Zero vis air management

[bane51031]

Our team records tank pressure and time before diver goes goes down and tracks time, we too limit the dive time to under 30 minutes and we use the rope to communicate between the diver and line tender.

I have a luminesent gauge but, in zero and I do mean black/zero vis. I cannot even see that, so we rely on experiance and our shore support.

Yes, I think the HUD masks would work great but, the cost over a grand a pop is out of our league.

 

[tc]

The only method we've found that works in total black water is to tape a ziplock bag full of clean water to the front of the gauges. You mash the ziplock onto your mask and shine a light in from the side to read it.

Keep the dive times short and the tender monitors the air consumption via comms. Or brings the diver up at regular intervals to check if comms are not available.

And a pony in case all of the above fails.

But the better answer is surface supplied for vis that bad.

 

[Boater Dan]

For zero viz dives where the diver cannot see a watch, I assume you are doing tethered dives and terminate the dive via line pull signals. Correct?

We have OTS Communications on AGA masks, but we still 100% tether. Air is monitored going in and coming out. Record person keeps track of pressue and time in and out. Everything gets documented for the report.

 

[Rick Murchison]

...But the better answer is surface supplied for vis that bad.

Concur.

Sounds like a good place for a J-valve or a scubapro Mk7.

That too... Honk if you love ScubaPro
Rick

 

[bridgediver]

Keep the dive times short and the tender monitors the air consumption via comms. .

This is probably the simpliest and most efficient. Every diver should know their SAC for the applicable environment but even more important is the tender - who understands dive planning and calculating SAC/DACs and the influences that may alter them. Limiting depth and time is only half the equation. A good tender that gets 4-5 accurate BPM can approximate how much air a diver has within 1-200psi. Comms can make it easier but even counting bubbles on the surface is just as accurate
No need for the diver to even look at the gauge, just search

Or brings the diver up at regular intervals to check if comms are not available..

This is a common practice but it may disrupt the efficiency of the search and may waste time

And a pony in case all of the above fails.

But the better answer is surface supplied for vis that bad.

Agree with always using a bailout but surface supplied just because of blackwater alone?

Have heard of the plastic bag trick before but we really haven't seen a need for even trying it. The tenders have everything well in hand

 

[muddiver]

I doubt that most agentcies will pony up for surface supplied, but there are a few distinct advantages that I would point out. You have full communication with teh diver (or divers), depending on how your gas management is set up you can have unlimited breathing gas, the dive sup (or tender) has total control of divers air supply and dive time releaving the diver of everything except searching and staying untangled.

The major down sides are the diver must understand that he is trailing an umbilicle that will get fouled if he doesn't think about how he travels around obstructions, there is more gear (sort of, depending on the set up you want to use), transporting a suffisenctly long enough umbilicle is problimatic (especially if your team is vehicle based and roaming, i.e. the trunk of the car storage), the distance of travel of the diver is limited to the length of hose available and, number 1, most agencies will not want to expend the money that it will cost to have the correct surface supplied equipment.

 

[Sealboy]

We use a variation of the systems people have described here before. We use the AGA full face mask and hard line comm system from OTS. Dive time is limited to 20 minutes and the tender listens to the divers breathing as the comm line is always open and no need to push a button to talk.

And I dont think its a dumb question at all.

 

[Desert Pirate]

And I dont think its a dumb question at all.


I was about to say the same thing...

 

[Thalassamania]

That's what coms are for. SSA is best, but wireless FM sideband with an AGA is about the same as an Oceanic Datamask and far more helpful.

 

[muddiver]

That's what coms are for. SSA is best, but wireless FM sideband with an AGA is about the same as an Oceanic Datamask and far more helpful.

Cool, but I don't see how you can get full encapsulation using that mask.