underwater communication

[Addicted2H2O]

Might I suggest a speargun. That'll get his attention.

Or a cattle prod....

 

[Saniflush]

Or a cattle prod....

I like where you head is at

 

[Neilwood]

I would suggest that if he is a photographer then the one sure way to get his attention is to do something to screw his shot up such as shining your lights onto his subject. Almost guaranteed that his focus is 100% on the viewfinder so anything that comes in to shot will get his attention!

 

[EireDiver606]

Maybe use an underwater laser? Could shine it in front of him, might travel further and be more noticeable as a signal than flashlight ..?

Awesome. How much?

 

[EireDiver606]

@victorzamora how often do we make eye contact on a 3+ hour cave dive? like 4-5 times?

I rarely make eye contact, it's not necessary. Their eyes don't say much since their hands are doing the talking....

For doing drills, eye contact is key because it shows what state the other is in. It’s the best way to have a reference to stay neutral in open water also.

When we did drills, looking into the others eye made it a lot easier to stay still. A lot easier. Subconsciously, you go down if you look down and go up if you look up for more than a few seconds and if you look at your team (who is in good buoyancy because they’re doing nothing), your job, to stay still while taskloaded is so much easier.

 

[jetjock]

I've been using Dive Alerts for several years now with good results. I myself have significant hearing loss in the upper frequencies due to decades as an airline pilot. Tank bangers - nada, but I do hear the Dive Alert underwater.

 

[jetjock]

And since the subject of underwater communicators has been brought up I have a question: Has anyone ever heard of adapting an OTS SSB 2010 Aquacom unit to work with Ocean Reef headsets? My wife and I really like our Ocean Reef FFMs but have found the features of the Ocean Reef comms units to be a bit lacking compared with OTS units. The Ocean Reef headset is 6-pin and the OTS headset is 4-pin.

 

[tbone1004]

@jetjock unfortunately I think you're going to be SoL on that one. I don't believe OTS has made a buddyphone or earphone/mic assembly for the Ocean Reef masks.
@Lake Hickory Scuba may be able to answer that. Bryan has a lot of experience with both.

 

[Addicted2H2O]

And since the subject of underwater communicators has been brought up I have a question: Has anyone ever heard of adapting an OTS SSB 2010 Aquacom unit to work with Ocean Reef headsets? My wife and I really like our Ocean Reef FFMs but have found the features of the Ocean Reef comms units to be a bit lacking compared with OTS units. The Ocean Reef headset is 6-pin and the OTS headset is 4-pin.

I have to agree. The one time my wife and I tried to Ocean Reef comms, the audio had some static and it was kinda hard to understand what either of us was saying. Not exactly sure I want to drop $800 on equipment that's going to leave much to be desired.

 

[TMHeimer]

I'll be the first to say it. If you are concerned that you might need him if you get in trouble, then you need to be within one fin kick of him at all times so you can do that. Any farther and he is not your "buddy" as you are not diving in a team. You are now "same ocean" buddies, vs. teammates. I have no objection to diving as same ocean buddies, I do that with most of my dive buddies, but I also don't think about relying on them for anything. If I am in trouble, they're there to make it easier, but I expect to be able to get myself out on my own. If I suspect I might "need" them vs "want" them to help me out of a bind, then our buddy positioning becomes much closer

I've read all the posts, but the thread IMO could've probably stopped here. If you're close enough to be truly buddy diving then hearing something probably won't matter. As well, at least here, where we dive in thick wetsuit or drysuit hoods, you'll not hear a tank banger. In fact, I don't think I've ever heard any sound uw except a passing boat when in Connecticut.
The rare times that I do buddy dive, being as close as tbone describes is a must for me. I feel comfortable solo, but feel a responsibility for the buddy, and hopefully he/she does for me.