WHAT do you call low VIS?
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Master Chief
Guest
Low vis is when diving in high current and you wack your head on an object like a ships hull and break you nose and loose your mask. All others are easly managable.
Master Chief
Master Chief
ScubaDon
Contributor
hehe
Dove Sea Base here in Utah last weekend and vis was a wonderful 2 feet. Several classes had just certified. If my buddy got any farther than 2 or 3 feet away from me I couldn't see him at all, and he wears a wet suit with yellow arms.
Dove Sea Base here in Utah last weekend and vis was a wonderful 2 feet. Several classes had just certified. If my buddy got any farther than 2 or 3 feet away from me I couldn't see him at all, and he wears a wet suit with yellow arms.
Master Chief
Guest
mc
On one scary dive at Catalina during a serious downpour the milk chocolate run-off from the island engulfed 3 of us from both sides in a cove. We ascended to find each other at the surface and return to the boat. The captain did find two more decent locations for the day - so all was not lost. But I was sure glad I wasn't doing skills with beginners when that happened. It was almost instantaneous - 50 foot vis to 0 in like 3 seconds! Scared the crap out of me. The captain pointed out that part of the embankment gave way and plopped into the water.
large_diver
Contributor
Definition of low vis....
Earlier this summer, our club coordinated with a local group that was trying to clean invasive weeds (Eurasian Milfoil) out of a local lake. The dives involved water about 8 feet deep -- very silty bottom. You had to follow the plant stems with your hand down into the silt until you found the root ball -- then you pulled it and stuffed it into a catch bag. Vis was often 0-6 inches once you pulled a few plants. Plants were so thick in some places, it felt like kelp diving.
Having grown up on a pond with lots of snapping turtles who like to hide in the silt......I tried to keep these thoughts from entreing my head.
Good training dive if nothing else -- solo diving in extreme low vis with lots of entanglement possibilities.....
Earlier this summer, our club coordinated with a local group that was trying to clean invasive weeds (Eurasian Milfoil) out of a local lake. The dives involved water about 8 feet deep -- very silty bottom. You had to follow the plant stems with your hand down into the silt until you found the root ball -- then you pulled it and stuffed it into a catch bag. Vis was often 0-6 inches once you pulled a few plants. Plants were so thick in some places, it felt like kelp diving.
Having grown up on a pond with lots of snapping turtles who like to hide in the silt......I tried to keep these thoughts from entreing my head.
Good training dive if nothing else -- solo diving in extreme low vis with lots of entanglement possibilities.....
Shadow
Contributor
Low visibility is when I can't see my own fins. As I am 5'4", that means less than 5 feet vis if I can't see past my knees. We get that in the summer when the algae blooms. Sometimes I have trouble seeing my own gauges - must be vis less than 2 feet. The first 30 to 40 feet down are impossible to see. Then you drop below it, and everything opens up. It's a bit un-nerving at first, and you can't even see your buddies until you get deeper.
The visibility in the exact same dive spot changes with the tides, which is twice daily, and with local run-off conditions. One weekend, we'll get 100 feet, and the next weekend, can't see my fins, in the same cove! Never know what to expect around here.
With better vis, I've stopped trying to guess how many feet I can see. I just rate the vis in my log book as excellent, good, fair, or poor. When I can't see my fins, I know for sure it's less than 5 feet!
The visibility in the exact same dive spot changes with the tides, which is twice daily, and with local run-off conditions. One weekend, we'll get 100 feet, and the next weekend, can't see my fins, in the same cove! Never know what to expect around here.
With better vis, I've stopped trying to guess how many feet I can see. I just rate the vis in my log book as excellent, good, fair, or poor. When I can't see my fins, I know for sure it's less than 5 feet!
Shadow
Contributor
I just noticed that no one chose needing a light as their definition of low visibility. Good to see that people know the difference between visibility and darkness! I've been at 100 feet in pitch black, but with 6 divers with awesome lights, the visibility was excellent. I've seen less in daylight at 10 feet, when no amount of light helps cut through algae or silt.
SeaJay
Contributor
And offshore, vis can be up to 150'... Great stuff! But anywhere inland, and you're looking at literal zero visbility. I'm talking the, "Place your guage against your mask and still can't read the guages" kind of visibility.
Last weekend I did a zero-vis night dive. That was interesting.
Why? Well... I've dived great vis, and it's better than zero vis. But ALL diving is great, and there's a certain flavor in zero vis which I do kinda like. One of the things about it is that if you kow where to look, you can find lots of fossils and wrecks that nobody even knows about because nobody's ever seen them. And I'm talking good stuff here... I know where there's a wreck with nine cannon on it... Sunk in the Charleston Harbor during the war of 1812. I have never seen any tinformation on it, and I don't believe that it's been found before. I think it sank by accident, actually, not in battle, based on the structure. The Hunley is a perfect example of why zero-vis is great. The stuff's still down there, man, for you to find. And it does take a certain "flavor" of person to do something like that.
Anyway, I wrote to a major company tonight about zero-vis diving. I mentioned this thread and emailed several high-ups at this well known dive equimpment manufacturer, and gave them an idea that is like a "Hey, howcome nobody ever thought of this before" kind of thing. It's for a product that would instantly be a smash hit among anyone who regularly dives in low or zero vis conditions, and it's a product that would radically make zero-vis diving safer. And yes, it would really be something that everyone would want. I can't believe that I gave them the idea for free... That's how good it is.
I asked them to send me a "beta" unit for testing. I told them that if they let me keep it, I'd consider us "even." They get the idea and get to make millions and be the innovator for what would certainly revolutionize this product, and I get a free one.
Everyone's going to want one of these. No joke. It's killing me that I can't tell you guys.
Let me see what thier response is, and then I'll let the cat out of the bag. You guys are all going to think, "Hey, why didn't someone do this before??" Well, it's because a legally blind person would have to think about it to make it happen. I was born blind (not now due to surgery, but was for many years. That's probably why zero-vis diving doesn't bother me.)
You guys are gonna crap. I swear, it'll revolutionize a very major dive component. And this company's gonna make bucks...
Let's see if they pick up the idea. I bet they do...
Last weekend I did a zero-vis night dive. That was interesting.
Why? Well... I've dived great vis, and it's better than zero vis. But ALL diving is great, and there's a certain flavor in zero vis which I do kinda like. One of the things about it is that if you kow where to look, you can find lots of fossils and wrecks that nobody even knows about because nobody's ever seen them. And I'm talking good stuff here... I know where there's a wreck with nine cannon on it... Sunk in the Charleston Harbor during the war of 1812. I have never seen any tinformation on it, and I don't believe that it's been found before. I think it sank by accident, actually, not in battle, based on the structure. The Hunley is a perfect example of why zero-vis is great. The stuff's still down there, man, for you to find.
And it does take a certain "flavor" of person to do something like that.Anyway, I wrote to a major company tonight about zero-vis diving. I mentioned this thread and emailed several high-ups at this well known dive equimpment manufacturer, and gave them an idea that is like a "Hey, howcome nobody ever thought of this before" kind of thing. It's for a product that would instantly be a smash hit among anyone who regularly dives in low or zero vis conditions, and it's a product that would radically make zero-vis diving safer. And yes, it would really be something that everyone would want. I can't believe that I gave them the idea for free... That's how good it is.
I asked them to send me a "beta" unit for testing. I told them that if they let me keep it, I'd consider us "even." They get the idea and get to make millions and be the innovator for what would certainly revolutionize this product, and I get a free one.
Everyone's going to want one of these. No joke. It's killing me that I can't tell you guys.
Let me see what thier response is, and then I'll let the cat out of the bag. You guys are all going to think, "Hey, why didn't someone do this before??" Well, it's because a legally blind person would have to think about it to make it happen. I was born blind (not now due to surgery, but was for many years. That's probably why zero-vis diving doesn't bother me.)
You guys are gonna crap.
I swear, it'll revolutionize a very major dive component. And this company's gonna make bucks... Let's see if they pick up the idea. I bet they do...
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