Carrying a pointer stick

[ShallowSeasGallery]

LoL…call me Negative Ned but that sentence had the opposite effect of the one you intended.

I was raised on 4Chan, there's maybe just a gentle muck stick's touch of facetiousness in my answer.

 

[tursiops]

I was raised on 4Chan, there's maybe just a gentle muck stick's touch of facetiousness in my answer.

How are we supposed to know that in your post? You are in an environment here with all age groups and many nationalities and native languages.

 

[mcohen1021]

Gloves are generally allowed on wrecks. Look, if you are diving in a man made impoundment like for example, Table Rock Lake that I dive often enough, and on the "paddle wheel" wreck which is jagged iron, bring what you need to be safe. Man made lakes are not a sensitive coral reef ecosystem.

^^ Agree 100%. same concept as that 1-2 dives I do in the muck lake...

The 1-2 dives I do at the ski lake is treacherous, 0 vis like you're blindfolded and playing pin the tail on the donkey. Full wetsuit, waterski gloves and knife are all required equipment for safety because even if someone else was down there with me, they'd never find me.

 

[revise]

i dont see why you'd need gloves or a knife in clear waters.

My fingers get all splotchy colored and weird looking when diving. I put on gloves so I can't see them and it fixes everything.

 

[Belzelbub]

I carry an extra large muck stick...... its called a spear gun and is excellent for pointing out ling cod, cabezon and kelp greenlings....all without any damage to reefs.

Same here, but mine doesn’t point out any of those fish. Most often it finds hogfish, grouper, and snapper.

 

[Belzelbub]

i dont see why you'd need gloves or a knife in clear waters.

Really depends on the type of diving you do. I wear gloves and bring a knife and cutters on every dive. I’ve been glad I had them more than once. The waters I dive in are quite often clear, or relatively so.

If all you do is guided dives in tropical waters, then I see your point. That’s just not the type of diving I do. Most often I’m hunting, and a caught fish often finds a way to get a spine in the hand. That’s why the gloves I use are both cut and puncture resistant. Also, it doesn’t hurt that they grip the speargun bands a bit better than bare pruny fingers.

I honestly was confused when I first heard that gloves were banned at some locations. After seeing videos of group dives, I do get it, though I’m not sure it’s truly addressing the problem. Might be the easiest route, but perhaps not the most effective.

 

[Jay_Remi]

Banning sticks looks real extreme to me. I have encountered way more 'photographers' destroying corals when taking pics than sticks holders.

 

[Living4Experiences]

Mine is still hanging on the shop display wall. It is secure and streamlined there. Don’t like the things.

That said I had a guide in Fiji who used one effectively to point out a multitude of truly tiny critters. It was much easier to spot the critter following the extended line of the pointer than using a finger to point. He never touched anything with it, used it as an anchor or used it as a tank banger. He just used it to point.

A good use of a muck/pointer stick. I can't see a pygmy seahorse with my aging eyes, and I can't use my magnifying glass and take a picture at the same time. But my guide can point it out to assist me. I always carry one.

 

[pauldw]

The fact that anyone considers there use acceptable is unconscionable.

Unconscionable? UNCONSCIONABLE?! Bloody hell. Genocide is unconscionable. Rape is unconscionable. Having physical contact with the environment you're in is unconscionable? Serious? Makes me want to go get a stick. And I don't even know what they're for.

 

[CathyE]

For whatever reason Amazon just sent me a ‘you may be interested is’ email for a pointer stick. I had no interest in one, until now….