What actions do you take when you can't see and need help?

[Tigerman]

First of all, thanks for posting and congratulations on keeping yourself calm and alive with a good buddy.

There is one HUGE downside to tank bangers that people have not mentioned yet and that is the fact that especially in popular dive sites with lots of sealife people tend to use them for everything but "neccesseties". They keep banging them to point out every little bit of sealife they come across and you get to a point where you just ignore the banging unless it sounds like its someone dieing who does it.
Also, all that banging for every little crab or parrotfish scare away the really cool stuff like sharks..

 

[BabyDuck]

another thing to consider is did you put sunscreen on your face that day? sunscreen in your eyes burns like the fires of hell.

you did great, your buddy did great, thank you for sharing your story.

what would *i* do? freeze and beat my buddy up with my light. he'd be there in a flash to help me figure stuff out. he doesn't want me to die because i do the cooking.

 

[Dive the World]

1) appreciate you had a good dive buddy who was close and aware.
2) use J&J baby shampoo - no tears

A noise make is always helpful along with the light.

Could have tried putting the mask back on - it is kinda a strange it kept flooding.

Side note if you wear lenses. What I learned is that in salt water it is ok to have your eyes open while wearing lenses - the lenses don't float away, density.

 

[MADiveGirl]

I have a whistle attached to my BC that is supposed to work underwater as well, although I've never tried it so who knows. I'm a HUGE fan of using J&J Baby shampoo for defog. Works better than any defog I've ever tried, won't sting if you leave a little in your mask accidentally, and smells great. I just bought a little travel one and keep it in my mask case, drizzle a little on & rub around before I head toward the water, then give the mask a quick rinse at the shore before we head in (mostly shore dives at this point for me). It's also been recommended to me to simply mix a little of the shampoo in a squirt bottle with water and carry that in my dive bag.

But nice buddy work - that should make you feel great about your buddies!!!!