Would you understand my hand signal?

[Deefstes]

So in another thread there was some talk of hand signals not having universal meaning and which could cause confusion so I thought I'd test mine quickly. These are the signals that we use most often and I thought they'd be universally understood but now I'm not so sure. I'm interested to know how you would have interpreted my hand signals if I dived with you and we did not discuss these beforehand. Also, I'd be interested to know how you would have signaled these messages. I'll put the meanings to my signals below so you can first read the signal and consider what it would have meant to you.

(in most cases "left" and "right" can be switched)

1. Open hand, palm facing downwards, rotating the hand left and right at the wrist. Then point to my ear with my index finger.

2. One hand open, palm facing downwards. Other hand in thumbs up position with thumb touching the palm of open hand.

3. Same as 2 but upside down. In other words one hand is open with palm facing upwards. Other hand in thumbs down position with thumb touching the palm of open hand.

4. Fist of right hand pressed against left shoulder, fingers towards body OR fist of right hand held with elbow bent at 90 degrees, fingers showing towards other diver.

5. Point to other diver with index finger of left hand then make "handgun" sign with left hand (closed hand with index finger and thumb extended) and make "handgun" sign with right hand and point in the same direction as left hand but behind left hand.

6. Both hands open with palms upwards (shrugging motion) followed by index and middle finger of right hand pressed onto left upper arm.

7. Both hands open with palms upwards followed by extended index fingers of both hands held side by side.

SO HERE'S WHAT IT MEANS:
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.
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1. Shaking of hand = "something is wrong", index finger pointed to ear = "with my ear".
Of course the index finger can be pointed to any other piece of gear or body part with which you're experiencing problems.

2. "I'm ascending to a shallower level" or "let's ascend to a shallower level". This is mostly used to indicate that I'll be ascending to the safety stop. Also, when I'm on my safety stop and I notice my buddy is too deep I might use this signal to indicate "ascend to my level".

3. "I'm descending to a deeper level" or "let's descend to a deeper level". I don't use this as often really but I would use it to indicate to my buddy to "descend to my level" if she's doing her safety stop too shallow.

4. "I'm low on air" or more specifically "I have 50 bar left". This is usually how we indicate that the dive is over and is usually followed by a thumbs up sign.

5. "You lead, I will follow"

6. "Where is the dive master?" - This signal is usually followed by a very sheepish grin.

7. "I've lost my buddy" - This signal is usually followed by an extremely sheepish grin.

 

[Fdge]

Eventhough I'm still following a ow course, I could understand most of what you meant (had to actually do them first haha )
But with number 4 I learned to hold my fist at lung height to indicate I'm low on air. If someone held their fist at their shoulder I could probably figure out what they meant, specially if they signaled how many bar they had left, but the fist to lungs would be less of a brainer.
I love how you combine the shrug with other hand signals, eventhough they're not part of any 'official' underwater sign language, it's pretty obvious what it means!

 

[cloudflint]

I got the first 3, 4 i realised what it was after you explained it since i do it slightly differently (just hold my fist in front of me) ,5,6 and 7 I didn't get at all

2 and 3 i knew what you meant but Ive never actually seen anyone using that signal before, i just read about it in a book. Generally if i want someone to ascend to a shallower or deeper level ill just point with my hand held flat, the same signal as "go that way". If i want someone to drop all the way to the bottom or go all the way to the top ill just use the regular thumb up/thumb down signal

5 i tend to use the hand signal of holding my hand palm upwards as if to say "after you"
6 and 7 ive never had to signal that before

Ive found you tend to get languages developing at different areas and even between different divers. It also seems to develop depending on what sort of dives people do. For instance, one signal i use is to pat my left or right shoulder, which my regular buddies know means i want them to "stay by my left/right shoulder" but i imagine if i gave it to anyone else they would wonder what the heck i was doing

Also between different agencies you get differences. For instance the PADI signal for "out of air" is the same signal that we (SSAC) use to signal "danger". Also the fist waved in the air sign that we use to indicate distress ive heard the RNLI use to indicate "i am fine"

 

[mei_sheng]

I got most of them. I didn't get #4, although it makes sense once you explain it. I was always taught (by 3 different instructors) to give the T "time out" signal for halfway. I wasn't sure about #6 either. I'm not sure I've ever worried about losing the DM unless he was supposed to be my buddy. haha

Interesting thread.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

I think your signals are probably clearer than your description of them. DAN has a very low cost pubication of hand signs for divers that would include yours and many more. Its worth picking up. I'm sure you can find it on their website.
DivemasterDennis

 

[Deefstes]

But with number 4 I learned to hold my fist at lung height to indicate I'm low on air. If someone held their fist at their shoulder I could probably figure out what they meant, specially if they signaled how many bar they had left, but the fist to lungs would be less of a brainer.

Yeah, fist to lung is probably closer to what I meant.

4 i realised what it was after you explained it since i do it slightly differently (just hold my fist in front of me)

If I understand your gesture correctly, that is what we'd use to indicate "danger". Pointing an outstretched arm with a fist towards a fish or underwater structure would mean "careful, that there be dangerous".

6 and 7 ive never had to signal that before

Haha, I'm, happy to say that I've never had to use the last one either. I have had to ask another diver "where is your buddy?" in which case I'd use a similar signal.

Ive found you tend to get languages developing at different areas and even between different divers. It also seems to develop depending on what sort of dives people do.

Yes. I know that two hands forming a cup means "boat" to some people but I've never had to use it and I think my buddy (wife) would be confused if I used it on her.

For instance, one signal i use is to pat my left or right shoulder, which my regular buddies know means i want them to "stay by my left/right shoulder" but i imagine if i gave it to anyone else they would wonder what the heck i was doing

Yup, I'd have been clueless.

Also between different agencies you get differences. For instance the PADI signal for "out of air" is the same signal that we (SSAC) use to signal "danger".

So what exactly is that signal? I'd run my open hand in a horizontal motion across my throat (throat slitting motion) to indicate OOA. Again, I thought this was fairly universal. Fortunately this is a signal I've never used and never seen, thank goodness.

I didn't get #4, although it makes sense once you explain it.

Interesting that most people didn't get #4 as this is probably the only signal of all those described that we use on every dive. I half expected that this is the one that would be most universal. Maybe my description was just lacking. I think it's safe to say you can use it anywhere in South Africa and you'd be understood. I also know that the same signal applied in Thailand and Greece.

I was always taught (by 3 different instructors) to give the T "time out" signal for halfway.

I know of this signal and we have used it but we don't use it on a regular basis. My buddy (wife) would understand what I meant if I signaled it but I suspect that few other divers in South Africa would. I could be wrong.

I think your signals are probably clearer than your description of them.

LOL. I'm not surprised. I didn't realise how tricky it would be to describe these gestures until I started trying to describe them.

DAN has a very low cost pubication of hand signs for divers that would include yours and many more. Its worth picking up. I'm sure you can find it on their website.

I don't have this but I have seen it. Can't remember the exact signals described in it but I suspect it will also be only as universal as any other publication. These signals that I've described above are all from our training (CMAS) published material. We didn't devise these ourselves. So one would expect it to be universal but clearly it isn't. Neither is PADI's, NAUI's or any other agency's (DAN included).

There's this PDF online that seems to match our set of signals fairly closely.
http://www.angelfire.com/nj4/divers/CommonHandSignalsforScubaDiving.pdf

 

[Fdge]

I've looked at that pdf too and found it very useful, since the images are very clear. Good effort too, but I guess you can't rely on those signals to be universal, so it's always best to go over the signals with a new buddy every single dive to make sure you can communicate together and don't end up doing stupid things out of confusion
Now I'm a bit curious what hand signals are used by other agencies, research time!

edit: I'd like to have a slate in the future, for more complicated messages or in case of confusion

 

[mikemill]

The problem with trying to describe hand signals is that there is so much more to it. Speed and intensity, body position, manic look in the eyes, etc all play an important part. The most important thing though is to talk to the buddy before the dive and agree on the hand signals. The first 3 and last one were easy enough to figure out but the rest would have caused me to question what you were signaling.

For what its worth I like the following for change of depth: Flat palm facing down given in a kind of step motion towards the buddy, same motion again but with the hand higher or lower than the first one depending on if you are ascending or descending, followed most importantly but the depth to ascend or descend to.

 

[TSandM]

I would have understood #1. I would have figured out #2 and #3, although we don't use them. If we want to ascend a little bit, we use a flat hand, and move it upwards in a kind of "u" shaped motion (the "u" lying on its side). #4 would have flummoxed me, I think; we designate our teams by number, and if we want to change who's leading, the person leading points to the other person ("you") and gives the "#1" signal (index finger upwards), points to "me" and "#2". (I hate to see this one, because it usually means the person leading is lost, and I have to salvage the situation )

The fist held out toward the other diver is "hold" -- Stop and remain completely still. This is usually used if you see something wrong with the other person's gear and want to fix it. The fist on the chest is what I was taught in OW for "low on gas".

The "shrug" signal followed by the two fingers on the arm would, to me, be a request for me to tell you my remaining pressure. The "shrug" sign is very useful -- I most often combine it with cupped hands (where's the blinking BOAT?)

This is a great discussion, because it really points out how important it is to run through signals before you get in the water with someone who trained in a different place or with different teachers.

 

[TSandM]

I would have understood #1. I would have figured out #2 and #3, although we don't use them. If we want to ascend a little bit, we use a flat hand, and move it upwards in a kind of "u" shaped motion (the "u" lying on its side). #4 would have flummoxed me, I think; we designate our teams by number, and if we want to change who's leading, the person leading points to the other person ("you") and gives the "#1" signal (index finger upwards), points to "me" and "#2". (I hate to see this one, because it usually means the person leading is lost, and I have to salvage the situation )

The fist held out toward the other diver is "hold" -- Stop and remain completely still. This is usually used if you see something wrong with the other person's gear and want to fix it. The fist on the chest is what I was taught in OW for "low on gas".

The "shrug" signal followed by the two fingers on the arm would, to me, be a request for me to tell you my remaining pressure. The "shrug" sign is very useful -- I most often combine it with cupped hands (where's the blinking BOAT?)

This is a great discussion, because it really points out how important it is to run through signals before you get in the water with someone who trained in a different place or with different teachers.