Deefstes
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So in another thread there was some talk of hand signals not having universal meaning and which could cause confusion so I thought I'd test mine quickly. These are the signals that we use most often and I thought they'd be universally understood but now I'm not so sure. I'm interested to know how you would have interpreted my hand signals if I dived with you and we did not discuss these beforehand. Also, I'd be interested to know how you would have signaled these messages. I'll put the meanings to my signals below so you can first read the signal and consider what it would have meant to you.
(in most cases "left" and "right" can be switched)
1. Open hand, palm facing downwards, rotating the hand left and right at the wrist. Then point to my ear with my index finger.
2. One hand open, palm facing downwards. Other hand in thumbs up position with thumb touching the palm of open hand.
3. Same as 2 but upside down. In other words one hand is open with palm facing upwards. Other hand in thumbs down position with thumb touching the palm of open hand.
4. Fist of right hand pressed against left shoulder, fingers towards body OR fist of right hand held with elbow bent at 90 degrees, fingers showing towards other diver.
5. Point to other diver with index finger of left hand then make "handgun" sign with left hand (closed hand with index finger and thumb extended) and make "handgun" sign with right hand and point in the same direction as left hand but behind left hand.
6. Both hands open with palms upwards (shrugging motion) followed by index and middle finger of right hand pressed onto left upper arm.
7. Both hands open with palms upwards followed by extended index fingers of both hands held side by side.
SO HERE'S WHAT IT MEANS:
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1. Shaking of hand = "something is wrong", index finger pointed to ear = "with my ear".
Of course the index finger can be pointed to any other piece of gear or body part with which you're experiencing problems.
2. "I'm ascending to a shallower level" or "let's ascend to a shallower level". This is mostly used to indicate that I'll be ascending to the safety stop. Also, when I'm on my safety stop and I notice my buddy is too deep I might use this signal to indicate "ascend to my level".
3. "I'm descending to a deeper level" or "let's descend to a deeper level". I don't use this as often really but I would use it to indicate to my buddy to "descend to my level" if she's doing her safety stop too shallow.
4. "I'm low on air" or more specifically "I have 50 bar left". This is usually how we indicate that the dive is over and is usually followed by a thumbs up sign.
5. "You lead, I will follow"
6. "Where is the dive master?" - This signal is usually followed by a very sheepish grin.
7. "I've lost my buddy" - This signal is usually followed by an extremely sheepish grin.
(in most cases "left" and "right" can be switched)
1. Open hand, palm facing downwards, rotating the hand left and right at the wrist. Then point to my ear with my index finger.
2. One hand open, palm facing downwards. Other hand in thumbs up position with thumb touching the palm of open hand.
3. Same as 2 but upside down. In other words one hand is open with palm facing upwards. Other hand in thumbs down position with thumb touching the palm of open hand.
4. Fist of right hand pressed against left shoulder, fingers towards body OR fist of right hand held with elbow bent at 90 degrees, fingers showing towards other diver.
5. Point to other diver with index finger of left hand then make "handgun" sign with left hand (closed hand with index finger and thumb extended) and make "handgun" sign with right hand and point in the same direction as left hand but behind left hand.
6. Both hands open with palms upwards (shrugging motion) followed by index and middle finger of right hand pressed onto left upper arm.
7. Both hands open with palms upwards followed by extended index fingers of both hands held side by side.
SO HERE'S WHAT IT MEANS:
.
.
.
.
1. Shaking of hand = "something is wrong", index finger pointed to ear = "with my ear".
Of course the index finger can be pointed to any other piece of gear or body part with which you're experiencing problems.
2. "I'm ascending to a shallower level" or "let's ascend to a shallower level". This is mostly used to indicate that I'll be ascending to the safety stop. Also, when I'm on my safety stop and I notice my buddy is too deep I might use this signal to indicate "ascend to my level".
3. "I'm descending to a deeper level" or "let's descend to a deeper level". I don't use this as often really but I would use it to indicate to my buddy to "descend to my level" if she's doing her safety stop too shallow.
4. "I'm low on air" or more specifically "I have 50 bar left". This is usually how we indicate that the dive is over and is usually followed by a thumbs up sign.
5. "You lead, I will follow"
6. "Where is the dive master?" - This signal is usually followed by a very sheepish grin.
7. "I've lost my buddy" - This signal is usually followed by an extremely sheepish grin.