c/commercial-divers

Can we talk about my Kirby Morgan mask visor shattering at 40 feet?

Was doing inspections off the coast of Galveston last Tuesday when a crack spread right across my visor mid-dive. Had to abort and surface slow, anyone else had a face shield fail on them like that?

Tried swapping my old Kirby Morgan band mask for a neck dam setup on a deep dive last week

I figured it would be way more comfortable but honestly I fought water intrusion the whole time and felt like I was gonna lose it if I turned my head too fast. Ended up switching back in the middle of the job. Has anyone else had a weird experience switching mask styles or was it just me? Probably a skill issue but idk.

Got roasted by a tender for my mask clearing technique and now I'm second guessing myself

Last month on a job off the coast of Galveston, my tender told me I waste too much time clearing my mask. I do the full tilt back and blow out method, takes maybe 10 seconds. He said just crack the seal and let a tiny bit of air in, takes 3 seconds. I tried it a few times and honestly it felt weird but it worked. Now I keep switching between both and can't decide. What's your go to method for clearing a mask underwater, do you stick with one way or adapt based on conditions?

Just realized my drysuit zipper was the problem the whole time

Spent 3 hours struggling with a slow leak on a bridge inspection job in Norfolk last Tuesday only to find out a tiny piece of grit was stuck in the zipper teeth.

Vent: That near-miss in the Gulf taught me to never trust a drysuit zipper again

I was doing a pipeline inspection off the coast of Louisiana about 6 months ago, water temp was around 55 degrees. My zipper gave out at 40 feet down, and I had to abort the dive with just my backup air. The tender got me up safe, but it cost me $800 to get the suit fixed and lost a full day of pay. Has anyone else had a zipper fail on them mid-job, or is it just my bad luck?

Water temp gauge on a welding machine - finally get why guys swear by them

I was working a repair job on a pier piling down in San Diego last week and borrowed another diver's welding setup. His machine had a water temp gauge on it and I thought it was overkill until we hit 92 degrees on the third pass. That thing kept me from cooking my stinger before I even noticed the heat buildup. Has anyone else found a cheap accessory they ignored for years that actually saved their gear?

Finally figured out the quick-release trick for my Kirby Morgan band mask

Been fighting with those stupid retaining pins on my KM 37 for years now. Last week during a job off the coast of Newport, one of the guys showed me you can slot a zip tie through the handle loop to pop them loose in one motion instead of prying with a screwdriver. Saved me a solid 10 minutes on a tank swap. Has anyone else tried this on a 500 series?

My umbilical got a bad kink 80 feet down near Port Townsend

Last June I was doing a hull inspection on a barge out in the Salish Sea and my umbilical got twisted around a mooring chain. It took me and the tender nearly 45 minutes to sort it out while I was hanging there. Has anyone else had a tether get tangled like that and found a good way to prevent it?

Had the worst shift of my career last Wednesday on a bridge repair job

We were doing underwater inspection on an old bridge pier in Tampa Bay. Visibility was maybe 6 inches, total silt out. I couldn't see my own hand in front of my face and I snagged my hose on some rebar sticking out of the concrete. Took me almost 20 minutes to work it free with my heart pounding the whole time. Has anyone else had a close call like that where you felt totally blind down there?

Kirby Morgan vs. Ocean Reef. Picked the wrong one first.

Made the switch after a nasty deco stop in 45 degree water off Port Arthur. My Ocean Reef kept fogging up and the comms were garbage. Dropped $4,200 on a Kirby Morgan 37 and it's night and day. No fog, clear comms, and my tender actually hears me now. Anyone else stick with a brand through thick and thin?

Switched to a Kirby Morgan band mask after a bad day in the Gulf

Got a free flow at 90 feet off a rig near Port Fourchon and the old Poseidon I was using just couldn't keep up with the comms chatter. Has anyone else had better luck with a different mask setup for deep air?

I finally stopped getting tangled in my own umbilical after switching to a different hose routing method

I used to always have my umbilical wrapped around my legs before I even hit 30 feet. Took me about 3 dives with a new setup where I clip the hose to my harness at a lower point on my waist instead of up near my chest. The difference was night and day for mobility and I haven't had a single tangle since. Anyone else mess with their hose routing to save time on a job?

Wasted $350 on a cheap drysuit zipper repair kit...

Tried to fix a busted zipper on my DUI drysuit myself with one of those 50 dollar repair kits from eBay. Ended up making it way worse and had to ship the whole suit to Diving Unlimited in San Diego for a real fix that ran me 300 bucks plus shipping. Total waste of time and money, should have just sent it in from the start. Anyone else learn this lesson the hard way or know a shop that does zipper repairs cheaper?

Met an old salt in Port Fourchon who taught me how to read a job site in 30 seconds

Just realized my drysuit inflator valve was upside down for 2 years

Overheard a guy at the dive shop say 'if your inflator hose points at your face, it's backwards' and I looked down at my setup and sure enough mine was aimed at my chin the whole time. Has anyone else gone that long without noticing something dumb like that?

Spent 10 minutes de-icing a valve cover in 38 degree water off Nova Scotia last week

Difference between trying to crack it with a hammer vs pouring hot water on it from a thermos was night and day, has anyone else got a better trick for frozen gear in cold dives?

Used to run charters out of Fort Lauderdale with a 20 minute bottom time and called it a day

Now I'm dipping to 120 feet for 12 minutes on a pipeline repair and somehow that's a regular Tuesday. What changed was the shift from tourist-heavy work to industrial contracts around 2018. I got tired of babysitting open water students and chasing six-pack tips. The money is better now but the risk is way higher and the decompression stops eat up half the day. Anyone else make the swap from recreational charter work to commercial and regret it or am I just getting old?

Everyone raves about Kirby Morgan helmets, but my neck is killing me after a 5-hour shift yesterday

I know I'm gonna catch flack for this, but I've been diving commercial for about 8 years now, mostly in the Gulf near Port Fourchon, and I switched to a KM-48 last month after my old Desco decided to give up. Everyone in the shop said I'd love it, that it's the gold standard. Well, after a 5-hour bottom job yesterday on a pipeline inspection, my neck and shoulders are wrecked. That helmet is just a bit front-heavy compared to what I'm used to, and I was craning to see my gauges the whole time. I adjusted the harness twice before splash, but it still shifts weird on me when I'm horizontal. Is the fit just super specific to head shape, or did I get a bad adjustment? Anyone else find the KM helmets way heavier than the hype suggests?

Old timer told me to start with a lighter weight on my bailout bottle

I was doing a salvage job off the coast of Port Townsend last summer and this guy who's been diving since the 80s kept telling me to swap out my 80 cubic foot bailout for a 40. I thought he was crazy because what if something goes wrong and I need the extra air. Well last month I had a valve issue on my main gas at 90 feet and trying to kick up with that heavy 80 on my side was brutal. I barely made it to the deco stop and my legs were cramping like crazy by the time I hit the surface. Next day I went and bought a 40 and now I get why he said lighter is safer for most work. Has anyone else had a close call because they were carrying too much extra weight on their rig?

Found out my drysuit inflator valve was rated for 150 PSI, not 30 like I assumed

I was reading the manual for my Viking suit last night and saw the inflator valve is good for 150 PSI. Does anyone actually run their low-pressure hose that high or is this just a safety margin thing that nobody uses?

Checked out a dry dock job in Port Angeles last week and got an earful from an old timer about band brakes

I was down at the dry dock in Port Angeles last Thursday helping swap out a thrust bearing on a tug. This old diver with maybe 30 years in the trade walks up and starts telling me how half the guys out here don't bother greasing their band brake linkages anymore. He said he saw a compressor line snap on a dive bell two years ago because someone skipped a basic pre-dive check on the brake assembly. I guess it's easy to overlook when you're focused on the underwater work. But honestly, that stuff can lock up on you mid-descent if you're not careful. Has anyone else run into this kind of thing with their surface gear being neglected?

Cut my hand open on a rusty pipe during a zero-visibility dive off Port Manatee

I was doing inspection work on a support piling about 40 feet down, and the silt was so thick I could barely see my glove in front of my face. Reached to grab hold of a pipe I thought was smooth, but some idiot had left a jagged edge sticking out. Cut right through my dry glove and into my palm, blood mixing with the murky water before I even felt the sting. I had to signal my tender, fight the current back to the ladder, and get topside fast. Ended up with 12 stitches and a tetanus shot that wiped me out for two days. The worst part was my supervisor tried to blame me for not checking the area first, like I can see through mud. What do you guys do when you get cut deep on a job with no visibility and pushy bosses?

PSA: The new inspection rules at the Port of Tacoma are slowing down dive teams

I was down there last week for a hull cleaning job on a container ship, and the new security check-in process added a full hour to our pre-dive setup. They're now requiring a separate badge scan for every single piece of gear coming through the gate, not just the crew. It turned a simple 20-minute gear haul into a real headache. Has anyone else run into this at other West Coast ports recently, or is it just Tacoma?

Back in the day, we'd fight a stuck flange for hours on a cold deck.

On a job in the Gulf, we had a flange that just wouldn't break free, even with a 4-foot cheater bar. An old-timer on the crew told me to hit it with the torch for just 30 seconds, not to get it red, just hot, and it popped right off. What's the best trick you've ever been shown for breaking a stubborn bolt underwater?

Tbh, I was back at the old shipyard in Norfolk last month and the gear they're using now is just wild.