How to Communicate Air Level

[nagel]

Kinda a stupid question, but you know what they say - there is no such thing. While under water, what is the standard way to communicate your air level? What I mean is, say you're buddy signals that they want to know how much air you have left. You check and you have 1900psi. How would you communicate this short of showing them your spg?

I was on a dive recently doing some training with about 5 other divers that I had never dove with before; so, we didn't have any clear cut signals for this. The instructor went around to everybody signalling "how much air do you have left". Some of the other divers tapped on their arm and then held up fingers (not sure what this meant). Others, tried to signal using their fingers - such as for 1900 they held up 1 finger and then 9 fingers.

Seems like something simple, but I was confused and forgot to ask after the dive.

S. Nagel

 

[dlndavid]

Not everybody communicates it the same, so it is a good idea to have a clear understanding in the predive planning. Sometime people are using the bar scale and others are using psi, this must be addressed too.

 

[Rainer]

There is no standard. Just work out something with your fellow divers. For gas pressure, we tend to use a 5-system. If I have 1200 PSI left, I'd flash five fingers (500 PSI), then another five fingers (1000 PSI), and then two fingers (1200 PSI). Works one-handed and it's very quick (also eliminates having to flash 0s which are hard to read in sequence). For depths, we use a different one-handed system. Works for us.

 

[Karibelle]

Some of the other divers tapped on their arm and then held up fingers (not sure what this meant).

This is likely "thousands on the arm, hundreds in the air." If I have 2200 psi, for example, I'd show you two fingers on my arm (two thousand) and then two fingers in the air (two hundred).

Unless this has been discussed beforehand and signals agreed upon, showing the gauge is the best way to avoid confusion, IMO.

kari

 

[Homunculus]

the way we were taught in the OW class is to show fingers - each finger corresponds to 100 psi. so, for example, if you have 2000 psi, you would flash 5 fingers of a hand 4 times (4 x 5 = 20; 20 x 100 psi = 2000). so, 1900 psi would be shown by flashing 5 fingers 3 times and then flasing 4 fingers once. ASSUMPTION: you have 5 fingered glove or no glove and it's psi not bars you're communicating

 

[Homunculus]

oooh, Rainer has already mentioned the same system while i was typing. so, there you go...

 

[Wayward Son]

I just show them the gauge, or look at theirs.

 

[J.R.]

Not everybody communicates it the same, so it is a good idea to have a clear understanding in the predive planning. Sometime people are using the bar scale and others are using psi, this must be addressed too.

Sound advise...

Using PSI our convention is single hand hundreds... 2200 psi would be 5-5-5-5-2 1400 would be 5-5-4. Round down...

 

[mjatkins]

I have seen the "tap your arm then flash fingers" system many times. The way I am familliar with it is that the arm taps show thousands. ie. If I place 2 fingers on my forearm, that signals 2000psi. 1 finger would indicate 1000psi. So for instance if I had 2400psi, I would place 2 fingers (like the classic "peace" sign) on my forearm, then hold up four fingers for the extra 400psi. Make sure if you use this method, that you place your fingers on a straight arm. If you have your arm bent when you "tap" it, you may obscure the view of the person you are signaling.

I argree though that signals vary widely, and psi vs. BAR needs to be determined, so be sure to go over all of the signals on the surface before the dive.

Edit; I see Karibelle beat me to it. Damn, I've gotta learn to type faster.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I use two systems depending on who I'm diving with. We teach rec students to signal thousands then hundreds using one hand. For instance if I have 1600 left I'll signal 1 then a five which signifies I have at least 1500 left. If the instructor wants exact I'll write it on my slate or show him the guage. Quick and easy. For tech and with buddies who are familiar with the system it's thousands with fingers up so 2700 is \/ and hundreds by signalling up to 500 with fingers same as thousands ie up and over 5 fingers horizontal so 7 would be indicated by =.