Hand signals for tank pressure

[countryboy]

This is funny...

I seem to remember a thread not too long ago that went the same direction.. Simple question, multiple answers (the "right" one depends on the buddy team).. and on and on.

Couple of weeks ago I was diving in Puerto Vallarta, amongst the group was a dad (certified in the 70's, very little diving) his son, just completed his OW course, and a couple of other divers (6 total). One of the questions I had for the group, was how do you signal your pressure, we had a total of 5 different methods for the group of 8 divers (6 "customers" the DM and a friend of the shop)..

Guess what.. we really didn't have an issue communicating our pressure to the DM. During the briefing the conversation came up to how you communicate the numbers (where I asked the question to the group)... The DM listened to the various answers, most liked the horizontal / vertical suggestion, but all did it their own way during the dives... We really did not have any issue communicating with our buddies and the DM.

The IMPORTANT part of this conversation is that your buddy team knows what the communications mean... and what to expect.

I see the basis of this thread as opening the communication for all, and to realise that everyone may not be trained the same as you.. Part of the pre dive briefing / buddy check..

 

[JRScuba]

Where do you put your light while doing this? How does your buddy see both hands at night?
Rick

Wear a Q40 on your mask.eyebrow

 

[JRScuba]

Which is, at least in this neck of the woods, moving your hand back and forth about 6-8 inches with your palm towards the recipient while shaking your head "No."
Rick

I could go for that one Rick.eyebrow

 

[Cacia]

My dive the other day the DM, said "just show me your gauge" to her divers.

 

[Walter]

FWIW, we have signs that mean those other things, as opposed to using one sign to mean many things. . .

Thumbs up doesn't have multiple meanings, it has one meaning - ascend. It does not mean abort the dive, it means ascend. If I repeat it rapidly, I'm being adamant about it and it means the dive is over.

Depending on how the sign is used, it could mean ascend to equalize my ears, it could mean ascend to get a bearing, then drop back and continue the dive, it could mean ascend to a shallower depth and continue the dive. It's merely one word - ascend.

Imagine we are diving with full face masks and communication devices. We would use spoken words to communicate our thoughts, desires and needs. We wouldn't simply say "ascend," to communicate those concepts, we'd use more than one word, usually put together in the form of sentences or at least phrases. Why would you signal any differently? Do we suddenly become subhumans with no language? No. We can still put words together to convey meaning. If I point to my ear, then hold my spread hand out palm down and wiggle it side to side, I've told you I'm having problems equalizing the pressure in my ear(s). If I then signal a thumbs up, followed by a open hand palm down moving horizontally back and forth, it should be obvious that I intend to ascend and stop at a shallower depth to work on equalization. Would you automaticall abort the dive because you saw the "ascend" signal?

If I want to ascend I use make a kicking motion with the first two fingers of my right hand (no, not a frog kick) and then use my index finger to point up.

I'd think you were telling me to straighten my legs while kicking and to look up.

Often the thumbs up is a question. You're swimming around with your buddy, you both have plenty of air, but you're not exactly thrilled with the dive, so you ask your buddy if he wants to ascend by simply casually giving the thumbs up while inclining your head and lifting your eyebrows. Raised eyebrows and an inclined head turns any sign into a question.

buddy asks my pressure, and I have 1900 psi, but (according to Rick's hand signals I plan on adopting) I signal 1 finger up, then 4 UP instead of horizontal, meaning I just said I have 1400 psi instead of 1900.

It's a confusing system, ASL is much easier.

 

[Walter]

My dive the other day the DM, said "just show me your gauge" to her divers.

I've usually already seen your guage without you even knowing it. Just don't start flashing fligers at me vertically and horizontally and expect me to have any idea what you've tried to say.

 

[BabyDuck]

my buds and i use the same method as rick. i picked it up from my first hubby, a marine plane captain, so it was already part of my 'vocabulary', which made it very easy. but we had a brand newbie buddying with us last summer, and asked him about his air, and he gave us the 'five, five' thing, so we thought he had only 550 left!! of course, this was our fault since we didn't check his method...bad buddies, bad bad buddies...

 

[Buddha64]

It's a formation flying thing (one hand on the stick, of course) for fuel state that predates diving entirely. I and many that I dive with have always used it diving as well as flying; the cave diving community (at least the part that follows the guidelines in Prosser's Cave Diving Communications) uses it. In flying we signal to the nearest 100 pounds of fuel, in diving to the nearest 100 psi. I suppose that if using Bar it would make sense to signal to the nearest Bar or 10 bar, whatever the team agrees is best suited to their needs.
The idea is to reduce the number and the complexity of signals to the lowest possible level, which helps avoid confusion and misinterpretations of signals. In the system we use, each digit is distinct and occupies one decimal place. I recommend and expect to see a wider adaptation of it in the diving community.
Rick

I've allways seen this type of numbering on a flight deck as well, that's were I remember it from. However when I've used it I allways get a confused look back at me and either wind up showing my guage or using both hands.

 

[do it easy]

I'd think you were telling me to straighten my legs while kicking and to look up.

Often the thumbs up is a question. You're swimming around with your buddy, you both have plenty of air, but you're not exactly thrilled with the dive, so you ask your buddy if he wants to ascend by simply casually giving the thumbs up while inclining your head and lifting your eyebrows. Raised eyebrows and an inclined head turns any sign into a question.

In the circles that I dive, the thumb is never a question. We signal a question with a hooked index finger and then more signs to indicate the question.

To be fair, Walter, I don't think that you and I would have any problems communicating underwater- even if we didn't discuss signs during the briefing and even if we used our own signs. Of course, if you tried to sign "I want to order a pizza during the surface interval" I might have trouble understanding that, but anything else related to the dive would be clear enough.

 

[Notso_Ken]

Hmmm... interesting perspective.
Using 1700 psi as an example, 4 hand signals is easier than 2???
If you're diving a new PST you may have, say 3200 psi. Using my method you'd show three fingers held vertically, then two and you're done. Using the "easiest and ... accepted every place" method you'd flash five fingers six times and then two... seven hand signals!
Be realistic, now, which system is (1) easier, and (2) less likely to be misread?
Bottom line is, as I said, what works within the team, but I don't think I'll be abandoning our system for something like that "six flashes of five" thingie any time soon
Rick

Rick, your method is what I learned back in Pilot Training for communicating fuel levels and such in formation. I agree with you 101%, it's much easier, trouble is, I don't find many people using it.


Ken