Hot take: Hand signals were enough for me until a murky dive

I got lost because my buddy couldn't see my signals. Now I always use a comm unit. Learning to set it up right changed everything for team safety.

4 comments

4 Comments

faith_lopez1mo ago

Oh man, that hits home. I was the king of fancy hand signals until one low vis dive where my buddy just gave me a confused thumbs up to everything. Turns out my perfect 'low on air' mime just looked like I was waving at seaweed. I felt like a real genius after that. Now my comm unit feels less like fancy gear and more like my lifeline to not being an idiot down there.

hannah_craig18d ago

Used to think comms were just extra gear until a buddy totally misread my "out of air" signal. Now I get why clear talk down there is a big deal.

janag431mo ago

Is it REALLY that serious tho?

piper_garcia231mo ago

Totally get that feeling of looking like a complete goober down there. Had a similar thing happen where my "something is wrong" signal got read as "check out this cool rock." Nothing makes you want clear comms like a buddy swimming over happily while you're trying to point out a problem. That moment of pure confusion is the worst, lol. Solidarity with anyone who has ever messed up a hand signal in a low vis situation.