instructorinasia
Contributor
I live in Lembeh and I love my muck stick - it is for use to steady yourself or to point to something not to harass critters! They are cheap and useful, I would get one!!
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... However, when you are on a muck dive and you are within three feet of the sand/muck, if you kick normally, you will create clouds. This has nothing to do with how good your buoyancy is. And I think many photographers will attest to this; if you are not one of the first people to get to the critter in Lembeh then chances are you will not get a decent shot. By the time your dive group is finished looking at something interesting, there will be a cloud of silt from someone's (or everyone's) fins. Don't be that someone!
It takes a while to get used to how to kick properly by keeping your fins away from the sand. Even when you get it down, there will be situations where your dive group is all huddled together over a critter and you have no space to move. If you kick, you stir up silt. So, THE BEST thing about a muck stick is that it allows you to maneuver/pivot around a small area without using your fins at all. You just stick the muck stick in the sand and use your arms to position yourself. You can use it to propel yourself off of the sand when you are finished looking at something and this greatly reduces the amount of silt being stirred up... .
Most of the time I have seen these sticks used,.... it has been to compensate for poor buoyancy, trim & control.