Custom Hand Signals

[deich]

I use the folling hand signal quite often...

make a fist with your left hand, then with the right hand's pointer finger tap in a circurlar motion around hole that your fist makes... Quite F-ing around...

 

[BigHarryDiver]

My girlfriend and I have custom signals of affection for each other too.

My favorite signal for affection is the underwater hug. Swim up and hug someone tight, and hold them close for a long time.

It has a combined meaning, a melding of "Sharing the moment with you" and "I'm peeing right now."

Ah.... you might want to be careful with that one. I think it was demonstrated in an Australian court room a few months back regarding a certain Mr. G. Watson and his new bride. http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/images/smilies/More Smiles/nonononono.gif

 

[LIVES4SHARKS]

Lol...my bad then. In the above water world it means loser. Maybe it's just the crowd I hang with lol!

Carolyn:shark2:

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

Lol...my bad then. In the above water world it means loser. Maybe it's just the crowd I hang with lol!

Carolyn:shark2:

I understand...

You need to find a different croud

 

[Walter]

Watch Dodgeball. After Jim's 600th dive a few years ago, a bunch of us were joking around at my house and started using the "loser" sign for "lotsa love."

As long as everyone involved in the communication understand the sign, it works. I highly recommend taking a class in ASL. Pick out what you need and share it with your buddies.

 

[Krenath]

The crowd I dive with uses the "hang ten/hang loose" hand signal interchangeably as either "that's awesome" or as a response to "what is that?": "I don't know, but it's awesome!" or as "Come see this thing! It's awesome!"

 

[Pearldiver07]

I second Walter's suggestion for ASL. I share about 25 or so signs with my DMs to make teaching much easier.

For fun diving, my wife and I have both taken ASL and it is very handy. Got the idea when we couldn't get a couple of ASL-capable students to "shut up" underwater to pay attention to instruction. Seems we (non-ASL types) are the impaired ones underwater.

Look for local community colleges and possibly churches (that's what we did) to find reasonably priced classes. I found it easier than most spoken languages because often the sign relates to the word it represents.

 

[EGad]

I second Walter's suggestion for ASL. I share about 25 or so signs with my DMs to make teaching much easier.

For fun diving, my wife and I have both taken ASL and it is very handy. Got the idea when we couldn't get a couple of ASL-capable students to "shut up" underwater to pay attention to instruction. Seems we (non-ASL types) are the impaired ones underwater.

Look for local community colleges and possibly churches (that's what we did) to find reasonably priced classes. I found it easier than most spoken languages because often the sign relates to the word it represents.

I think learning some basic ASL is a great idea for diving. Back when I was bartending in noisy clubs I learned a little ASL to help communicate with some hearing impaired regulars. Was so much easier than trying to shout over the music that I ended up teaching some friends so I could check on them from across the room. ASL rocks in situations like diving or noisy environments.

There are plenty of websites where you can look up ASL signs. http://www.aslpro.com/ came up first in my google search and seems like a pretty good site.

Now, what signs would you recommend learning to make dive communication easier?

Eric

 

[RJP]

1.) Point to buddy with index finger
2.) Simulate putting thumb in mouth like a baby

1.) Both hands together like praying, place on left side of face/head
2.) Tilt head to left

"This dive is so boring that I'm going to fall asleep."

1.) Remove regulator from mouth
2.) Place finger tips in mouth

"You really want to go in there?" if following. "Do you think we should go in there?" if leading

1.) Simulate eating with chopsticks

 

[Paco]

When my buddies or I see something really cool we make a C with our hand. If it is really, really cool, we make a big C with both arms.