c/commercial-divers

Miller vs Kirby Morgan, my regulator choice after 8 months of harbor work

I ran a Miller 80D for 6 months of pier inspections in San Pedro and thought it was fine. Then I got a used Kirby Morgan 37 in a trade and the difference in exhaust noise alone was worth it. Harbor water here is murky and cold, I spend a lot of time upside down on pilings and the KM just sits better on my head, no neck strain after 4 hour dives. The Miller's exhaust port always felt like it was whistling in my ear, the KM is quieter even at 30 feet. I also changed hose routing, went from a straight over the shoulder setup to a diver down hose on the right side and that cut my drag noticeably. Anyone else run both brands and stick with one for a specific reason like neck fatigue or noise? I'm curious if the extra cost of the KM shows up on your long jobs too.

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eric_carr•4d ago

Deco stop tables from the 1970s are safer than the current ones in some spots

I was digging through an old dive manual at a shop in Key West last month and the no-deco limits were way more conservative for shallow repeat dives. Anyone else think the modern tables cut it too close for cold water or heavy current work?

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ninam76•4d ago

First dive in the Gulf after that stupid gear failure felt unreal

Took 3 weeks off after my regulator froze up on a job near Galveston, finally got back in the water yesterday. An old diver I barely knew, just some guy on the dock, said 'you don't quit because of one bad day, you quit because you forgot why you started.' He didn't even know what happened, but it landed. Has anyone else had a random stranger's words stick with them during a rough patch?

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skylergrant•7d ago

Finally swapped to a Kirby Morgan for cold water work last week

Been running a hard hat with a neck dam for years, but after a 40 minute dive in Hood Canal where I couldn't feel my ears, I made the switch. Picked up a used KM-37 from a guy retiring out of Seattle, cost me $1800 but it fit my head without shimming. First job with it was clearing a prop on a tuna boat, water temp around 45 degrees, and I only had to warm my hands once. Anyone else made the jump from neck dam to band mask, or was I just stubborn forever?

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nora_wells58•7d ago

A deckhand in Galveston told me to trust the current, not the gauge. Best advice or bad habit?

During a 12-hour hull inspection job back in March, an old deckhand said I was fighting the tide by watching my depth readout too close. He made me drop the line and feel the pull for two minutes, and it changed how I read bottom time. Anyone else ever ditch their instruments for instinct, or is that a shortcut that gets people hurt?

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theagarcia•11d ago

Rebreather scrubber failed at 30m off Key West, diver error or gear flaw?

Last month I was doing a pipeline inspection off Key West and my scrubber warning light went off at 30m with 15 minutes of bottom time left. I surfaced slow, no issues, but it made me think: was it my fault for not packing the sorb correctly or is the unit's alarm too sensitive? I've had guys argue both ways, some say you need to burp the loop every 10 minutes, others swear the sensors are garbage and you should just trust your CO2 feel. What's your take when a critical piece of gear gives you a false alarm? Has anyone else dealt with a similar call and what did you do?

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wyattbennett•15d ago

Switched from dry gloves to wet gloves after a 30-foot patch job in January

I used to swear by dry gloves no matter what, but last year during a hull inspection in the Chesapeake I kept losing dexterity while swapping shackles. A buddy handed me a pair of 5mm wet gloves and I finished the job 20 minutes faster with zero hand fatigue. Anyone else made the switch for shallow work or am I the only one?

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jordanc68•18d ago

Had a drysuit inflate on me at 90 feet off Port Angeles, rough morning

Split my inflator hose right at the shoulder connection during a hull inspection last Thursday. Water came in fast and I shot up about 15 feet before I got the dump valve open. Fought it back down, finished the weld check, but my thermals were soaked for the rest of the shift. Anyone else had a hose fail mid-water and have to redo their whole descent plan on the fly?

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sullivan.elliot•18d ago

My $90 heated vest paid for itself on the North Sea job

Was running air dives off Aberdeen in February and my core temp was dropping like a rock between rotations. Picked up a Milwaukee heated jacket for 90 bucks and it kept me functional during the surface intervals, especially when the wind kicked up. Anyone else run those on cold water jobs or is it just me?

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spencer_wood•20d ago

Dry gloves vs wet gloves in 4 degree water, I switched teams mid-season

I spent the last 3 months on a pier inspection gig in Tacoma and started with wet gloves because that's what my old supervisor swore by. About 6 weeks in I got fed up with the numb fingers during the 45 minute bottom times and shelled out $210 for a dry glove system with a liner setup. First dive felt like I was wearing oven mitts, zero dexterity for taking measurements, but by week 3 I could undo a shackle faster than I ever did with wets. Here's the thing though, I popped a seal at 40 feet last Tuesday and the whole glove flooded instantly, which never happens gradually with wet gloves. Anyone else run into that blowout risk with dry systems, or did I just get a bad ring?

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jason_fisher4•22d ago

That harbor mud in Galveston nearly sank me until I tried the old-timer's trick

I was fighting zero visibility and my lift bag kept rolling sideways on the wreck cable, but after a guy yelled at me to use a 3/4 inch line with a half hitch around the bag's bottom strap instead of the top ring, I cleared the whole job in 20 minutes, anyone else run into this or do you swear by a different knot?

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the_karen•23d ago

Dive gear shop in Galveston looks like a museum now

Stopped by the old shop I used to hit before Gulf jobs. Walls full of brass helmets and vintage regs. Owner said nobody asks about the old gear anymore. It got me thinking about my first Mk V dress. Anyone else miss the old heavy stuff or am I just getting old?

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richardharris•23d ago

Spent $700 on a fancy drysuit valve kit, wish I had just bought the cheap rebuild parts

Last fall I ordered that new titanium valve setup for my drysuit, the one everyone in the forums swore was bulletproof. Paid $700 plus shipping from a shop in Seattle. First dive out of Port Angeles, the inlet valve stuck open on a safety stop and I came up with a suit full of water. Turns out the O-rings inside were the same size as the ones on my old setup, and my buddy had a $12 rebuild kit in his truck. They were never compatible with my suit brand anyway, the threads matched but the seal face was off by a hair. I spent three weeks sending it back and forth for a refund, lost two paying jobs because I was waiting on that thing. Has anyone else got burned by "premium" drysuit gear that just needed a standard part from a hardware store?

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garcia.charles•24d ago

Blew a seal on a 300ft dive because of my thumb

Honestly, I always pushed the purge valve on my helmet with my thumb during descent, thought it was normal. Last month in Gulfport, an old timer pointed out I was screwing with the exhaust pressure the whole time, told me to use my palm. Has anyone else had a habit like that that just felt right until someone called it out?

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cameron770•25d ago

Just realized the Navy dive tables I memorized in 2012 don't match the new US Navy manual at all

I was checking a decompression schedule for a 130-foot job in Galveston and pulled up the 2023 revision, but my old 2008 tables show a 5-minute shorter deco stop, so which one are you guys actually following on your live boat dives, or is everyone just using a computer these days?

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derekp70•25d ago

Trimix deep stops, 6 years of doing it backwards? What flipped your protocol?

I ran my deep stops on a 180ft Trimix dive in the Gulf of Mexico for years because my old instructor in Panama City swore by the 50/50 rule. Then a buddy pulled up the NEDU study and showed me how my 20-minute stops at 140ft were actually building up more deco stress, not less. Now I'm split: do you follow the old school tables that got you through real jobs, or the new gradient factor stuff that says shallower is safer? Which side made you switch or dig in?

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brian_ward55•27d ago

Shifting from wrist slates to the Sensus and I'm not looking back

Used to run paper slates with a grease pencil on every dive, spent 6 years in the Gulf doing it that way. Switched to digital after my slate got ripped off my wrist on a salvage job near Port Fourchon last spring. The Sensus unit maps better and I can actually read it in murky water, no more squinting at smudged numbers. Anyone else make the jump and miss the old setup, or am I the only one who used to lose half my notes to the current?

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charles_green•1mo ago

My comms box went full boat anchor last week off Port Canaveral

I was doing a hull inspection on a 90 foot catamaran, 40 feet down, when my through-water comms just started buzzing static mid-word. Tried the backup unit, dead battery, the spare was left on the truck (my fault, classic move). I switched to hand signals with the tender for the last 20 minutes, felt like I was back in training school. Anyone else ever have a coms failure and have to bust out the old arm waving routine?

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baker.phoenix•1mo ago

Helmet comms vs hand signals, I chose hand signals and regret nothing

On a 60ft wreck dive off Morehead City last month, my comms unit died 10 minutes in. Everyone else turned back, but I switched to old school hand signals and finished the job on the hull inspection. Got a bunch of crap from the other guys, but honestly, the work got done faster without the chatter. Anyone else ditch their comms for basic taps and pulls on shallow work?

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viola_cooper62•1mo ago

300th dive logged, still can't shake the nerves on zero-vis days

Logged my 300th commercial dive last Tuesday off the Port of Seattle, a routine hull inspection in 8 feet of silt-filled water. That number surprised me because I still get the same tight chest going down a ladder into black water as I did on dive number one. Anyone else hit a milestone and realize the experience doesn't kill the fear, just teaches you to work through it?

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theagarcia•1mo ago

Got stuck on a valve replacement for 5 hours, turns out I had the right tool all along

Tbh I spent nearly a full shift wrestling with a stuck 3-inch gate valve off the coast of Galveston, then realized my cheater bar was already in the van the whole time. Anyone else lose hours to something that simple, or is it just me?

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ivangrant•1mo ago

Dive logs went from paper to tablet, still miss the feel

Started logging dives in 2004 with a battered waterproof notebook. Pencil and plastic sleeve, the whole deal. Now I use a tablet strapped to my arm, syncs everything to a cloud file. The switch happened around 2015 when an inspector wanted digital records for a pipeline job in Port Arthur. Took me a week to trust it. Faster for sure, but I can't flip back through pages the same way. Anyone else keep a backup paper copy just in case the battery dies?

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jones.grace•1mo ago

Switched from trimix to heliox for the deep stuff, here's why

Used to swear by trimix for anything past 150 feet, even in the Gulf. Then got on a job near Corpus Christi last spring where the narcosis hit me harder than usual, and the dive supervisor pointed out my reaction time was crap on the comms. Read up on the gas density numbers and tried heliox on a 180-foot pipeline inspection, felt way sharper and less foggy. Anyone else made the swap for deep work, or do you stick with trimix because of the cost?

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thomas862•1mo ago

Switched from drysuit to hot water suit for the North Sea job

Always thought hot water suits were for the soft guys until I spent 3 hours in 4 degree water off Aberdeen last month. My core temp dropped so fast I called it early, and the next day I tried the hot water unit on a pipeline inspection and felt like a new person. Anyone else make the jump or stick with drysuits for cold work?

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ivan873•1mo ago

Still getting used to dry suits after 15 years of wet suits

I started diving in the Gulf of Mexico back in 08 and always used a wet suit. Never had an issue with it. But up here in the Pacific Northwest last winter, I got a dry suit and man it's a whole different game. Getting the seals right and not flooding out takes some getting used to. Anybody else struggle with the switch or have tips for not feeling so stuffed in there?

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