Stop Banging - Diving is supposed to be fun

[AzAtty]

and as for those "blaster" things that sound like a Duck... well they are another story!

My brother bought one of the duck blasters and honked it frequently on our recent dives. We ignored him underwater and then mocked him during surface intervals. And then we made fun of his "elevator lever" BCD. Good times.

 

[bsumner]

Sadly, the tank banging is somewhat a fact of group diving. I try not to bang unless I need to get someone's attention for some reason and they just aren't cooperating when I try and catch their eye which is my preferred method.

Most people want to see lobbies and turtles and rays buried in the sand and if I know that the group will miss it if I don't attract them somehow, then I have to bang. If everyone is wandering off and we've agreed to a group dive, then I have to bang.

I apologize for the banging on behalf of my brethren but, speaking for myself, it's a necessary evil.

Rachel

This is an older post, but I happened on it today, so will comment.

I don't like divers banging away either, but noisemakers really are a necessary evil in some situations, particularly when DMs are responsible for inexperienced / unsafe divers.

During a recent dive in the FL keys, I watched an instructor with a husband and wife, both new divers, in the water at a depth of about forty feet. I was about fifty feet away. Both divers were struggling with the usual things: buoyancy, trim, etc. At one point, the instructor was helping the wife with a mask leak when her husband began inflating his BC and ascending rapidly, unknown to the instructor. As I began swimming towards the husband, I grabbed a clip on my BC and banged my tank rapidly, pointing to the diver ascending too fast. The instructor immediately went up and got him under control, but it is probable that neither of us could have arrived in time to prevent an out of control ascent and possible injury if I hadn't made some noise to get his attention.

Two cents, etc.

 

[bowlofpetunias]

One of our dive buddies got one of the duck blasters.. after driving us bonkers with it ... her husband suggested restraint was needed or she would find it inserted in such a way that she would be doing the honking!

She wisely sold it to someone else. The new owner was equally delighted with the sound effects..

. in the end the diver and device were deleted from our accepted buddies list:

 

[Rhone Man]

Overzealous tank bangers and over zealous dive computers with audible alarms... the end of Cousteau's silent world. It is like being on a Manhattan street sometimes.

 

[bowlofpetunias]

Overzealous tank bangers and over zealous dive computers with audible alarms... the end of Cousteau's silent world. It is like being on a Manhattan street sometimes.

Yes then some err... wise person creates systems so divers can talk to each other under water

Half the attraction of diving is the natural sounds of the underwater world not the dive buddy trying to talk to me through their reg. Use signals or a slate please:shocked2: if it is really necessary!