Line or Coms ?

[sparkyjames]

OK
as you know from my last post I am real new to PSD I have never had to go on a call out to date thank God we have not had any sense I joined the team, my only experience is in training, But i was wondering if this is a good thing or do you fell I am missing some thing? I have noticed that I would rather use the Line Pulls then to talk while doing my sweeps,

I would rather use the line pulls for a couple reasons. By relying on my line pulls for communications
more I would keep my skills in this area sharper and I would hope that keeping the rope tight would become almost second nature. not to mention the air a diver would consume trying to talk swim and keep the line tight all while trying to reach his objective be it a rescue or a recovery or what ever the reason for the dive might be.

I will give you there is information that a diver may need to get to the surface and no amount of rope pulling could get that to the surface

but so far for me I would rather just pull on the line and keep my big trap shut and do the job I was sent down to do.

So what are you thoughts on this? Or at least as it pertains to a beginner?


Just my thoughts

Thanks

Sparky James

 

[Yotsie]

Sparky

We use comms with line signals as a backup. We do run some search pattern training evolutions without comms to keep up on line signals, but comms are so much better to work with in my opinion.

 

[Gary D.]

Not having any call yet is bad for your training but overall a very good thing. A real call out comes from someone else’s misfortune, which we don’t want to see.

I like line pulls. Simple because on longer searches I’ll start singing. If I did that on a com system the guys would kill me when I came up.

Gary D.

 

[sparkyjames]

I have also noticed the coms gear we use can be hard to hear some times I have to realy listen hard some times to understand what the tnder is saying to me

I guess I will get used to it in time.

but I would still rather use the line pulls my self maybe with some experience this will change

Sparky

 

[Biofish]

It is my feeling that line signals are the way to go.
You inherently run into many different issues with comms.
Line signals let you stay focused on the job at hand.
With coms many times you can be distracted from your sweep, remember you are trying to heigten your sense of touch and creating a visiale map in your head.
Comms have been a budget item that we have overpassed for the past three years.
Just my opionion

 

[BladesRobinson]

Sparky,

Kudos for feeling comfortable using line signals! I believe line signals should be used regularly for the "okay" and "reverse direction" instructions. Why waste your breath talking???

Other instructions though are perfectly suited for voice comms, especially when conducting "air checks" ("What's you psi?") and resolving problems.

You mentioned that there are times when it is difficult to understand what was said and that is why I believe voice comms should be kept to a minimum and why I like the simplicity of line signals.

One thing we do on our team to simplify voice comms is to state "benchmarks" such as "object found," "fouled line," or VERY rarely (with new trainees) ... "keep tension."

Best of luck with your training!

Blades Robinson

 

[Scubamedicjoe]

I agree with brad on this one be comfotable on your hand signals and hard lines but the voice comm is he bomb.

 

[jfa_16]

I prefer using comm. There is a lot of information that the tender can provide to the diver via comm gear, and vice versa. The tender can monitor the diver's stress level by listening to changes in the diver's breathing and the pitch of his voice. Not to mention doing PSI checks. The tender can also alert the diver to an entangled search line instantly. Line pull signals don't always work when a line has been entangled on one object, let along multiple objects.

I think it's good to train with line pull signals and be comfortable using them because no comm gear is 100% reliable and a back-up system needs to be in place. But for me, comm is the way to go. Hands down.

 

[vablackwater]

We have both wireless and hardwire setups. Personally, I prefer hardwire over wireless, but there is a time and place for both.

Assuming you are already tethered, using a comm rope versus a standard line is simple to do and adds an element beyond rope pulls alone. We are using the comm wire more and more, but basic signals and line pulls work the best for us. Comms can be used for anything outside the normal signals you have designated.

In addition to pulls, you may want to work out hand signals for diver to diver... entanglement, OOA, penetration et cet. Bridgediver had some really good perspective on these types of signals in this thread - http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/tr...diver-communications-blackout-conditions.html

The more you can use comms, the easier it gets when you need it. Remember, it is something that has to be worked out with divers and tenders. Keep things simple when you communicate. Short, simple direction/ questions. After I speak, I tend to take a breath which makes it difficult for me to hear. We try to have the tenders wait 3 seconds or so after the diver talks to give the diver time to be able to hear.

 

[muddiver]

You are way ahead of the game. Comm systems are not as reliable as we would like. Having spent a lot of time communicating by line pulls makes it that much eaisier to remember their meaning when the voice communication fails. Good for you.

In commercial diving, not unlike PSD, the tenders job requires that they keep the slack out of the umbilicle. This helps keep it from getting fouled on some thing and allows the diver to give line pull signals. Voice communication is an important luxury that is not always effective. Therefore I commend you for using and knowing your line pull signals.