mess with their gear while on the surface?

Debate: Air lift bag went sideways on me in Puget Sound

I was working on a pier repair job near Seattle last month. My lift bag snagged on a piece of rebar at 40 feet and started tilting bad, really throwing off my buoyancy. I had to dump air quick and swim clear before it pinned me against the piling. Did I handle it right by aborting the lift, or should I have tried to free it with a knife while it was still under tension? What would you guys do in that spot?

Almost lost a finger to a bad drysuit zipper last week

I was on a job near Seattle last Tuesday, about 20 feet down in the harbor, when my drysuit zipper started failing. It wasn't a slow leak, it was a sudden pop and then cold water just poured in. I had to abort the dive real fast and surface, but the zipper got stuck halfway up my chest. I was fighting with it for a good 3 minutes before I got it sealed again by using a zip tie I always keep in my pocket kit. My buddy Dave had the same thing happen 3 years ago off the coast of Maine, and he ended up with hypothermia because he couldn't get his suit closed in time. I'm thinking of replacing my suit's zipper with a heavy-duty metal one instead of this plastic junk. Has anyone else had a zipper go bad mid-dive like that?

First time I tried a Kirby Morgan band mask instead of a full face...

Ive been diving for about 8 years now mostly oil rig work in the Gulf. Always used a full face mask never thought twice about it. Last month my buddy let me borrow his band mask for a inspection job off Louisiana. Figured itd be fine. First hour was great felt lighter. But around hour 3 the seal started leaking every time I tilted my head up to check something. Wasted like 20 minutes fighting with it before I just swapped back. Guess Im stuck in my ways. Anyone else have bad luck switching gear like that?

Had to choose between a Kirby Morgan band mask and a neck dam for cold water work in Alaska last month

I took a job on a dock up in Valdez in February and couldn't decide if I should use my Kirby Morgan 37 with a band mask or switch to a neck dam setup. My buddy Dave swore by the neck dam for colder temps but I went with the band mask because I hate dealing with fogging. First dive at 34 degrees and the neck seal leaked a little which made me second guess my choice. Anyone else run into this problem deciding for freezing conditions?

Near miss with a downed line off Louisiana taught me a hard lesson about checking currents twice

Last month I was on a job about 12 miles out from Grand Isle, doing an inspection on a platform leg. The surface current looked fine when we dropped, but 30 feet down it was ripping hard and pushed me straight into a loose cathodic protection cable. That cable wrapped around my umbilical and started pulling me sideways before I could signal topside. I got cut free after maybe 20 seconds, but it felt like an hour. Now I always pull a current profile with a drogue line before I even suit up. Has anyone else had a close call from something stupid like a stray cable or line?

Almost lost a job last month to a bad umbilical splice

I was working off a dive boat near Port Fourchon last week when my comms went dead at 60 feet. Turned out the splice I'd done three months ago had corroded inside the boot. Anyone else double-checking their cable connections more often now?

Old timer showed me a trick with a half hitched line to keep my comms gear from swinging into the wreck

Was deco hanging on a buoy line off the coast of Louisiana and a 20-year veteran on the boat just reached over and wrapped a knot that stopped my helmet from banging against the steel all day, anyone else had a simple knot save your setup?