c/commercial-divers

Tried a different way to keep my slate clean on a cold water job

I was working on a bridge inspection in Portland last month, and the water was about 45 degrees. My slate kept fogging up inside my drysuit, which was a real pain for writing notes. Instead of the usual spit and wipe, I tried a tiny drop of baby shampoo mixed with water in a small spray bottle I had in my kit. I gave the slate a light spray and wiped it with a cloth before the dive. It worked way better than I thought, no fog for the whole 90 minute dive. The real surprise was that it also seemed to make the pencil marks wipe off cleaner at the surface. I learned that a little bit of that soap film can really cut down on the condensation. Has anyone else found a good trick for keeping a slate readable in cold, murky conditions?

Watching a diver in Halifax handle a silt-out completely changed my approach

I was on a harbor inspection job up there last fall and saw a guy get completely blinded by a cloud of silt after he kicked a pipe. Instead of panicking, he just froze, felt for his umbilical, and let the current clear his mask while holding his position. I used to try and swim out of it, which just made things worse. What's your go-to move when you lose all visibility?

Got called out on my umbilical handling last month

Working a salvage job off Galveston, the lead diver watched me surface and said, 'You're coiling it like a garden hose, that's asking for a kink.' He showed me the big over-under loops they use on the boat. I switched to his method and my line management is way cleaner now. How do you guys handle your umbilical on deck to keep it from twisting?

Lost a full day's pay on a cheap dive knife from Harbor Marine

I mean, I bought this $40 knife thinking it was a good deal, but the blade snapped clean off trying to cut a simple line on a job in Tampa Bay. Idk, maybe it's just me but that cost me a whole shift's pay, around $500, because I had to surface and get a new tool. Anyone else have a go-to brand that won't fail like that?

Tried a new dive light on a night job and it nearly got me in trouble

I was on a night hull cleaning job in Tampa last week and decided to test a new 2000-lumen light I got online for about $150. The thing was bright as heck on the surface, but once I got down about 20 feet, the beam just turned into a murky blue fog. I couldn't see the growth on the hull at all, just this glowing cloud right in front of my mask. I had to go back up and grab my old, less powerful light to finish the job. The problem was the color temperature, I think. It was way too cool (like daylight white) and it just scatters in the particles. My old light has a warmer, more yellow beam that cuts through better. Learned my lesson about trusting surface brightness specs for actual work depth. Has anyone else had a dive light fail them like that, and what specs do you actually look for?

Spent three hours trying to get a stuck hydraulic fitting loose on a dredge pump in Galveston

The fitting was cross-threaded by the last crew and just would not budge, even with a cheater bar and heat. We ended up having to cut it off and redo the whole manifold, which set the job back a full day. What's your go-to method for a fitting that's really seized up?

Warning: My primary light failed at 80 feet during a harbor inspection.

It was a 3-year-old unit that passed the pre-dive check. What's a reliable backup light you all carry?

A salvage diver in Mobile Bay changed how I feel about old gear

I was working a job near the old shipyard last fall, and my backup light failed at 40 feet. This guy named Carl, who's been diving since the 80s, saw me fumbling with it topside. He said, 'Kid, you're trusting plastic that's newer than your boots.' He showed me his light, a big metal one from the 90s he's rebuilt three times. He said he knows every part and it's never left him dark. I used to always want the newest stuff, but now I keep my old reliable light as my primary. Has anyone else had a piece of gear they just won't retire?

So my comms cable got snagged on a crab pot line in 60 feet of water

I was working a salvage job off Newport last Tuesday and my umbilical got caught good. Instead of trying to cut it free right away (which is a pain with thick gloves), I remembered an old-timer saying he'd use a zip tie as a guide. I slid a big plastic zip tie up the cable to the snag point and gave it a sharp tug sideways. It popped right off the line, no knife needed. Has anyone else tried that weird little trick?

Honestly, the worst week of my career was a bridge inspection near Galveston where we lost comms for 45 minutes straight.

Question about using a lift bag for salvage vs. just rigging and winching

On a job in the Columbia River last fall, we had to move a 3-ton piece of machinery. The crew wanted to rig it and use the surface winch, but I pushed to use a 5000-lb lift bag to get it off the bottom first. Everyone said it was slower and risked losing control. We did it my way, and it actually made the final lift way smoother with less strain on the rigging. Has anyone else tried this on a mid-sized salvage job?

Got called out for my sloppy umbilical management on a bridge job last month

Honestly, my dive partner straight up told me my hose bundle looked like a 'sea snake nest' after a silt out. He said I was adding at least 10 minutes to every job just fighting my own gear. So I started using the double-wrap and clip method he showed me, keeping the comms line separate. Ngl, it felt dumb at first but my last two dives in the Duwamish went way smoother. Has anyone else had a simple piece of feedback that totally fixed a bad habit you didn't even know you had?

TIL a simple stuck valve on a Seattle pier job can eat up a whole shift...

We spent 6 hours trying to free a seized 4-inch gate valve on a saltwater intake line, and the whole time I kept thinking there has to be a better way than just hitting it with bigger hammers.

I always thought those little dive scooters were just for tourists in Cozumel

But I had to use a Suex XK1 on a big hull clean in Seattle last month, and it cut my bottom time in half. The boss said it would save air and let me cover more area, and he was right. Anyone else had a job where a scooter actually made sense?

Had a regulator free-flow at 90 feet on a bridge piling job in Tampa

I just shut my eyes, held my breath, and hit the purge button hard while thumbing the exhaust valve. Anyone else have a quick fix for a sudden free-flow that actually works down there?

Can we talk about cheap dive knives

I grabbed a $60 knife from a boat shop in Tampa thinking it would be fine for light work. The thing snapped at the hilt the first time I had to pry a bit of old netting off a piling. What do you guys actually use that can take a beating without costing a fortune?

Back in the day I was sure those new heated dive masks were a gimmick

I remember seeing them at a trade show in New Orleans maybe eight years ago and thinking it was just more gear to break. We were doing a lot of winter work in the Great Lakes, and my old mask would fog up something awful the second you got a bit of condensation. A buddy on the crew finally bought one and let me try it on a job where the water was 38 degrees. That little wire around the lens kept the whole thing clear for the entire two hour shift. No more having to flood and clear your mask every ten minutes just to see your gauges. It completely changed how I felt about long cold water inspections. I still think most new gear is overhyped, but that one actually made the work easier. Anyone else have a piece of kit they were wrong about?

Heard a guy at the Port of Seattle say saturation diving is overrated for most jobs

He was telling a new diver that sat diving is the only real way to make money and that surface supplied work is just for beginners. I've been doing surface supplied inspections on the Columbia River for eight years and I think that's wrong. The cost and risk of a sat system for a two day job on a bridge pier just doesn't add up. What specific jobs do you think truly need sat diving versus surface air?

Warning: The visibility at the old Port Angeles dock site is nothing like it was five years ago.

I was back there last month for a hull inspection job, same spot I worked in 2019. Back then, you could get a good 15 feet of viz on a decent day. Now, you're lucky to see your hand at the end of your arm. It's a complete soup, all the time. The locals say it's from increased runoff and some new construction upriver stirring up the silt. It turns a simple 2-hour job into a full-day braille operation. Has anyone else had a regular site go from clear to zero viz that fast?

Had a chat with an old salvage diver that made me rethink my whole gear setup

Honestly, I ran into a guy at the docks in Norfolk who's been doing salvage for 30 years. He looked at my comms setup and said, 'Kid, you're trusting a $2000 radio to a $50 battery backup. That's like building a house on sand.' He showed me his rig, which has three separate power sources for his comms and hat light. Tbh, I've always just run a single big battery and never had a total failure, but his point about redundancy really hit different. It got me thinking about all the small single points of failure we ignore. How many of you run truly redundant power down there, or is that overkill for most jobs?

Just realized the 'sunken treasure' I spotted off Key West was actually a 1970s washing machine.

I was on a hull inspection job last Tuesday and nearly called the boss over the comms before I got close enough to see the agitator, which honestly made the whole dive funnier.

A diver in Mobile Bay told me to always check the spool piece myself, and it saved my neck.

We were on a pipeline job last spring, and the lead diver handed me a spool piece he said was 'good to go'. I remembered the old hand's advice, gave it my own once-over, and found a hairline crack in the weld that would have split under pressure. How many of you make it a rule to do your own final check on every piece of gear, no matter who says it's ready?

I bought a cheap dive light for a salvage job and it cost me a full day

Spent $80 on a 'heavy duty' light from a general hardware site for a week long job in Lake Michigan. It flooded at 90 feet on the second day. Had to surface, get a replacement from town, and redo the whole dive. Lost about $1200 in pay for that day. Should have just rented a proper light from the dive shop for $150 for the week. What's the most reliable light you guys use for deep, dark water?

Can we talk about the push for all wireless comms on inland jobs?

We ran a 6-month job on the Ohio River last year with hardwired helmet mics, then switched to a new wireless setup for a similar project this spring. The clarity dropped off big time past 30 feet in murky water, and we lost a full day fixing dropouts. Is anyone else seeing this, or did we just get a bad unit?

Had to cut a diver out of a fouled umbilical in zero vis last Tuesday