US divers using metric?

[Aquavelvet]

I use meters and bar, partly because that's how I started diving. I stayed with the metric units because the numbers are usually easier to work with. My only issue is occasionally having to convert to psi for calculating team turn pressures.


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[Storker]

All you need is half and quarter (which happens to be what 100 and 50 bar is for most rec divers anyways)

Not for the recently certified.

The standard novice rec tank around here is 10L 300bar. Try selling your old 15L 200bar, and I'll bet you a beer you'll have fewer takers than if you try to sell a 10L 300bar tank...


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Typos are a feature, not a bug

 

[Tigerman]

Not for the recently certified.

The standard novice rec tank around here is 10L 300bar. Try selling your old 15L 200bar, and I'll bet you a beer you'll have fewer takers than if you try to sell a 10L 300bar tank...


--
Sent from my Android phone
Typos are a feature, not a bug

Down here in the south its 15l 200bar thats the norm, however lets face it - norway aint the episenter of scuba diving and our gear is far from average to being with....
AL80s are the most commonly used tanks (and for some reason theire referred to as 12l tanks in the red sea - which is not very accurate)

 

[Redshift]

Not for the recently certified.

The standard novice rec tank around here is 10L 300bar. Try selling your old 15L 200bar, and I'll bet you a beer you'll have fewer takers than if you try to sell a 10L 300bar tank...


--
Sent from my Android phone
Typos are a feature, not a bug

Although the 15l 200 bar ones will have a little bit more gas in them

 

[drrich2]

Since many tourist dives entail a group dive with a guide, and guides often ask for people's remaining gas pressure, do the metric folks ever run into confusion trying to signal their pressure?

For example, the guide asks my pressure & I've got 1500 on my gauge. Depending on house rules, I can show 5 fingers on one hand 3 times, or put 1 finger to my wrist (for 1,000 PSI) & then hold up 5. Either way, done.

What does the metric guy do?

I'm guessing metric comes up often enough that the guides will be familiar with it; I'd just like to know how they do it.

Richard.

 

[Akimbo]

…I'm guessing metric comes up often enough that the guides will be familiar with it; I'd just like to know how they do it...

There are more dive guides around the world where metric is native than the other way around. Either way, you learn to convert quickly when you do it all the time. We had divers using Imperial and Metric units on my last liveaboard and none of the crew blinked twice.

 

[DiamondD]

Yeah I'm still cussing my third grade math teacher who assured me that the whole world would be on the metric system by the time I got into Junior High. Damn communist.

 

[Mustard Dave]

Since many tourist dives entail a group dive with a guide, and guides often ask for people's remaining gas pressure, do the metric folks ever run into confusion trying to signal their pressure?

For example, the guide asks my pressure & I've got 1500 on my gauge. Depending on house rules, I can show 5 fingers on one hand 3 times, or put 1 finger to my wrist (for 1,000 PSI) & then hold up 5. Either way, done.

What does the metric guy do?

I'm guessing metric comes up often enough that the guides will be familiar with it; I'd just like to know how they do it.

Richard.

Generally one finger means 10 bar, a clenched fist means 50 and a T (like the time-out sign) means 100, so 180 bar would be T, followed by eight fingers. The fist as a fifty bar sign is generally used to signal you are at your reserve, therefore 150 would be T followed by 5 fingers, rather than T followed by a fist. A lot of guides and instructors like divers they are leading to signal when they get to 100 bar.

Personally I prefer one handed signals. 1 - 5 is the number of fingers held vertically and 6 - 9 is the number of fingers held horizontally plus 5. Zero looks like the okay symbol but without the 3rd to 5th fingers sticking up, so you are making a zero shape with your hand. You signal single digits only, so 170 would be one finger held vertically, two horizontally and then the zero signal. This is common in tech circles as it leaves a free hand, as one could be holding a DSMB reel etc.

 

[NAM001]

Too many different ways to do numbers. i use 1-5 with fingers up adn 6-9 fingers to the side. 0 is a sidways OK.

I have also used fingers on the chest for 1000's and fingers away from the chest for 100's

Counting ,,,,,,, could be a whole new thread in it self

 

[kwinter]

Generally one finger means 10 bar, a clenched fist means 50 and a T (like the time-out sign) means 100, so 180 bar would be T, followed by eight fingers. The fist as a fifty bar sign is generally used to signal you are at your reserve, therefore 150 would be T followed by 5 fingers, rather than T followed by a fist. A lot of guides and instructors like divers they are leading to signal when they get to 100 bar.

Personally I prefer one handed signals. 1 - 5 is the number of fingers held vertically and 6 - 9 is the number of fingers held horizontally plus 5. Zero looks like the okay symbol but without the 3rd to 5th fingers sticking up, so you are making a zero shape with your hand. You signal single digits only, so 170 would be one finger held vertically, two horizontally and then the zero signal. This is common in tech circles as it leaves a free hand, as one could be holding a DSMB reel etc.

Too many different ways to do numbers. i use 1-5 with fingers up adn 6-9 fingers to the side. 0 is a sidways OK.

I have also used fingers on the chest for 1000's and fingers away from the chest for 100's

Counting ,,,,,,, could be a whole new thread in it self

And there are probably already threads about it. The key is to communicate this info before the dive starts so everyone (or at least you and your buddy or the DM) are using the same info. A "T" like a timeout signal is 100 bar only because it is pretty well accepted as the signal for a half tank. Of course if you are using a 300 bar tank, that wouldn't be until 150 bar. But the half tank signal works whether it is bar or psi. I also know people who use fingers on the opposite forearm for thousands in psi. So one finger on the arm followed by 2 fingers up means 1200 psi. But could also be confused with 120 bar. That's why it needs to be decided before the dive.

Yeah I'm still cussing my third grade math teacher who assured me that the whole world would be on the metric system by the time I got into Junior High. Damn communist.

For me it was President JFK, who was forward-thinking enough to recognize that we would be part of a global economy some day. And since we no longer lead in that regard, we should bite the bullet and follow. The only other countries still measuring in Imperial (which has now been renamed the US Customary Measurement) are Liberia and Myanmar. That's great company to keep.