c/commercial-divers

Switched from band-masks to a full face helmet on a 60-foot wreck dive yesterday

I always thought band-masks were the only way to go for clear comms, but after 3 tries with fogging and a cracked lens I borrowed a guy's Kirby Morgan and my god the difference was night and day. The air felt smoother and I could actually hear the surface without static. Has anyone else made the switch and gone back to band-masks for shallow stuff?

Had a weird moment last month on a dive in the Gulf of Mexico

I was doing a hull inspection on a supply vessel about 30 miles off Galveston and realized my backup knife was basically useless cause the sheath had rusted shut, something I'd ignored for three years. Has anyone else dealt with saltwater corrosion sneaking up on gear you thought was fine?

Vent: That one diver who swore by the Neptune NDX-1 over everything else

I was chatting with an old timer last week down at the shop in Galveston. He spent 20 minutes telling me how the Neptune NDX-1 is the only reg worth buying, and that anything else is basically junk. I've always run a Poseidon setup and never had issues, but he was so sure of himself it made me second guess. Then I realized he's been diving the same NDX-1 since 2014 without ever servicing it himself (just sending it in once a year). Meanwhile, I've had to swap hoses on my Poseidon twice in that same timeframe. Made me wonder if loyalty to a brand is just stubbornness or actual experience. Anyone else have a piece of gear they swear by even though the data says otherwise?

Skipped the fancy drysuit and went with a cheap used shell, worked fine on my Alaska gig

Everyone told me I was crazy for not dropping $4k on a new custom drysuit for the Prince William Sound job last fall. I picked up a beat-up Viking shell for $300 off a retired diver and spent a weekend patching the wrist seals myself. The thing leaked a little on the first few dives but nothing a thin wool layer underneath couldn't handle. I saved enough to cover my travel expenses and still had cash left for a good neck ring upgrade. Has anyone else had luck running older gear instead of buying the top-dollar stuff?

Blew a valve on a sat dive last month and it took 4 hours to fix something I thought was 20 minutes

Tbh I got complacent. We were doing hull cleaning at the port in Norfolk and I noticed my pneumo fader was acting weird on descent. I figured it was just a loose fitting so I told topside I'd be up in 20 to swap it. Turns out the whole valve assembly inside the helmet had a hairline crack and I had to rip apart my Kirby Morgan on deck while the current was picking up. Took me 4 hours to find the right o-ring kit and get it sealed again. Has anyone else had a simple fix turn into a half day disaster?

Just realized my lift bag technique was all wrong after a diver called me out on it

I've been doing this for about 4 years and always used a 50-pound lift bag for smaller lifts because that's what my old supervisor taught me. Last month on a job in Norfolk, a guy I'd never met watched me rig up and just said "that bag's too big for that anchor, you're losing control." I laughed it off at first but after he showed me his setup with a 25-pound bag and a smaller dump valve, I tried it my next dive. He was right. My bag was surging every time I hit the surface and I had to fight it. Now I use the smallest bag that'll do the job and my recoveries are way smoother. Anyone else get handed down bad habits from the old-timers that you had to unlearn?

Hit my 500th bell dive last week and it felt weirdly huge

I've been in the Gulf since 2004 and never really paid attention to dive counts. But when I came up from that last gig repairing a cathodic protection system on a rig off Galveston, my logbook showed exactly 500 bell dives. It just hit me how many bottom times and close calls and bad coffee breaks that number represents. When you started out, did you ever think you'd rack up a certain number? I sure didn't.

Kirby Morgan band mask vs. a cheap knockoff - not even close

I spent 6 months diving a generic budget band mask from some online shop, thought I was saving $800. Switched to a real Kirby Morgan SuperLite 17 last month on a job in the Gulf. The difference in comfort after 4 hours underwater is night and day, plus the comms actually work without static. My buddy Dave still uses the knockoff and complains about jaw fatigue by lunch every single shift. Anyone else waste money on a fake before going legit?

Hit 1000 hours underwater last week and it changed my mind about dry suits

Hit my 500th dive last week and it caught me off guard

I've been doing commercial diving for about 7 years now, mostly inland work like bridge inspections and dam repairs. Last Thursday I was suiting up for a routine underwater weld inspection on a lock wall in Kentucky and my supervisor mentioned it was my 500th dive. I had no idea I was even close to that number, you know? It just snuck up on me because I never really kept count or anything. 500 dives means I've spent something like 2,000 hours underwater total, which is wild to think about. Every one of those dives had its own little surprise, from tangled lines to weird currents that came out of nowhere. I wonder if anyone else here hit a milestone like 100 or 1000 dives and it just kind of happened without planning?

Shoutout to the old Kirby Morgan that finally gave up on me

My regulator froze solid at 90 feet off the coast of Santa Barbara last Tuesday, but the backup bailout bottle I had checked three days earlier kept me breathing while I signaled my tender.

Old timer in Port Fourchon told me to stop fighting the current

I started out in the Gulf back in 2005, and this salty guy named Ray who'd been diving since the 70s kept telling me to just go with the flow instead of fighting it. I figured he was just old and slow, you know? Took a rough job near the platforms off Grand Isle where I wasted half my air trying to muscle through a 2-knot current and nearly got my umbilical tangled. After that I finally listened, and now I plan my dives around slack tide like he said. Anyone else have a piece of advice they ignored at first?

Got a wild decompression hit off the coast of Louisiana last month and it changed my whole safety routine

I was working a 60-foot repair job on a platform support leg near Grand Isle. We had a quick surface interval, but I got called back down for an extra 20 minutes on something the topside crew missed. I pushed through a mild headache until I surfaced and felt the joint pain start in my elbow. Took me 2 hours in the chamber to get right, and now I triple-check my tables even on short jobs. Anyone else had a close call like that change how you handle unexpected overtime?

Serious question, did anyone else spend years using the wrong bailout on their Kirby Morgan?

I been diving for about 5 years now. Last month during a job in Port Arthur I had this old timer look at my setup and just start laughing. He said I been routing my bailout hose wrong the whole time. I always ran it under my arm and clipped it on my left side. He showed me the manual and apparently it should go over the shoulder. Felt like an idiot but honestly nobody ever corrected me before. Made me wonder how many little things like that I'm just doing wrong cause nobody told me different. Anyone else have a basic skill they did backwards for years?

Threw away $200 on a cheap drysuit zipper repair kit. Wish I'd just paid a pro.

I found a zipper repair kit online for $45 and thought I was being smart fixing my drysuit myself. After two hours of fighting with it on my kitchen floor in Seattle, the zipper still leaked on my next dive. I ended up paying a shop $150 to redo it properly anyway. Has anyone else learned this lesson the hard way with gear repairs?

Vent: My drysuit inflator valve grenaded at 90 feet

I was on a bridge pier inspection in the Columbia River two weeks ago and my left shoulder inflator valve just let go - full freeflow into my suit. I had to dump gas like crazy while buddy breathing with my tender just to keep from rocketing to the surface. Turns out the o-ring had been chewed up by a bit of grit I must have picked up on the deck. Anyone else had a valve fail mid-dive and have to switch to manual inflation mode?

That tip from an old saturation diver about keeping a spare reg in your bag saved my butt last week

Guy named Sully on a Gulf job told me to always carry a backup second stage in my dry bag, and I thought he was being paranoid. Had my primary freeflow at 90 feet off Louisiana and swapping over took maybe 10 seconds vs a full abort. Anyone else keep extra gear stashed?

Old supervisor in Port Fourchon told me to stop babying my drysuit zippers

He said just dunk the whole thing in fresh water after every dive and grease it once a month, no need for all that gentle wiping down every time. I was spending 15 extra minutes per dive cleaning it and he showed me his suit that's lasted 8 years with that rough approach. Has anyone else had a diver tell you something that totally changed your whole routine?

I finally ditched the drysuit for a wetsuit on shallow harbor jobs

Everyone told me I was stupid. Said drysuits are the only way for cold water. Been diving in Portland Harbor for 3 years now. Water temps hover around 45-50 in winter. Switched to a 7mm farmer john with a hooded vest last December. Way more mobility. Less drag. Could work 2 hours longer without getting stiff. Sure, you get cold eventually but the trade-off is worth it for the bottom time. Anyone else run hot and ditch the drysuit for certain sites?

Finally came around on trimix after years of avoiding it

Talked to an old diver named Sully out of Houma last week who had this bad hit on air at 180 feet. He told me how he felt like his brain was melting and now he won't go past 130 without helium in the mix. That story got me thinking cause I've been running air deep for like 8 years thinking I was fine. I ordered my first trimix cert course this morning for $1,200. Anyone else switch later in their career after thinking they were indestructible?

Used a new underwater epoxy on a hull patch job and it set way too fast

Had a small repair on a fishing boat hull in Ketchikan last week. The spec sheet said 20 minute working time at 45 degrees. It was maybe 50 degree water, but the stuff turned to rubber in my hands in under five minutes. Had to surface and mix a whole new batch, wasted about $80 worth of material. Anyone else had a brand new product just not perform like it said it would underwater?

Shoutout to that one perfect day in Port Arthur last March

Rant: That 'simple' flange bolt on the Pensacola job took me 4 hours to get out

Everyone says to just hit it with the impact and move on, but this one was seized in a tight spot behind a pipe bundle. I tried heat, I tried penetrating oil, I even tried a cheater bar and snapped a socket. Ended up having to cut a custom box wrench from a piece of scrap steel topside and hand-crank it for what felt like forever. Has anyone else had a 'five minute' job turn into a whole morning down there?

Rant: I saw a diver in Pensacola skip the pre-dive tool check and it cost him half a day.

He had to surface twice because his wrench didn't fit the bolts on the rig, which is basic stuff. How do you guys organize your gear to avoid simple mistakes like that?

Hot take: I think the old way of doing hull inspections with just a mask and a light is better than using a GoPro on a pole.

I used to do all my visual checks up close for 15 years, but my new company in Tampa makes us use the camera rig to save time. Has anyone else switched back after trying it?