c/commercial-divers

16

diana_kim66•1d ago

Found a stat about ear infections in divers that blew my mind

Was reading through some DAN dive medicine articles last night and saw that over 60% of commercial divers get outer ear infections at least once a year, even with proper cleaning routines. I always thought it was more rare since most of us use those ear drying drops after every dive. Has anyone else had chronic ear issues even when you stay on top of maintenance?

22

nelson.vera•1d ago

Had a chat with an old salvage diver in Texas that made me reconsider dry suits

I was sitting at a diner in Corpus Christi last month after a rough day on a pipeline inspection. This older guy, maybe 65, saw my dry suit hanging out of my truck and started talking. He said he spent 20 years doing salvage in the Gulf with nothing but a wetsuit and a good knife. I mean, I always thought dry suits were essential for any kind of cold water work, but he argued that they just slow you down and make you complacent about how close you are to hypothermia. He told me a story about getting tangled in a net at 60 feet in January and having to cut himself free, and he swears a wetsuit gave him more mobility to get out of it. Idk, maybe it's just me but I've been thinking about switching to a thicker wetsuit for certain jobs after that conversation. Has anyone else had experience ditching dry suits for warmer conditions?

20

park.miles•1d ago

That expensive titanium dive knife was a waste...

Picked up a $150 titanium knife 6 months ago thinking it would never rust. First real job in the Gulf, and the tip snapped off prying a grate. My $35 stainless steel backup has held up way better. Anyone else find that fancy materials just don't hold up to actual commercial work?

1

sanchez.mary•2d ago

I picked drysuit over wetsuit for Gulf rig jobs

Everybody told me wetsuit was faster for shallow stuff. I went Kirby Morgan 500 with a DUI drysuit instead. That 48 degree water off Louisiana in February? No way I'm doing that in neoprene. Had to take extra breaks for checks but never cut a dive short from cold. Anyone else run dry in warm-ish water?

24

nancyjones•3d ago

Went to a dive site off Grand Cayman last month and the viz was so bad I could barely see my own depth gauge.

I paid $150 for a boat charter and spent half the time feeling around in murk thicker than pea soup, has anyone else had reputable operators just shrug off bad conditions?

17

faith_shah88•6d ago

Tried a new drysuit valve placement and it changed my dive flow

I had my drysuit serviced last month and asked the repair guy to move the exhaust valve about 3 inches higher on my left arm. I figured it would just be a small change. First dive after getting it back, I noticed I wasn't fighting to dump air nearly as much. The valve sits right at the high point now so all the gas goes straight out. It made my bottom time way more comfortable on a 40 foot bridge inspection last week. Has anyone else tweaked their gear setup and gotten better results than you expected?

11

park.miles•7d ago

Pro tip: Drove past the old jetty at Port Fourchon last weekend and noticed every diver was running Kirby Morgan bands instead of neck dams

One guy showed me his smashed up neck dam with a cracked seal and asked if I still thought the neck dam was worth the extra hassle, so now I'm switching over - anyone else make that swap?

10

mianelson•8d ago

PSA: That old timer who told me to ditch dry suits for wet suits in 50 degree water was dead wrong.

Back in April, a diver named Pete from the Gulf Coast crew swore I'd get used to the cold after a few minutes in a 7mm wet suit during a harbor inspection in Tacoma. After 45 minutes I went hypothermic and had to abort the whole job, lost $800 for the day and felt like a fool. Has anyone else been given bad advice from a so-called veteran that cost them real money?

20

grant478•9d ago

Nearly lost a thumb testing a new drysuit valve underwater

I tried out that inline zip valve mod on a 30ft wreck dive last Tuesday and it failed at 15 feet, filling my suit fast. Had to buddy breathe and ditch weights to get up - check your gear seals before any real work, not just a pool test.

3

evan_cooper73•10d ago

Spent 3 years flipping my lift bag wrong before a salvage diver in the Gulf showed me the right way

Every time I tried to control a lift bag at 60 feet it would spin out and I figured that was just how it worked. Then a guy on a pipeline job off Galveston watched me for 5 minutes and pointed out I was clipping the dump valve to the wrong D-ring. Has anyone else had a basic skill turned around by someone who actually knew what they were doing?

6

amy_west•10d ago

That day in 2019 off Port Fourchon when the vis dropped to zero and I refused to abort

Everyone on the crew radios up saying we gotta pull the plug, but I was already at 90 feet on a pipeline repair and I could feel my way through the job by touch alone. Worked the whole 45 minutes down there with silt so thick I couldn't see my own hand, and I still got the weld prep done right under inspection. Has anyone else stuck it out in zero vis when the surface was screaming at you to haul up?

18

finleyl39•11d ago

Old timer told me to pound my weight belt buckles flat and he was dead right

I was struggling with my weight belt always shifting around on deep jobs off the coast of Galveston. This guy Mike who's been diving since the 80s told me to take a hammer and flatten the buckles so they grip the webbing better. Honest to god I did it on my lunch break and now the belt stays put even through currents. Has anyone else got a random tip like that from an older diver that just works?

8

dylan_brown30•11d ago

Vent: The dive supervisor who told me to 'just hold your breath' on a surface swim

I was working a bridge inspection job in Charleston back in March, maybe 60 feet down, and after my first bell run I had a little CO2 buildup. Nothing serious, just breathing heavy. I told the supervisor topside I needed a minute before my next dive. He laughed and said 'just hold your breath for 20 seconds, it'll reset your lungs.' I stared at him waiting for the punchline. He was dead serious. I told him that's how you get a lung overexpansion injury or pass out. He waved me off and called me soft. I finished the day but I told the project manager I wouldn't work with that guy again. Has anyone else had a supervisor give sketchy medical advice like that?

25

the_christopher•14d ago

Spent a week diving on the outer reef near Key West last month

The visibility was insane. Like 80 feet easy. But what got me was the current patterns. We had this one spot called The Rockpile where the current would switch directions twice a day without warning. Nobody warned me about that. Almost got pinned against a ledge because I wasn't paying attention. The local guys said it's normal down there. They just ride it out and wait for the slack. I'm used to lake diving in Michigan where currents are nothing like this. Has anyone else dealt with unpredictable current shifts on reef jobs? How do you plan your bottom time around it?

8

nguyen.morgan•15d ago

Learned a hard lesson about drysuit valves this morning

I was doing a harbor inspection in Seattle last Thursday, about 15 feet down. Felt a cold trickle down my back and realized my drysuit dump valve was stuck open. Had to abort the dive and surface slow, took me an hour to get all the water out. Turns out a tiny piece of grit was lodged in the seal. Anyone else ever had a valve fail on them mid-dive?

22

laura_chen41•15d ago

Water leak took me 8 hours to find on a jobsite in Savannah

I was doing inspection work on a pier in Savannah last month and kept seeing a slow pressure drop. Figured it was a bad valve or something simple. Turns out there was a hairline crack in a weld joint that was hidden behind a growth of barnacles. Took me over 8 hours of diving and checking before I finally saw it. Has anyone else had a leak that felt like it was hiding on purpose?

3

smith.parker•16d ago

Debate: Are dry suits actually safer than hot water suits for deep North Sea dives, or is it just cheaper for the company?

I used hot water suits for 4 years out of Aberdeen. Two winters ago I got a cold water flush that nearly took me out at 45 meters. Switched to dry suits with heated underwear after that. Now I see arguments both ways. Hot water suits keep you warmer if the system works, but when it fails you're in trouble. Dry suits add more weight and bulk, but you can survive a heater failure. What's your take after a real close call?

16

troy_price•1mo ago

Debate with me: dry suit vs wet suit for cold water jobs in the PNW?

I've been diving commercial in Puget Sound for about 7 years now. Back when I started, I used a thick 7mm wet suit with a hood and gloves for winter work on pier inspections. It worked okay but I was ALWAYS cold after 45 minutes and had to take long breaks. Then about 3 years ago I switched to a dry suit with a wool base layer and it changed my whole game. I can stay down for 2 hours easy now and I don't shake like crazy when I come up. But here's the thing - my buddy Dave still swears by his wet suit for the same work because he says dry suits are too bulky and slow him down on ladder climbs. He does the same jobs I do near Edmonds and says he's fine as long as he keeps moving. So what's your take - are dry suits the only way for cold water or is Dave onto something with the old school approach? Has anyone else dealt with deciding between comfort and mobility on a real job site?

14

carter.joseph•1mo ago

Found a trick for clearing muddy mask seals on the fly

Was dealing with a site where the bottom was all stirred up silt and my mask kept leaking around the skirt. I tried rubbing a little dab of dish soap on the seal before a dive and it actually stopped the leak for about 45 minutes on a 60 foot job. Anybody else use something similar or got a better fix?

2

logan658•1mo ago

Vent: Found out my drysuit inflator valve was cross-threaded for 6 months and never noticed

I was swapping out a hose fitting on a dive boat in Port Fourchon last weekend and a random deckhand pointed it out, how hard is it to catch something that obvious during a pre-dive check?

12

shane_park92•1mo ago

Tried a new drysuit zipper lube last week and almost got stuck on the surface

I used some cheap silicone spray instead of the usual wax-based stuff and the zipper seized up halfway during a dive in Puget Sound. Took me 20 minutes of wrestling to get it closed again. Anyone else had a zipper fail from using the wrong lube?

10

wyatt135•1mo ago

Spent 15 minutes talking to a retired navy diver at the bait shop yesterday

He was telling me about how they used to use old fire hoses for lift bags back in the 70s because proper gear was hard to come by. Said they'd just clamp em off with vice grips and hope for the best. Made me think about how much we take modern lift bags for granted. Has anyone else run into old school tricks that actually still work better than the new stuff?

7

nelson.vera•1mo ago

That $400 drysuit zipper I cheaped out on finally gave up

I bought a used DUI drysuit last year and knew the main zipper was kinda stiff, but I figured I'd save the $400 for a real replacement. Big mistake. It blew out halfway through a 90-foot dive near Port Townsend last month, and I had to cut the dive short in 45-degree water. Has anyone else had a zipper fail at the worst possible moment?

6

susansingh•1mo ago

Dry suit vs. wetsuit for cold water dives in Puget Sound last month

I'm a deckhand on a salvage crew. Had to pick dry suit or wetsuit for a 45 minute job in 48 degree water. Picked dry suit. Regulator froze after 20 minutes. Had to abort. My buddy used a thick wetsuit and was fine. What do you guys run for temps under 50?

26

anna491•1mo ago

Shelled out $300 for a fancy drysuit zipper repair that failed in 2 weeks

I took my drysuit to a shop in Norfolk that claimed they specialized in commercial grade zippers. Paid $300 upfront and got it back with a new zipper that looked great but leaked on my first real dive. Went back and they said I must have snagged it, wouldn't touch it again. Anyone else get burned by a repair shop that acted like experts but couldn't back it up?