c/commercial-divers

Took me 6 hours to fix a stuck check valve on a lift bag setup

Was running a job last month in Norfolk and my lift bag wouldn't hold air. Figured it was a leaky valve so I spent 2 hours taking the whole thing apart and cleaning it. Nope, still stuck. Turns out the check valve spring had just worn out after like 8 years of use. Had to call the shop and wait for a replacement part, another 4 hours gone. Anyone else run into weird gear failures that ate up your whole day?

Debate: is hot water diving really safer or just a comfort thing?

I used to think hot water suits were just for divers who couldn't handle a little cold. Then I did a 4 hour deep dive off Port Fourchon last December and my hands went numb after 90 minutes. My buddy had a hot water setup and he was fine the whole time, working faster and clearer. Now I'm wondering if I was wrong about them being a luxury - has anyone else switched sides on this or am I just getting soft?

Can we talk about how dry suits aren't always the upgrade people claim?

I was dead set against buying a dry suit for 3 years until a buddy let me borrow his for a deep wreck dive off Key West in 55 degree water, and I'll admit the warmth was nice but the buoyancy control hassle nearly got me tangled in a line.

Rant: Best week underwater vs worst day on the job - can't decide which changed me more

Last summer I had a week in the Gulf off Galveston where everything went right. Visibility was 40 feet, the current was light, and I racked up 18 hours of bottom time on a pipeline inspection that paid $2,800 after taxes. Best part was my drysuit stayed dry the whole time, no leaks. Then two months ago I had a single day in Port Angeles that was a total nightmare. My Kirby Morgan regulator froze up at 60 feet, I had to emergency ascent with my bailout, and the surface crew took 20 minutes to get the boat to me because the anchor line snapped. That day cost me $1,600 in lost gear and I still have a sore shoulder from the rapid ascent. Makes me wonder if the good days are worth the risk when the bad days can go that sideways real quick. Has anyone else had a week that was so good it changed how you see the job, or a day so bad you almost walked away?

Unpopular opinion: dry suits are way overhyped for warm water work

I was on a job in Key West last month where the water was 82 degrees and the supervisor insisted everyone wear dry suits for a 2 hour hull cleaning. We all ended up sweaty and miserable, and one guy nearly passed out from overheating by lunch. Am I the only one who thinks dry suits are a liability when the water is above 75?

Debate: Trimix on shallow dives - waste of gas or safer approach?

I tried using a 21/30 trimix blend on a 90 foot wreck dive last month in Jupiter. Buddy gave me a hard time saying it was overkill and I was just burning money. But I felt clear headed the whole dive, no narcosis at all. On the other hand, my air consumption was way higher than usual and the blend cost me an extra $60 for the fill. Is the mental clarity worth the extra cost and shorter bottom time? Or am I just making things complicated? What do you guys think?

PSA: Check your helium tanks before you splash, learned the hard way in Gulfport

Last Thursday me and my tender were 60 feet down on a pipeline repair off Gulfport when my helium started acting funky. Tanks were supposed to be topped off but they were barely half full from the supplier swap. I had to cut my bottom time short and do a rushed decompression that left me feeling off for hours. Turns out nobody at the yard checked the contents before we loaded the boat. Has anyone else run into this with a new gas supplier?

Spent $180 on a Kirby Morgan band clamp that saved my dive

Back in 2018 I was working a wreck job off the coast of Galveston and my old clamp started slipping during a 60 foot descent. Dropped $180 on a new one from a shop in Houma and it held rock solid for the rest of the season. Anyone else had a piece of gear fail at the worst possible time?

Saw a 10 year old salvage diver's drysuit and mine side by side, huge difference

I work with this older diver Jim on some inland jobs, he's been at it since the 90s. He let me check his old DUI drysuit from 2014 the other day and compare it to his new one from last year. The old suit had these rubber wrist seals that were all cracked and stiff, you could see where glue patches had been slapped on like 4 times. The new one uses silicone seals that feel completely different, way more flexible and not cracking at all so far. He said the old one used to leak at the neck every third dive toward the end, but this new setup has been bone dry for 18 months now. I'm thinking about upgrading my own suit after seeing that, but the price tag is around $4000 for a decent new one. Has anyone else noticed how much the seal technology changed in just the last 5 years?

Blew a seal on a job in Port Arthur last Tuesday and almost lost a day of work

I was down doing hull cleaning on a dry dock in Port Arthur, nothing crazy just standard barnacle scraping. About 45 minutes in I felt something give on my left wrist seal, just a tiny tear at first then it started leaking like crazy. Water temp was around 55 degrees so it wasn't freezing but man that rush of cold water up my sleeve got my attention real quick. I had to abort the dive and go up to swap out the suit, which killed almost 3 hours because the spare was at the shop. My supervisor just shrugged and said 'that's why you pack two suits' but who actually does that on a routine job? Anyone else had a seal blow at the worst possible time and just had to deal with the downtime?

I finally called out a dive supervisor on surface interval math

Last month I was on a job down in Port Fourchon, and our supervisor was telling everyone to gear up again after only 45 minutes on the surface. We had done a 90 minute bottom time at 120 feet on air. I pulled him aside and asked if he remembered the repetitive group tables at all, because that math puts you in a whole different pressure group. He got defensive at first, said he had been running bell dives for 12 years and never had an issue. I told him I was not trying to start a fight, but I was not about to take a hit on a second dive that could bend me. The rest of the crew backed me up, and we ended up waiting another 50 minutes. Has anyone else had to push back on a supervisor who was rushing the schedule?

That time I lost 3 days of work to a broken lift bag in Port Fourchon

Last spring down in Port Fourchon, I had a 12-foot lift bag blow a seam on the third day of a big job. We were setting anchors for a new dock, and that bag was supposed to lift a 200-pound concrete block. Instead of getting it done in one shift, I spent 2 days waiting for a replacement bag to show up from the supplier. The client wasn't happy about the delay, and I ate the cost for the extra time. Has anyone else had a piece of gear fail like that and mess up your whole week?

Old timer told me to run hot water through my drysuit valves

Guy named Pete with 30 years offshore told me to always flush my drysuit valves with hot water after every dive. Said salt crystals wreck the seats. I blew him off for six months. Then my inflator valve started leaking during a 10AM bell dive off Port Fourchon. Had to abort because I was getting wet and cold. Took the valve apart that night and sure enough, salt crust all over the seat. Replaced the O-ring and now I flush everything every single time. Anyone else learn a simple habit the hard way?

My old drysuit inflator valve failed during a 60 foot trimix dive near Panama City Beach

I always thought the cheap rebuild kits were a waste of money until that cold water blast convinced me otherwise last weekend, has anyone else had a budget part nearly cost them a dive?

Threw 600 bucks down the drain on a Kirby Morgan band mask adapter

Blanket lift bags clicked for me after a job in the Gulf

I was fighting with a 500 lb anchor chain off Grand Isle until I tried hooking the bag to the lift point with a separate sling instead of using the built-in clips. It gave me way more control and kept the load stable. Has anyone else modified their rigging on the fly like that?

My old tactic for heavy lift bags was all wrong until a dive in Port Fourchon

I used to just guess my lift bag size based on weight, and I ended up over-inflating on a 200 pound lift in Lake Pontchartrain last year. Finally paid attention to a dive master who showed me how to calculate displacement with a simple formula, and now I do the math on the boat before I even jump. It saves gas and keeps the bag from rocketing up. Has anyone else switched up their lift bag method after a close call?

Finally had a good 60 foot dive day after three rough weeks of bad vis

Was working a bridge inspection job down in Charleston last Thursday and the water cleared up just enough to see my hand in front of my face. Had been dealing with mud and silt for weeks where I could barely find the pilings. Got a solid 4 hours of bottom time in before the tide shifted. Anyone else find that good vis makes the whole job feel 10 times easier?

That time my comms went dead at 90 feet off the coast of Louisiana

I was doing a pipeline inspection near Port Fourchon last August, about 90 feet down in some nasty murk. My Kirby Morgan hat just went totally silent mid-job - no topside, no nothing. I got that cold feeling in my gut because you're basically blind down there without comms for depths that deep. I slapped my helmet with my glove a few times to check if it was a loose line, no dice. I switched to my bailout bottle and followed my lift bag up slow, signaling with my hands that something was wrong. Turned out the comms cable had a nick in it from rubbing against some exposed rebar near the rig. Cost me a half day and 450 bucks for a new cable, but better than being dead. Anyone else ever had comms fail at the worst possible time?

PSA: That dive supervisor in Houston who told me "slow is smooth, smooth is fast" was actually wrong about my knot tying

He watched me take an extra 30 seconds on a rope splice during a 60-foot repair on the Sabine River bridge last July, then said I was wasting time, but three days later his knot slipped under load and he needed a full surface assist while mine held fine.

Switched from air lifting to lift bags on most jobs and I'm not going back

I used to be all about air lifting stuff underwater. Get the hose, hook it up, fill the pipe or whatever with air, and watch it float up. Did that for like 8 years on salvage and construction jobs around the Gulf. But after a real close call 2 years ago where a pipe shifted hard and nearly pinned my leg, I started switching to lift bags for anything over 500 pounds. The control is way better. You can feather the air in slow and keep things stable. Plus they're safer if something pops or tears. My guys give me crap about it sometimes but I figure my knees are worth more than speed. Anyone else make the swap and find it smoother or am I overthinking this?

Hot take: Old Kirby Morgan hats beat the new fiberglass ones for comfort

I got my start back in 2003 on a bridge job in Seattle, and I wore an old KMB 18 band mask for years. That thing was heavy but it fit like a glove after you broke it in. A few years ago I tried one of the newer fiberglass KM helmets on a pipeline job in the Gulf, and man I just couldn't get comfortable with it. The weight distribution felt off, it rode high on my neck, and the seal never sat right for me. I swapped back to the old 18 after three days and my neck pain went away. Maybe it's just what I'm used to, but I've talked to a few old-timers who feel the same way. Has anyone else noticed the newer helmets feeling different, or is it just my weird shaped head?

Nearly froze my regs solid on a job in Port Alberni last winter

I was doing a deep inspection on a dam intake at about 90 feet, and my drysuit inflator valve started free-flowing like crazy. Took me a minute to realize my first stage was icing up bad because the water temp was around 3°C. Never had that issue before since I usually work warmer sites. Has anyone else dealt with first stage freezing in cold water, and do you run a different gas setup for winter dives?

That time I learned 60 feet of mud line needs a different cutting approach

I was talking to an old saturation diver at the union hall in Port Fourchon yesterday, and he dropped a tip about using a carbide grit saw blade for cutting through heavy mud incrustation on air hoses. He said a normal blade will glaze over after 3 cuts and you're just burning your arm off trying to finish the job. Has anybody else tried this trick or do you all still brute force it with the standard blades?

Got schooled on lift bag sizing after a near miss in the Gulf

I always thought a 50-pound lift bag would handle any small job, but last month off the Texas coast, I tried to bring up a 90-pound anchor and it shot to the surface way too fast. Scared the hell out of me and nearly took my arm off when the line snapped. Anyone else learn this lesson the hard way or have a rule for sizing bags to load weight?