Color under water: what's most visible?

[Taxgeek]

I second yellow tank and neon yellow fins. Ya tend to get made fun of for having neon fins, however! Depending on what type of fins you wear, however, watch out as different colors have different characteristics. Neon yellow twin jets are very floppy!

One thing I have done is bring a white bandana and make my instabuddy tie it around his/her ankle - I agree it is difficult to tell all the black suited divers apart.

 

[Thalassamania]

I have four phosphorescent bands on my snorkel tip and on the bottom of each fin blade.

 

[JodiBB]

I've used a white tank for night diving. My buddy said of our entire group, it was blatantly obvious who I was compared to everyone else....

 

[Olivia Chillia]

I second yellow tank and neon yellow fins. Ya tend to get made fun of for having neon fins, however!

:huh: Why? Color is pretty.

 

[AmyJ]

I have four phosphorescent bands on my snorkel tip and on the bottom of each fin blade.

what are these and where do you get them???

 

[drbill]

As far as wetsuit colors go, be cautious IMHO. My last three wetsuits with blue fabric (three different brands) all deteriorated quickly on the blue parts whereas the black is still very solid. I can't say anything about the green, yellow or other fabrics.

I recommend using markings or colors on your fins or BCD that will readily identify you. I have "DR. BILL" written across the back upper surface of my BCD (followed by the words "If you can read this, you're diving too close.")

 

[Thalassamania]

what are these and where do you get them???

Tape that glows in the dark. I got it at a hardware store, but here's a potential source.

 

[roakey]

I like to have the octo clipped in front of my waist. Well, that's where the clips are on the rentals I've used. I think I might choose a higher location for the octo when I get my own BCD. I wasn't thinking of depending on color alone to help a buddy find it in an emergency, but I thought it would be a useful additional cue. When you've got a person in a stressed state, all the extra cues you can get are good.

Do you think it would be too much to put a flashing locator on it?

I applaud you for trying to think through how to assist your buddy in getting the air he or she may need in an emergency situation. However, here's a suggestion that might assist you in coming to the real "endgame" of how to handle an OOA situation without going through intermediate solutions that rely on colors, flashing lights, position of the octo, etc.

You see, your OOA practice in class was most probably done either kneeling or hanging vertically in the water, the most unlikely position for you, as a diver, to be in (which is horizontal). When horizontal, not only is a chest-mounted octo basically out of sight, underneath you, but even if your buddy sees it, it’s difficult to reach on their own.

There’s a much better solution an OOA situations that has been discussed many times on this board, here’s a post on it:

http://www.scubaboard.com/showpost.php?p=101794&postcount=9

Roak

 

[brutus_scuba]

This is completely off topic but I really like the scull and crossbones in the dive flag mfalco that's what one the cooler pics I've seen on here.