Common Signals in Tech?

[Peter Guy]

I had the great experience of doing a skills dive with a new (to me) pre-tech diver last night. She is taking an intro-to-tech class with an instructor I don't know with an agency with which I've not had the pleasure of working.

We had discussed signals prior to diving but it became obvious that one signal I used didn't mean anything to her -- a rapid back & forth of my light for OOA. When she signaled me that she was OOA, she "slashed her throat" back and forth. (As she used the hand with her 21 W HID, all I saw was a bright light -- her first time using a can light!)

During the debrief she told me she had never heard of the "rapid flashing light" signal for OOA/Danger -- and that got me to thinking about my training/instructors. I've had pre-technical/technical training from 5 (?) different instructors from 4 different agencies, but I realized during the debrief that all of them were Cave divers even though only one of the them was a cave instructor.

This led to the question of this thread:

Are there common signals, light or otherwise, in technical diving? If so, what are they?

1. OOA -- Is the rapid back & forth a standard?

2. Attention -- Is the "slow" back & forth a standard?

3. OK -- Is the circle a standard?

4. What others?

Any and everyone?

 

[elan]

We do it as this:

Emergency: Rapid back and forth with the light (pointing away from the eyes of the buddies ).

Attention: Slow light motion.

While doing emergency flashing showing "cutting throat " movement - OOA/OOG

circle - OK

rolling fingers - doing the valves

rolling hand with the pointing and middle finger sticking out - switching gas

hand movement as if you are rolling a line on a spool - switching to back gas.

repeating thumb touching the palm movement - check the manifold.

a stick breaking movement - your post is broken - touching corresponding arm.

closed fist - hold

palm moving sideways - stay at this depth.

palm moving from low to high - ascend to the next level - from high to low - descend to the next level

 

[rjack321]

Not going to see throat slashing motions without a light signal in Lake Washington and its not a cave. It's a standard signal, been around since the canister light (1970s?).

I question the experience of the other instructor - teaching throat slashing hand motions in tech classes. Not only do they work poorly in low light but they also tend to encourage breaking trim and feet dropping, again bad in silty, dark non-cave places like Lake Washington.

 

[piikki]

1. OOA -- Is the rapid back & forth a standard?

2. Attention -- Is the "slow" back & forth a standard?

3. OK -- Is the circle a standard?

4. What others?

I have always been asking for more light signals and it seems like the instructors I have met have all been more than reluctant to 'widen' the list much from the three you list. (The ones I have encountered have pretty much been either cave or tech instructors who dive predominantly in limited viz).

They all seem to agree on the 3 you mention and the universal 3A is Attention PLUS try to point your light to the where the issue/problem is (eg manifold, entangled fin) or alternatively Attention PLUS draw your buddy close enough it becomes obvious enough what the issue is or you can use hand signals (eg light your hand appropriately or guide buddy's hands).

Well, I guess one more could be added... covering/uncovering a light basically means "I am looking for you, WTH"


Hand signals - there seems to be a bunch. I've had to adjust to different instructors starting from differences how they turn a dive.

 

[Sas]

Those are the light signals I have been taught too. Then there's a whole bunch of other hand signs, the main requirement was that they be one handed.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

I vaguely remember reading or hearing someone explain their theory that rapid up and down light movements meant one thing and rapid side to side light movements meant something else - but obviously it did not stick in my long term memory.

So as far as I am concerned a faster than normal side to side light movement directed at the item of interest means attention and a really rapid one means an "oh $&!^ situation is in progress.

In that regard, a faster than normal to very rapid side to side light movement is a scalable signal where the speed of the movement is more or less linearly related to the intensity of the event and the amount of attention desired.

You could also argue the intensity of the signal is also directly proportional to the cluelessness or lack of SA of the dive buddy.

 

[carrielsal]

This is a pretty good site to look at, Scuba Diving Communications, Underwater Hand Signals - Dayo Scuba, Orlando, Florida.

 

[Cave Diver]

I vaguely remember reading or hearing someone explain their theory that rapid up and down light movements meant one thing and rapid side to side light movements meant something else - but obviously it did not stick in my long term memory.

I was taught that a rapid up and down movement was "Attention!" (Think of the light making the frame for the capitol letter "A") and that a rapid back and forth meant "Emergency!" (Think of it as making the three "crossbars" of the letter "E")

So as far as I am concerned a faster than normal side to side light movement directed at the item of interest means attention and a really rapid one means an "oh $&!^ situation is in progress.

Having made the above comment my buddies all subscribe to your previous comment. Any light signal warrants reaction and a rapid signal warrants IMMEDIATE attention. Direction is not as relevant as urgency.

 

[elan]

The only problem is with up and down and side to side movements can be it's very easy to mistaken them one for the other depending on how the buddies are oriented to each other, for drawing someone's attention it's much more simple just to cross his beam few times slowly, in emergency it's the last thing I would probably care for is how geometrically and horizontally perfect my lines are.

 

[Cave Diver]

The only problem is with up and down and side to side movements can be it's very easy to mistaken them one for the other depending on how the buddies are oriented to each other, for drawing someone's attention it's much more simple just to cross his beam few times slowly

Agreed, thats why we settled on this:

Any light signal warrants reaction and a rapid signal warrants IMMEDIATE attention. Direction is not as relevant as urgency.