Equipment for Wreck Diving

[ofg-1]

Funny, none of you guys mentioned the pry bar, hammer, and magnesium flares that Mike Nelson always took into wrecks with him.

 

[beester]

Well in my pirate days I would take all of that with me (minus the magnesium flares) and more as well Now I take a camera and we try to document the stuff and try to map in 3D instead of taking things off! (Westhinder)

 

[Akimbo]

Funny, none of you guys mentioned the pry bar, hammer, and magnesium flares that Mike Nelson always took into wrecks with him.

You don't need most of that stuff if your hammer is big enough.

 

[boulderjohn]

Well in my pirate days I would take all of that with me (minus the magnesium flares) and more as well Now I take a camera and we try to document the stuff and try to map in 3D instead of taking things off! (Westhinder)

Different people have decidedly different views on this. It sounds simplistic, but most wreck dives can be placed into one fo these two camps:

1. I got to see this wreck the way it is, and othes should be able to see it, too. Nothing in here belongs to me, and I will share this experience with those who follow.
2. Everything in this wreck is gong to disintegrate and go away eventually if left alone, so I have every right to take whatever I want.

In discussions, those two camps, talk past each other, and each side thinks the other side is nuts.

A number of years ago I looked at a book whose title was something like Advanced Wreck Diving. I opened it with the idea of learning skills to navigate advanced wrecks safely. I was surprised to find that very little of the book was about actually diving. The book was focused on retrieving and cleaning up artifacts.

 

[Rred]

Mike Nelson only took magnesium flares with him because back then, fire had already been invented but not underwater flashlights.(G)

Much, perhaps most of today's wreck diving is what I call "curated wreck diving". You are going with a curator (guide) just like someone would give you a tour at a museum. They already know the wreck, how to get in and out. And the wreck is either WW2 vintage where most of the things that can trap you have collapsed or grown stuck, or the intentionally sunk stuff, where all the moving parts have been removed or welded into position.

Making the courses somewhat at odds with what most divers would need to know, and with two very different types of "wreck diving" on the table.

And that's ignoring the "wrecks" that really are just "wreckage", i.e. no longer intact, just debris fields on the bottom. Often good for finding dinner but hardly needing extra training.

 

[Bob DBF]

@Akimbo
And raise you one.

 

[Akimbo]

@Akimbo
And raise you one...

You know the old saying "if the only tool you have is a hammer, you treat everything as if it were a nail"? Commercial divers simplified it -- everything can be a hammer.

Oxy-Arc torches are a logistics problem for Scuba divers. Explosives on the other hand are pretty portable... and a lot more fun.

 

[lermontov]

You know the old saying "if the only tool you have is a hammer, you treat everything as if it were a nail"? Commercial divers simplified it -- everything can be a hammer.

Oxy-Arc torches are a logistics problem for Scuba divers. Explosives on the other hand are pretty portable... and a lot more fun.

View attachment 482879​

now your talking just drop a charge into the magazine hold like the Aaron Ward for example its chocka with live ammo!!

 

[lermontov]

Funny, none of you guys mentioned the pry bar, hammer, and magnesium flares that Mike Nelson always took into wrecks with him.

my kit consists of hammers, crow bar, winches, chain, bolt cuttters and air syphon

 

[beester]

Different people have decidedly different views on this. It sounds simplistic, but most wreck dives can be placed into one fo these two camps:

1. I got to see this wreck the way it is, and othes should be able to see it, too. Nothing in here belongs to me, and I will share this experience with those who follow.
2. Everything in this wreck is gong to disintegrate and go away eventually if left alone, so I have every right to take whatever I want.

In discussions, those two camps, talk past each other, and each side thinks the other side is nuts.

A number of years ago I looked at a book whose title was something like Advanced Wreck Diving. I opened it with the idea of learning skills to navigate advanced wrecks safely. I was surprised to find that very little of the book was about actually diving. The book was focused on retrieving and cleaning up artifacts.

Well I was in camp 2 (a bit strange since I studied history at university), but my views slowly changed and I'm transitioning in camp 1 . I (or we, because it's a group effort) still collect stuff from wrecks, only this time it's in pics, video footage, and captures to create 3d models. Next we do still take stuff from wrecks but now under guidance and supervision of marine archeologists who task us to take specific stuff from wrecks with the aim to further historical research. ;-)

In Dutch there is an expression stating "the best game wardens are ex-poachers".