Communicating Underwater

[tregrrr]

hrrrm about a month ago I lost an integrated pouch along with 9.9lbs.... since I lost it at >100' and just dumped air to compensate (thinking it was a stuck inflator that had fixed itself or something)...

anyways when I finally realized that my ascent was not going to be completely normal... I had some choice words to "mutter"

the buddy i was diving with for the first time could repeat back to me almost verbatim what I had said. I guess I must have been rather assertive in my enunciation..

 

[Walter]

if it was possible to talk to your buddy underwater

It is and I do.

 

[paddler3d]

I learned in the Bahamas that you can talk to your buddy under water. My buddy swam up to me and very clearly yelled 'Bull Shark' and pointed at the giant shark coming around the reef towards us.

 

[bamamedic]

Everybody knows the basic hand signals and signs, but I was just wandering if it was possible to talk to your buddy underwater, what would you say?

Would you prefer not to talk?

Would you discuss dive data and issues?

Personally I enjoy the relaxing silence of the deep sea but there have been a few occasions where I wished I was able to communicate, such as: “Hold still, your tank is slipping out of your BCD” to things like: “Its choppy at the surface, so let’s use the SMB to contact the boat from here”.

I was also wandering if anyone had a personal hand signals that might be useful?

Uh...I don't think anyone wants me to be able to talk underwater I'm a nonstop chatterbox on the surface; half the time, I think my dive buddies are grateful to finally be able to slip under the water and get a bit of a break.

I've got a couple of dive signals I use that were invented by the group I tend to dive with; unfortunately, none of them are fit to be posted onto a "workplace" friendly website

I've modified a couple of signals for my "rec" diving friends...mainly, just turning the "how much deco" (pinky extended) signal into meaning "how much NDL time do you have at this depth?"

 

[divekoch]

Yes, honestly, I am a deaf Divemaster and I do provide an American Sign Language classes down here in Florida. You can even look at community college or CIC program where they can provide sign language classes and you will be amazed how you could really COMMUNICATE underwater..

 

[Deep South Divers]

We normally talk about the job at hand. If we have extra time, we complain. Since this is what commercial divers love to do, it doesn't have to be about anything in particular. If a diver isn't complaining about something, it's an early sign that there's a problem. :mooner:

Hahahahhaaaa... Wow, I thought it was just MY team... Doggonit, that's funny. And here I've been trying to figure out how to make them all happy...

 

[southbayjon]

when I was a kid I had a pool toy that was an orange triangle that you could talk through underwater. It distorted ones voice but was quite functional. Since I began diving I've been looking for this toy but cannot find one in any stores. Has anyone seen one of these things?

 

[idocsteve]

One thing I really like about Scuba Diving is that it's very quiet.

 

[Guy Alcala]

Greetings Substefan and fellow divers I really like the hand signals, light signals, slates, and touch communication. I find that I like listening to breathing patterns of my buddies not their voices underwater. This however is my personal preference.
I can understand the value in having a com device for team task oriented dives as in no vis or recovery for team support above and below the water. I have been around a few com devices and they work well for these tasks. They are a bit pricey for just recreational diving and for the most part best left to the professionals to perform commercial duties. If you want to talk then go for it just please keep the volume down so you do not scare the fish away. We might have to come up with a new hand signal for quiet time!
CamG Keep diving....keep training....keep learning!

I think that having some sort of Com device would be very beneficial from a safety perspective on wreck dives and the like. The disadvantages of verbal communication devices, especially when using mix are an issue (barring descramblers). But the Navimate Underwater GPS/ultrasonic Nav computer due out in May/June can communicate between wrist units up to about 100 yards, the inventor says they're working on enhancing the surface receiver to enable divers to be tracked out to the full 1-2km range of the unit (for nav.). It occurs to me that having some standard emergency text signals (Need more Bottom/Travel/Deco gas! Entangled! Bring cutting tools! Drifted off the wreck! Follow us! etc., combined with the tracking facility would be very helpful for that sort of dive. Of course, I'm sure we'll all be eventually inundated with underwater text messaging

Guy

 

[Fatterboy]

My wife says everything I say sounds like "pass me a roll", I just shake my head now.