Dive Alert + Mini Hammerhead

[scubakat]

Hi all,

-Could- and more importantly -Would- any of you put a Dive Alert Horn AND a Mini-Hammerhead signalling device on your power inflator hose? My thought is that adding either is adding another point of failure and both sounds like more trouble. If you do use either of these devices do you find that they interfere with operating the inflator?

thanks!
kate

 

[kylianna]

Hi Scubakat,

My dad has a dive alert horn on his power inflator / secondary air source, and so far it hasn't given him any problems at all. Since he's a dive con, it's actually helped him out with students, because he can use it to get their attention, which on open water checkouts can be kind of hard sometimes due to the poor visibility (diving in the Hood Canal, in Washington state). I've also put his gear together while doing classes at the pool, and attatching the air horn to his power inflator is very easy. It's also large enough and brightly coloured so you won't confuse it with your air release valve button or your power inflator button.
Hope this helps!

 

[WetDane]

Kate,

a friend of mine has a hammerhead - but we pretty much figured out that with the hood on and stuff - you can't really hear it.

I use a Dive Alert thing on some dives, very loud pitch, get's attention, but I have had my power inflator hose come loose once, not sure if that was the case, but it is one more connection point...

Terkel

 

[scubakat]

oh... duh, guess I should take my hood off!

ya, loudness, another thing to consider. I heard one without my hood & thought that I might be loud enough. It scared me a little & all I could think of was... "where's the cattle prod?"

Any ideas for an alternate buddy-attention-getting-device? Really, if you can't hear the hammerhead with a hood, can you hear someone banging on their tank? (note to self: bang tank on next dive). Usually if I want my buddy's undivided attention I have to clobber him. Does the DiveAlert work under the water as well as at the surface?

So let's go dive! When are you supposed to leave on your trip Kyli?

-kate

 

[Warhammer]

Undercurrent had an article about one a while back called Buddy Blast. It's supposely the loudest of them all, but the only place I know that carries them is http://www.simplyscuba.com. Wether it can be heard through a hood or not, I don't know.


Here's a review on it if you're interested:
http://www.divernet.com/gear/dtst0100.htm#blast

 

[nivtup]

Yeah the vis in Hood Canal has not been good lately, but when it is .......... what a cool place.

 

[kylianna]

Hey Kate!

I'm supposed to leave on Friday for my trip, but I'm really sick! I'm hoping to get enough rest to feel better for it.

On the dive alert horn, it's VERY loud, and you can definately hear it through a hood. It kind of sounds like a loud duck-quack above water, and slightly muted underwater, but you still look around to see whats going on, because as far as I know, no underwater animals make that same noise.

On a sidenote, my dad had the dive alert horn when we were diving in Cozumel, and was able to get the attention of a couple of dolphins by giving the horn a few short blasts underwater. Of course the encounter didn't last long, but still, it was pretty cool!

 

[WetDane]

Hey Kate,

are you diving this weekend? I'm thinking about night dive on Friday, a coupe of tanks Saturday morning if the bloom isn't too over powering, a night dive again Saturday night and I'm open for a daytimne on Sunday and will ost likely do another night on Sunday as well.

If you want to hook up on one of those - I think one of the nighties may be at the Mukilteo state park looking at the wall there...
Anyway - if you want to one of these dives I'll let you play with the dive alert I have, this to me appears to be a surface device though - for attracting boats and stuff if you surface away from a boat...

Terkel

 

[nitrox]

hi,
ive used a mini head for almost two years now and find it very usefull!, depending on your equipment depends on where you can put it , it dosnt have to go on the wing/bcd inflator! i wear mine directly on the drysuit chest inflator and plug the lp whip on to it, although if your not a drybag diver you have no option other than the bc inflator, but put yourself in a rescue situation at night with very few people around and beleive me its a very handy `100 decibell tool not to mention its uses u/water its probably the best 30 quid i ever spent and i never go without it, i hoope this proves usefull regards a uk diver.

 

[scubakat]

Hey Terkel, it's been a long rough week. I am sooo ready to dive I can hardly stand it. Where do you want to dive on saturday?

I'm going with Bob & Mike to Edmonds I think on Monday (early) You are welcome to join us there too.

Hi nitrox, the thought of putting the hammerhead on the dry suit inflator valve occurred to me too, but I dissmised it (too soon I guess!) as a silly idea. Thanks for letting me know I'm not nuts! (or that am not the only one who IS ). So since you dive dry you must wear a hood... can you hear through it?

-kate

kate at bootstrap dot net