Communicating Underwater

[SubStefan]

Everybody knows the basic hand signals and signs, but I was just wandering if it was possible to talk to your buddy underwater, what would you say?

Would you prefer not to talk?

Would you discuss dive data and issues?

Personally I enjoy the relaxing silence of the deep sea but there have been a few occasions where I wished I was able to communicate, such as: “Hold still, your tank is slipping out of your BCD” to things like: “Its choppy at the surface, so let’s use the SMB to contact the boat from here”.

I was also wandering if anyone had a personal hand signals that might be useful?

 

[Blackwood]

This book is a wonderful reference for hand signals. It has more in it than I generally need to say.

Hand Signals for Scuba Diving

If hand signals are inadequate, we communicate by writing.



I suppose COM gear could be cute for a while, but I enjoy being 'alone' with my thoughts.

 

[DCBC]

I was just wandering if it was possible to talk to your buddy underwater, what would you say?

We normally talk about the job at hand. If we have extra time, we complain. Since this is what commercial divers love to do, it doesn't have to be about anything in particular. If a diver isn't complaining about something, it's an early sign that there's a problem. :mooner:

 

[diver 85]

Always this oldie-------------substitute any diving equipment you forgot & forget the last bushy thing.....

YouTube - where's the rake

 

[Crowley]

It is just about possible to talk underwater and be understood, with a bit of practice and a familiar buddy. A DM of mine used to do it all the time and after a year working with him I could understand him.

Two stories:
(1) I went diving with deaf people once - they really *can* talk underwater!
(2) One customer told me he enjoyed diving with his wife precisely because she *couldn't* talk underwater!

“Hold still, your tank is slipping out of your BCD” to things like: “Its choppy at the surface, so let’s use the SMB to contact the boat from here”.

I would suggest both of these things are achievable by simple hand signals even if you have not rehearsed them before; I've had to communicate similar expressions to divers when conditions have been poor or their tank, has in fact, slipped out of their BCD.

Com gear is okay but the full face mask you need to wear is wasteful of air. needs a good training orientation (how do you equalise if you cant pinch your nose through the glass), and is vital for certain dive operations (complex lifting in archaelogical research, for example), but for the majority of recreational dives, communication can be achieved through basic signals and a bit of imagination!

Safe diving,

C.

 

[DCBC]

...how do you equalise if you cant pinch your nose through the glass.

Full face masks either provide a means to pinch the nose or are equipped with a nose block device which allows ear equalization. It's pretty simple, but I agree that proper training is required. It's cool how you could understand your buddy speaking u/w.

 

[Diver0001]

Everybody knows the basic hand signals and signs, but I was just wandering if it was possible to talk to your buddy underwater, what would you say?

I'd say "hush dear dive buddy... you've said too much already".



LOL

There are times that I really wish we had comms but there are also times that I feel comms would take away from the experience.

I've made some dives using comms and while I think they are indispensible in certain situations, I"m generally content to have my buddy leave me in peace.

R..

P.S. I do "talk" to my buddy under water a fair bit even without comms. I push my regulator up to his ear and talk into it. Most of the time he can understand me.

 

[Atomic_Diver]

hand signals work fine (enough for me at least...), I heard that Rebreather divers can kinda talk to each other, but when I heard 2 CCR divers "talking" it was as if they where trying to do it with a sock in their mouth.. I would belive that in Open Circuit that Talking would use up a lot of Air with a comm system...

 

[billamp]

In one of the advanced classed I have taken we actually did the following exercise. The instructor has a phrase he is going to pass on the the next diver in a circle. He placed his forehead against the next divers forehead and said the phrase through his second stage. When the diver he"spoke" to gives the OK he repeats it to the next diver and so on to the end. Then we all surfaced and me being the last diver I stated the phrase. Even had it correct. It's awkward and inconvenient but it works. Sign is easier if you and your buddy both know it.

 

[TSandM]

Over 90% of the time, light signals, hand signals and facial expressions are enough. I can signal a buddy and show them something I'm excited about; we can communicate course changes and gas status and the like. If a tank is slipping, a simple "hold" signal is all the slippee needs to have, until I've fixed the problem.

Once in a while, something more complex needs to be sorted (like "I don't want to get any further from the boat, since the person on it can't drive it") and then the wetnotes come out.

I'd rather not talk.