Just venting...

[mrdre]

I was in the opposite situation. We were swimming back to the boat. My buddy placed his mask on his forehead and got yelled at. The DM told him quite harsh, that it's a distress signal, that he should either wear it on his neck or backwards. The panicky diver would surface and raise his mask. My buddy asked me "Did you know about this?".. well.. yes, I did, and I was wearing it backwards, I just always do it automatically. Then he asked me - "Then why didn't you tell me?". I didn't know what to answer. I should have told him. From the other side I didn't want to be "mentoring" or "teaching" nobody.

 

[hijax]

Damn! Snarkey... I just can't deal with snarkey..What the hell is narkey anyway?

Snarky = Being condescending, sarcastic or a smartass.

---------- Post added September 9th, 2014 at 08:30 AM ----------

although i know the signs, on one of my first dives in the caribbean last winter i was the first up after the safety stop and the boat was waiting maybe a 100 yards from me (it's one of their usual diving spots so he knew about where we would pop up) my instinct (and adrenalin) had my waving my arm, by my attitude he knew nothing was wrong and came to pick us up but he laughingly reminded my that this was a distress sign, i felt a bit dumb but since it was all fun and laughter i remembered it in a more positive way and it stuck

I understand and I'm glad it worked out. As someone mentioned previously (& as did your DM/Captain), in some cases a boat will see that and immediately head to you for concern you're in distress. I've been on boats where they take that seriously, which is why I pointed it out to my buddy. And he's someone I dive with regularly so I felt that level of trust where I could bring it up.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

hijax, you are talking my language. Doing the things you list is being a safe diver, one who can be confident and enjoy the dives because he knows what he is doing. I'll dive with you any time. Thanks for the post.
DivemasterDennis

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Activities where more than one person participates tend to develop conventions that make the joint participation more streamlined and enjoyable. Especially in activities that involve risk, rules exist (some of which have evolved from conventions) to ensure the minimization of the risks. Sometimes breaking conventions might introduce risks (e.g. in the UK, a car approaching an intersection where they have the right of way might flash their lights to cars that are waiting, signaling that they are relinquishing the right of way and allowing others to cross first; in other parts of the world the same signal is a warming to other drivers that the car that has the right of way is approaching and intends to cross first. Imagine the confusion -and the potential risk- if drivers don't know these local conventions).

Sticking to the conventions and rules of scuba diving is not a bad thing, nor is one being pedantic; complacency is waiting around the corner and some have paid a heavy price for having turned that corner.

Even among experienced divers, miscommunication can lead to difficulties. I recently had an experience where I misunderstood a buddy's signal ... because he thought he was telling me one thing and I thought he was telling me something different ... and it led to us becoming separated in a low-vis situation. Not a good thing when you have a deco obligation.

There's much to be said for standardized signals ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

---------- Post added September 9th, 2014 at 07:52 AM ----------

i agree with dr.lecter.

I also get the vibe that you are a signal nazi and are coming here for confirmation that you are right....
you dont have to be a rule nazzi to be safe.

Most people are not comfortable openly criticizing someone else like the other diver did to you, so i immediately assume you were being too uptight and it came off as being a jerk.... kind of like how you are probably interpreting my post now.

scuba is supposed to be fun. i agree that we should follow protocols to be safe, but to say there are "rules" really takes the fun out of it.

That's a pretty worrisome post coming from someone with 0-24 dives. There are a ton of things that can happen to you on a dive as a result of poor communication. I can think of several that would absolutely ruin your good time. We teach new divers "rules" for that reason. Later on ... when you have enough experience to begin to comprehend why those "rules" exist, then perhaps you can make an informed decision about which ones you can safely ignore without taking the fun out of what you're doing ... but for now, given your stated experience level, I'd recommend taking them rather more seriously than your post suggests ... for your own safety as well as that of anyone you happen to be diving with ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

---------- Post added September 9th, 2014 at 07:56 AM ----------

I empathize. I am also known for being a PITA. After doing a full dive plan and head-to-toe gear check, one of my dive buddies turned to our third team member and said, "Does she always do this for a 20 foot reef dive?". And the third buddy, who knows me well, said, "Yup. Get used to it."

Eric Sedletzky nailed it. Find people who think like you do and dive with those people. That's what I did, and I couldn't be happier.

... I remember that dive well ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

---------- Post added September 9th, 2014 at 07:59 AM ----------

I was in the opposite situation. We were swimming back to the boat. My buddy placed his mask on his forehead and got yelled at. The DM told him quite harsh, that it's a distress signal, that he should either wear it on his neck or backwards. The panicky diver would surface and raise his mask. My buddy asked me "Did you know about this?".. well.. yes, I did, and I was wearing it backwards, I just always do it automatically. Then he asked me - "Then why didn't you tell me?". I didn't know what to answer. I should have told him. From the other side I didn't want to be "mentoring" or "teaching" nobody.

I wouldn't have told him because ... well ... it's one of those urban legends. A diver in distress doesn't put his mask on his forehead ... he rips it off altogether, and there are other rather more obvious visual cues that he's in distress.

The reason I give my students not to put their mask on their forehead is because ... particularly in cold water where you're wearing a hood ... it's too easy to lose it. Unlike the urban legend, I have physical evidence to back up that claim ... a box full of masks and snorkels I've found laying on the bottom at our popular dive sites ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[hijax]

hijax, you are talking my language. Doing the things you list is being a safe diver, one who can be confident and enjoy the dives because he knows what he is doing. I'll dive with you any time. Thanks for the post.
DivemasterDennis

Thanks Dennis. If you're ever in South Florida, hit me up.

 

[diver 85]

hijax, you did right-----but--always be prepared to be a solo diver @ some point in a dive.......

 

[Doc]

Terminology and and nomenclature break:

Gaspe?

Gaspe and the package labeling as such is done in defference to the French Language requirement as SB posts may be read in Canada.

Damn! Snarkey... I just can't deal with snarkey..What the hell is narkey anyway?

Snarkey was adequately defined in follow-up posts. Spelling is actually "snarky" in the lingo of the hep cats.

Narkey is an effect of kooba divin an norklin. (pop culture, Ralphie May, citation needed)

...Dr. Lecter haven't said anything that's outrageous ...

Just like me, it's only a matter of time and opportunity.

 

[boulderjohn]

I was in the opposite situation. We were swimming back to the boat. My buddy placed his mask on his forehead and got yelled at. The DM told him quite harsh, that it's a distress signal, that he should either wear it on his neck or backwards. The panicky diver would surface and raise his mask. My buddy asked me "Did you know about this?".. well.. yes, I did, and I was wearing it backwards, I just always do it automatically. Then he asked me - "Then why didn't you tell me?". I didn't know what to answer. I should have told him. From the other side I didn't want to be "mentoring" or "teaching" nobody.

I think this response is worthy of discussion from two points of view.

1. As Bob correctly points out, this is an old, ridiculous myth that should be stamped out. The DM needs some education on this.

2. The DM's manner was very unprofessional. If I were his employer and knew about this, he would get some remedial education about customer relations. Even if what he said were true, he should not have said it that way. It reminds me of the time a waiter corrected my pronunciation of the wine I was ordering in front of everyone else at the table--and he was wrong. I did not make a deal about it at all, but I was angry. The rest of the table was educated enough to know the waiter was wrong, so I was not embarrassed, but even if he had been right, it was wrong to educate me publicly in that fashion. When you embarrass people, it is usually not to anyone's advantage. A quiet and unobtrusive explanation would be better. That is why in the original situation, if it had been me, I would have waited for a later time to talk about proper signals with my buddy.

 

[Hawkwood]

... this is an old, ridiculous myth that should be stamped out. The DM needs some education on this....

I cringe whenever I team teach and this gets mentioned by another instructor. I have my reasons I don't want my students with masks on their foreheads, but it has nothing to do with "distress".

 

[wspalding]

I think this response is worthy of discussion from two points of view.

1. As Bob correctly points out, this is an old, ridiculous myth that should be stamped out. The DM needs some education on this.

2. The DM's manner was very unprofessional. If I were his employer and knew about this, he would get some remedial education about customer relations. Even if what he said were true, he should not have said it that way. It reminds me of the time a waiter corrected my pronunciation of the wine I was ordering in front of everyone else at the table--and he was wrong. I did not make a deal about it at all, but I was angry. The rest of the table was educated enough to know the waiter was wrong, so I was not embarrassed, but even if he had been right, it was wrong to educate me publicly in that fashion. When you embarrass people, it is usually not to anyone's advantage. A quiet and unobtrusive explanation would be better. That is why in the original situation, if it had been me, I would have waited for a later time to talk about proper signals with my buddy.

I think in the original situation, the best time to discuss proper protocol regarding waving to the boat was at the time that the guy was waving at the boat. The guy that was reminded (so we are told) wasn't embarrassed, it was a 3rd party friend that thought the OP was being "too technical". In a situation where 3 friends are patiently waiting at the surface after a dive, I'd hope that they can freely discuss the dive, including letting the guy know in a friendly manner at the moment that he is engaged in the behavior, that waving to the boat isn't an appropriate way to get their attention.