Are some signals just plain stupid?

[jbomb001]

Had a guy a few weeks ago TRY to give me the whole MOF. Bs because while sitting on the boat I normally put my mask on my forehead. There is simply too much stuff around my neck as it is I'm not adding to that area because some moron can't tell the difference between me relaxing in the sun on a boat or me panicking. I informed him to pay attention to his buddy that was struggling to get his gear ready and had just put his bc on before his weight harness.. then I stood up slid my mask down onto my face and stepped off the boat and made my way down to a pile of old logs sitting at 80 ffw. When I returned at the end of my dive he and his buddy that claimed to be instructors were already back on the boat due to burning up there tanks in 45 min at 50 feet. I had managed an hr dive and come back with about 700psi. All I could do was chuckle to myself.

Sent from my galaxy S5 Active.

 

[gypsyjim]

The entire MOF is bs. Wearing your mask there, in the water is dumb, because you are just asking to lose it.

Beyond that, anyone who grew up on Sea Hunt knows it looks cool, to wear it like that. In the water mine is always around my neck, when not on my face, because your forehead is just about the worst place for your mask when you are in the water as it can very easily slip away unnoticed.

It is only relatively recently that it suddenly has become a shorthand for "I'm in distress". I had to chuckle the first time a PADI Course Director told me not to do it around his class, as he was teaching that doing so is a sign of a panicking diver. WTF? OK, I complied to be polite.

Now I occasionally wear my mask there while waiting to enter the water, just to watch reactions.

 

[bowlofpetunias]

Thanks for the chuckle Storker! I can't believe that is a sign for OK .. the only times I have seen that one underwater my buddies were indicating umm... non enjoyment of the dive

My Instructor stressed the Mask on.. Reg in rule. Both in place until you are on the boat or on shore in a position where you can't wind up back in the drink. I can't say that following that rule saved my hide the one time I really got trashed because my hide was pretty well flayed but it sure saved my face and lungs!

Interesting that where you did your warm water diving they didn't watch for the OK signal. We don't always do the fist on head more like fingers on head. It usually gets attention from someone if someone fails to indicate on entry. I think it is pretty much built into the entry for me

I can't really think of any stupid signals other the the one I just learned from post 48 :rofl:

 

[Oldbear]

A lot of signals seem ridiculous to many divers when they are not used locally.

I never used the hand on head OK or the giant two-handed O for the first 7 years of diving. I was always near a tour boat so the simple 3-fingers up with the 2-finger OK worked well. The others seemed a bit over killed. Now that I dive in open ocean and sometimes in current the other two make more sense.

The funny thing is "locally" we have divers either 500+ dives and yet the whole island like to signal numbers with fingers on both hands.

 

[Neilwood]

Have to say I am one of those who will constantly display the MOF sign as certainly up until now, with diving a thick 7mm rental wetsuit that isn't a perfect fit, my neck is already constricted by the collar of the WS and adding a mask there just makes me totally uncomfortable. I certainly will not have the mask on my face while doing a shore entry/exit as I need to have the peripheral vision to look down and see my footing. MOF is, for me at the moment, by far the easiest way to carry it during the entry/exit phase.

I should note that no-one yet has thought of it as an :sos: and tried to save me.

 

[Storker]

Thanks for the chuckle Storker! I can't believe that is a sign for OK .. the only times I have seen that one underwater my buddies were indicating umm... non enjoyment of the dive

I guess "wanker" isn't an expression exclusive to the British isles, then, but can perhaps also be encountered in other parts of the Commonwealth?

We don't always do the fist on head more like fingers on head.

Yeah, you're right. It's more often fingers on head here, too. In any case, hand on head

 

[Phil_C]

Aren't cultural and linguistic differences brilliant there are so many words that have an entirely different meaning in UK English and US English - but let's not go there. Have fun P


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[CptTightPants21]

Thinking back on this thread, has anyone mentioned having the mask turned around, the strap on your forehead and the lenses on back of your head? That is what I do most time.

 

[Oldbear]

Thinking back on this thread, has anyone mentioned having the mask turned around, the strap on your forehead and the lenses on back of your head? That is what I do most time.

I thought about mentioning it in context with the MOF mumbo-jumbo, but I tried to keep my post close to the OP's original question about signals.

 

[packrat12]

Some one QUICK!! Save Jacques Cousteau.... He is panicking!!

---------- Post added October 9th, 2015 at 08:26 AM ----------

Falco Albert from his crew will save him.....



No wait, he is panicking too!! what are we to do????