Did a 5 day job on the offshore rig near Galveston back in 2018 with my old neoprene setup and wound up shivering by hour 3 every shift. Picked up a used Kevlar undersuit from a guy in Louisiana last spring and it was night and day even in the same 50 degree water. What did you all switch out that actually saved your back or kept you warm better?
Picked up a knockoff valve off Amazon for my DUI drysuit thinking it would work fine for a few shallow harbor inspections around Portland... First dive to 40 feet and the thing started free-flowing air like crazy, had to abort the job. Has anyone else had major failures from non-OEM parts on their gear?
Was swapping out a drysuit inflator valve on my Kirby Morgan helmet last night and couldn't figure out why air was still leaking. Turns out I had the clamp rotated 180 degrees and it was pinching the O-ring. Has anyone else spent way too long on something that simple?
We were working on a pipeline repair off the coast of Louisiana last Thursday, and the vis was a solid 15 feet with almost no current for the whole 4-hour bottom time. My cutting torch lit on the first try and the welds passed NDT on the first pass, which never happens. Anyone else have those rare days where the ocean just decides to cooperate?
Picked up a beat up KM 37 off craigslist for $350, cleaned it up myself. First job with it was a 4 day bridge inspection in murky water and not having to fight a leaky neck dam saved me so much time. Anyone else found good deals on used hats?
I usually stack three 500-pound bags on the same hook. This time I spread them out along the pipe with separate lines. The lift was way more stable and I didn't have to fight the tilt the whole way up. Has anyone else tried spreading the bags out instead of stacking them?
I spent 6 months diving on an aluminum boat off the Louisiana coast and saw way less corrosion than any steel hull I worked on up in the North Sea, so why is steel still the go-to for safety talk at every dive meeting?
I spent years hating full face masks. Thought they were too heavy and fogged up constantly. Then I tried a KM 37 at a job off the coast of San Diego last month. The defog valve and coms clarity were night and day better than my old AGA. Has anyone else had a specific mask that turned them around?
Honestly I ignored this old guy at the dive shop in Houston for like 8 months. He kept saying it would cut down on my jaw fatigue during deep water inspections. Finally rented one for a 6 week job at a dam inspection last fall. Ngl I was mad I waited so long my jaw didn't ache at the end of the day and I could actually hear comms clearly. Has anyone else switched masks and noticed a big difference in comfort?
I was working a salvage job in Port of Long Beach last month when a rookie left a deflated lift bag tied loose on the line. A tugboat wake sucked it under and wrapped around my harness valve. I got free but it took two tries. How do you guys secure your spare gear on the surface?
I mean, I've been doing wet welding for 5 years, but last month a guy in the Gulf argued dry welding is way stronger for structural stuff, so what's your pick when you gotta fix a piling in 30 feet of murky water and the pressure's on?
I was on a job in Galveston last month and that stupid exhaust valve kept letting water in. Took me a whole day and three different seal kits before I realized the o-ring groove had a tiny burr I missed. Anyone else had this kind of headache with those old Kirby Morgan 37s?
I was diving on a platform off Louisiana last week and could barely see my hand in front of my face, but the guy next to me said he's had crystal clear 30ft vis on the same rig in March. Do you guys think it's worth waiting for seasonal shifts or do you just roll with whatever the water gives you that day?
Last week at the Port of Seattle, my buddy's Dive Rite froze up at 90 feet while my old Kirby Morgan kept breathing fine. I swear by the KM because parts are everywhere, but he says the Dive Rite breathes easier in current - what's your experience been?
Turned out I just needed to blow compressed air through the inlet for 10 seconds, has anyone else had a simple fix take way longer than it should have?
I started logging my SAC rate after every dive using a simple spreadsheet. After 22 dives at different depths around Port Townsend, I found out I use 25% more air when I'm not perfectly neutral. The difference came from having to kick harder to hold depth because my trim was off by just a few degrees. Has anyone else run the numbers and found something that surprised them about their own habits?
Honestly, I still think about this guy from a job in Galveston about 4 years ago. He refused to call off a weld inspection even though the tide was coming in fast, said we had 'plenty of time.' We ended up stuck under a pier for 2 hours with zero visibility and the current ripping at 3 knots. He just shrugged it off like it was no big deal, but I nearly hit a piling trying to get out. That whole interaction stuck with me because he put everyone at risk just to save a few minutes. Has anyone else dealt with a supervisor who ignored basic safety calls like that?
I ran a neck dam for two years and switched to a band mask last month on a pipeline repair gig. The difference in head fatigue is night and day after 6 hour shifts. Anybody else make that swap and stick with it?
Old guy named Sal down in Port of Los Angeles saw me rushing my pre-dive checks on a 30-foot hull inspection and just shook his head. He said "slow is smooth, smooth is fast" and it stuck with me ever since. Anybody else have a random person on a dock give you advice that actually worked?
Cheaper off-the-shelf suit I used for 4 years never leaked once, has anyone else had better luck with a basic suit over a pricey custom one?
I pulled out my old Viking drysuit from 2018 for a job last week and the shoulder dump valve was almost impossible to turn by hand compared to the newer model I've been using. I think the old rubber just hardened up from sitting in the gear locker with all that salt and temperature swings. Has any other diver had issues with valve seals going bad after a few years of storage?
I had to do a controlled emergency ascent because the second stage just kept dumping air and nobody in the shop believed me when I said the diaphragm was warped from the heat gun we used to dry it.
I always went with what I saw other guys using, like 30-35 pounds for saltwater. One day after a dive a veteran asked why I was fighting so hard to stay down. He had me test my buoyancy with an empty tank and I was way over weighted. Switched to 22 pounds and it made such a difference in air consumption and bottom time. Has anyone else had someone just casually point out a basic thing you were doing totally backwards?
Always thought those quick-dump valves were just an expensive extra, but after a 90-minute dive in Puget Sound last month where I couldn't dial in my buoyancy, I finally see the point. Anyone else hold out on gear upgrades they thought were gimmicks?
I used to break down my regulator every month and scrub everything with soap, then a dive shop guy told me I was wearing out the o-rings. Switched to just rinsing and a light soak once a season, and my last service bill dropped by $80.