c/commercial-divers

My Kirby Morgan mask flooded bad on a 60ft job last Thursday. Was it the exhaust valve or something else?

Question about regulating your air on deep commercial dives

I was out on a 120-foot job off the coast of Galveston last Tuesday and noticed my air consumption was way higher than usual. I checked my regs and found a small leak in the second stage that I had been ignoring for months. Has anyone else dealt with a tiny leak that really messes with your bottom time?

Vent: Bought a $400 Kirby Morgan band mask and it saved my hearing on a job in Corpus Christi

I was using a hard hat with ear muffs that kept slipping underwater on a pipeline repair. The band mask seals tight and cuts the roar of the compressor down a ton. My ears don't ring after a six hour shift now. Anyone else made the switch and notice a difference?

Found out the average commercial dive lasts around 2 hours max, not the 6 hour days I always imagined

I was reading through some old Navy dive logs from the 70s I found online and realized even back then they kept bottom times super tight. Did any of you guys start out thinking youd be down there all day like me?

Did a harbor inspection in San Diego last month and noticed someone left a lift bag tied off to a mooring buoy overnight

Is that something you guys have dealt with before, or was it just a one-off thing with a diver forgetting their gear?

Shoutout to the guy who warned me about dry suit zipper grease

I always thought it was just a gimmick to sell more products. Then my buddy Dave in Gulfport had his zipper seize up during a 60 foot dive on a bridge repair job. That cheap tube of McNetts saved me from a $400 repair bill after I finally tried it. Anyone else have gear maintenance stuff they ignored for too long?

Hit a 6 knot current in Puget Sound last week and it got sketchy fast

I was diving off a barge near Tacoma doing some bridge inspection work. Current ripped up from 2 knots to almost 6 in less than 20 minutes. Lost visibility to maybe 3 feet and had to grab onto a pile just to keep position. My tender said the surface was whitecapping like crazy. Has anyone else had a dive turn ugly from a tidal shift like that?

Rant: That $700 Kirby Morgan band mask I babied for 2 years just cracked on a simple 30ft dive

I spent all that cash and followed every cleaning step to the letter, but the seal gave out during a routine hull inspection off Galveston last Tuesday. The repair quote is $350, basically half the cost of a new one, and I'm kicking myself for not buying a cheaper backup. Is it worth fixing these high-end masks, or should I just go with a different brand next time?

Lost $250 on a so-called 'hot water' drysuit valve kit

Bought a used valve kit from a guy on Craigslist in Seattle that was supposedly tested and working fine for hot water suits. Got it out on a job near the Ballard locks and the inlet valve seized up on my second dive, totally wasted the day and the rental fee for a backup suit. Anyone had luck rebuilding these Urga 3000 series valves or should I just buy new from a shop next time?

Fogged up mask almost cost me a job in Port Fourchon

Working 60 feet down on a platform leg near Port Fourchon last month. My mask kept fogging so bad I couldn't see the weld line. Switched to a cheap anti-fog wipe my buddy handed me. Worked perfect. Now I carry three packs in my dry bag at all times. Anyone else got a trick that saved them underwater?

Old vs new: how I used to clean my regs vs how I do it now

Back in 2018 I'd just dunk everything in freshwater and call it a day. Now I use a ultrasonic cleaner after a buddy lost his second stage to salt buildup on a 30 day Gulf job. Which way do you guys lean on gear maintenance?

I finally had a lift bag slip on a 90-foot wreck off the coast of Morehead City last month

The bag detached from a 200-pound steel beam I was rigging, shot to the surface with 30 feet of line whipping around, and I had to go up, cut it loose, and re-rig everything before my bottom time ran out - has anyone else had a bag come loose mid-lift like that?

Had a dive supervisor tell me to take shallower breaths to save air, but it backfired

Last month off Port Fourchon, my supervisor kept yelling at me to slow my breathing on a mixed-gas job, so I tried really shallow breaths. Ended up with a CO2 headache that killed my next two dives. Has anyone else had a supervisor push advice that just didn't work for you?

Noticed a huge difference in my bottom times after I stopped drinking coffee 2 hours before a dive

Hit 500 hours underwater without a single DCS hit last week

I was dead wrong about using a hookah system for shallow water work

For years I swore by traditional surface-supplied gear even for 20 foot jobs. Called hookah setups a waste of money. Then my buddy in Norfolk let me try his Brownie TH-3 last month on a bridge inspection. Whole setup fit in one crate, no heavy compressor truck. Saved me 45 minutes of setup time. Anyone else switch to a hookah for shallow stuff and never look back?

Finally figured out a better way to clear silt from a lift bag valve

Been fighting with slow inflate issues on my lift bags for months. Tried a quick blast of compressed air from a small tank before each dive last week and it cleared the silt right out. Has anyone else found a faster fix for this?

Can we compare Kirby Morgan helmets with the old Desco stuff?

I spent my first three years diving with a beat up Desco brass hat that weighed a ton and leaked like a sieve. Then I got a chance to try a Kirby Morgan SuperLite 17 on a pipeline job off the Louisiana coast last summer. The difference was insane. The KM was lighter on my neck, the communication system actually worked clear, and I didn't have to fight with the valves every time I wanted to adjust my air. The first dive with it I finished the job in half the time because I wasn't constantly fussing with equipment. My buddy still swears by his old Desco and says the KM feels too plasticky. Has anyone else made the switch and noticed a big jump in comfort or efficiency?

Just did the math on my last 3 diving jobs and it shocked me

I finally sat down last night and added up all my expenses from my last three offshore jobs out of Port Fourchon. Between the travel costs, hotel stays, and the constant gear maintenance, I am actually losing about $1,200 per month compared to what I thought I was making. The real kicker was that my dry suit had a pinhole leak I ignored for two weeks and the repair bill came to $380. I found this all out by tracking every single receipt in a simple notes app on my phone. None of the other guys in my crew ever talk about this stuff, they just complain about not having enough work. Has anyone else run the numbers and found out their take home pay is way lower than they figured?

Three days to fix a valve I could have swapped in two hours

I was working on a sat system in Pensacola last month, a big water intake valve was acting up. Figured it was just a seal, but the whole assembly was seized from corrosion. Took me three damn days of soaking, heating, and prying before I got it free. Has anyone else run into a job where a simple fix turned into a multi-day nightmare?

Dove on a wreck off Key West last month - are new drysuits actually worth the upgrade or just marketing hype?

My old Viking suit finally gave out after 8 years, and I'm torn between dropping $3k on a new model versus patching this one up again. Anyone else feel like the newer materials don't hold up as well as the older gear?

Had to choose between a Kirby Morgan and a Divex helmet for a deep job off Louisiana

I was gearing up for a 190-foot dive near Grand Isle last month and had to pick between my old KM 37 and a borrowed Divex. Picked the Divex because it was lighter, but the voice comms kept cutting out on the bottom. Took me an extra 20 minutes to finish the weld because I couldn't hear the tender. Anyone else stick with a heavier helmet just for reliability?

Chat with an old saturation diver made me nervous about my gas training

Ran into a guy at the dock in Freeport who did 30 years in the North Sea and he said half the new guys he sees can't read a decompression table without pulling out a phone. He told me if your battery dies at 200 feet you're just guessing. How do you keep your table skills sharp when everything's digital now?

My fin strap trick after losing one in the murk

I was doing a hull inspection in San Diego Bay last month in maybe 2 foot visibility, and my right fin strap popped loose while I was feeling around the prop. A buddy showed me to zip tie a small loop of bungee cord to the heel cup so you can hook the strap under it instead of fighting the buckle underwater. Anyone else tried something like this to keep gear from floating away?

Heard a dive supervisor say I was 'too slow' on a valve check last Tuesday

Turns out he meant I was being too careful, not actually slow. He showed me a trick where you feel for the pressure drop instead of watching the gauge. Anyone else have a boss who communicates in reverse like that?