You have more experience than me, heck 99.9999% of people on this forum have more experience than me. That being said, what if someone surfaced and they were in shock or euphoria from some sort of dcs? I have obviously never been in the situation, never saw it in person, nor know the signs more than how I would personally feel if I had it. I would think there could be situations where obvious gestures might not be the only indicator. As previously mentioned, I'm not trying to argue, go off thread topic, but in fact hoping for better understanding. Especially for when I start going on trips, I want to know how to show someone I'm in trouble with the least amount of effort possible to be able to conserve all the energy I can in case it's needed to fight current, waves, etc. I know they make those sausage things but the way some people talk about them, they use them for the ship to find them to pick them up. If that's the case, I recollect the boy that cried wolf, and a less than expedient process of retrieving me because it's thought I just need "picked up" vs in trouble.