Underwater Signaling Devices?

[DiverColt]

What are your thoughts on underwater signaling devices? Does DIR adress what is best to use?

I have been using a small carabiner that I leave on my bc when not in use, but slip over my fingers to my knuckles when I dive. Seems to be fairly effective, and I would not feel too upset if I happened to drop it, nor do I have to worry about accidently cutting myself like when using my dive knife. Speaking of cutting myself (blood in the water), Is the toothy fellows in the gray suits attracted to the sound of divers signaling each other?

I am interested in your wisdom and experiance in this area.

Thank You,

Colt

 

[archman]

From what I've seen and heard the cheap carabiner is the way to go. I read a review of noisemakers once and the reviewer didn't like ANY of the official noise-producing devices (tank-bangers, bc-horns, shakers), and ended up fully endorsing the lowly carabiner. A lot of unofficial reviewers back this up.

Personally I find the carabiner isn't loud enough, and I can't get it to "click" in the fast cyclic rates I prefer to signal with. Still keep one handy however.

A lot of instructors in the tropics just use their hands. Bang your fist down into the palm of your other hand, nothing's faster 'cept the inflator horns.

What I have been doing the last few years is bang on my tank with the flat end of my knife. LOTS of people use this, and it gives you a chance to actually pull the knife out of the holster. You can rap all sorts of LOUD, neat signals in various tones and rates... be creative. Some people argue that this method damages your knife and you risk losing it, but you run that chance every time you pull it out anyhow, and you shouldn't have a wussy knife that can't handle some roughing up. I use a blunt BC-mounted Remora, which seems to be made for this sort of thing.

I hear the "shaker" signallers are the very worst of the bunch. Heavy, awkward, and prone to fall apart. The only dive professional I ever saw using one was a new NAUI instructor that the shop gave her... I stopped seeing it after a couple weeks. She went to the carabiner.

Shark ears are cued in for lower frequency sounds given off by thrashing, injured fishes. They're usually below the range of human hearing. Your signal devices shouldn't attract Jaws or his smaller cousins, but I hear mermaids go for them. Daryl Hannah broke some glasses with her voice in "Splash."

 

[Boogie711]

DIR does NOT endorse noisemakers of any kind. (Not that I am or will claim to be a DIR expert.)

They DO endorse buddy awareness, and not NEEDING a noisemaker in order to get the attention of your dive buddy.

For passive communication between buddy pairs, that's what the thin beams on cannister lights are for.

 

[Mo2vation]

You two are scaring me.

Back to Colt's question - who's attention are you trying to get... your buddies? Noise isn't the way to do this. Touch, light, and other non-verbal is the most effective way to get the attention of an attentive buddy.

If you need to resort to noise, well, a stern voice topside has always proved most effective for me in getting my buddy to get a grip.

K

:banana:

 

[Uncle Pug]

UW communication is of prime importance.
This should involve both passive and active communication.
All divers in the team should be involved in making sure that both take place.

Passive Communication is accomplished by visually observing your buddy(ies) and listening to their breathing patterns. Passive communication is greatly enhanced by the use of focused beam dive lights. HID lights are superb for this.

For Passive Communication to work effectively all divers in the team bear responsibility to make sure that they are visible... or at least their light beams are visible... to the other divers. Shane and I make sure that our light beams cross each other's beam regularly. Without even looking directly at him I know where he is, where he is going, what he is doing, what he is looking at and what state of mind he is in.

Active Communication is accomplished by signaling the other diver(s) on the team with either hand signals or light beam signals. Lights are not flashed on and off nor are they pointed at the other diver(s)... rather the beams are manipulated in a pattern... such as a circle for "OK?" or to answer "OK". A rapidly flashing light directed toward the other diver means OOA until confirmed otherwise. A slow figure eight is what we use to indicate "I want your attention for active communication" which is followed by a secondary signal or the figure eight again meaning "make eye contact for hand signal."

For Active Communication to work effectively all divers of the team need to know the same signals and be practiced in using them. For divers using light signals it helps if the beams are not only focusable but of similar power. Divers using small lights can communicate effectively with one another over short range but would be overpowered by a diver using an HID. I find that a 10w HID works well with an 18w HID. Light signals are less effective the greater the ambient lighting and visibility.

 

[Doc Intrepid]

I agree with UP. With respect to DIR, however, it IS a bit odd. In the GUE Cave 1 Manual, Jerrod discusses (Chap 8 Section 8.4) 'Lost Dive Buddy' procedures. Therefore one might assume that despite all efforts by focused, aware dive teams, dive buddy separation might still occur from time to time, particularly in silt out conditions described by Jerrod.

Ostensibly a dive team separated in a cave in low/zero vis conditions and limited gas would be a hazardous environment where (reliable) audio-technical communications capabilities would be welcomed.

While I agree that most of the items on the market are functionally pretty useless, if there WERE an audio-emitting device roughly the size of a Scout Flashlight that would transmit directional electronic tones of varying frequencies or durations, it would seem that such a device could come in handy in dire situations.

Even if the communications it provided were no more sophisticated than the "Where Are You" - "I Am Here"- variety, it would seem that such a device could have a place for certain penetration efforts.

And in terms of electronics underwater, it would logically be no more nor less reliable than the cannister lights currently being used.

It may be that the appropriate technology simply hasn't appeared yet.

 

[jiveturkey]

I use a shaker. It works just fine as long as your buddy knows what it sounds like before the dive starts. I've used it with new buddies who look around trying to figure out what the heck that sound is. It's not perfect but I find it very effective as long as you're close to your buddy and as long as you don't over use it. I've been using it for the past year. It's cheap and sturdy and hasn't fallen apart on me yet.

 

[Uncle Pug]

Additionally for more involved communication writing on wet-notes is the ticket.

For low/no viz situations contact signals are used... such as a squeeze to your buddy's arm to signal "stop!", or taking your buddy's hand and putting the back of it to your face to show him/her you have no mask, or pulling his/her hand across your throat to show him/her that you are out of air... or all three one right after the other if you are in a GUE Tech 1 class.

 

[ReefTrekker]

I always liked tank bangers (cheap...don't get fancy). A simple elastic strap with a plastic ball on it, within easy reach.

Uncle Pug et. al. are right, there's no substitute for good communication and awareness skills, but in the absence of hid lights (or any light), a tank banger is good for a quick "hey, look at this!"

If you're going into the DIR method, you'll probably want to take a more comprehensive view on this than I am offering....

 

[Charlie99]

While it's not my normal method of underwater communcation, an interesting method is to take a small plastic bag, blow some air into it, then shout or talk into the air pocket. Your voice will be surprisingly clear.

The real trick is to do this to an unobservant buddy, peferably while facing away, and then quickly popping your reg back in. I've done this a couple of times to insta-buddies and both times the first words out of their mouths when surfacing were "how did you talk underwater?"