c/commercial-divers

Heads up on those new Kirby Morgan band masks we're seeing on job sites

I was at a dive shop in Houston last week and two guys came in complaining about the cracking on the new-style exhaust tees after only like 40 dives. Anyone else seeing those fail faster than the old rubber ones?

2 comments

wadeyoung•16h ago

I used to think old Kirby Morgan hats were just nostalgia...

Been doing inland commercial diving for about 8 years now, mostly bridge repair and dam work around the Pacific Northwest. Always ran with a modern KM 28 with that lightweight shell. Then last month I had to use a beat up old SuperLite 17 for a whole week when my reg went down for service. After about three days I noticed my neck was way less sore at the end of shifts... that extra weight actually balanced better underwater and the old exhaust valve setup felt more reliable somehow. Now I'm hunting for a used 17 and wondering if anyone else has gone back to older gear after swearing by new stuff.

1 comments

janahenderson•3d ago

My drysuit zipper blew out 60ft down off the coast of Oregon last month

I was working a salmon farm net pen job up near Astoria, about 45 minutes into a repair dive, when I felt that cold trickle run down my back. My zipper just let go. Not a slow leak, I mean it split right open. I had to do an emergency ascent, which is sketchy enough solo, but I popped up right under a feed barge and nearly got clocked. The tender hauled me in quick but I was soaked through in like 30 seconds flat. The suit was a DUI that I've had for about 5 years, never had an issue before. I got it patched up at a shop in Portland but the whole thing cost me $200 to fix. Has anyone else had a main zipper fail in cold water like that? What do you do to spot corrosion or wear before it goes?

2 comments

lucas972•4d ago

That 'cheap' Kirby Morgan rebuild kit cost me a surface interval in Port Nolloth

Last month I bought a non-OEM rebuild kit for my KM-48 from a shop in Cape Town for $45. Got out to the boat near Port Nolloth, swapped it in while waiting on the crane, and the first dive back down to 30 meters the main exhaust valve stuck wide open. Had to abort after 10 minutes, spent 2 hours fixing it with spare parts from the boat's first aid kit essentially. Anyone else given up on saving a few rand on critical parts?

2 comments

emma_young•4d ago

Saw a diver buddy in Port Townsend using a drysuit with no socks attached, and his feet looked like prunes after 4 hours underwater.

He said he's been diving that way for years and never got trench foot, but I couldn't stop thinking about how much heat he's losing through those bare feet, so has anyone else tried modifying their drysuit like that?

2 comments

josephb35•7d ago

Remember when we had to hand-signal everything from the bottom

I was thinking back to my first dive job back in 2000 on a rig in the Gulf. We didn't have any of those fancy comms headsets, just rope pulls and hand signals for everything. Now I hop in with a full comms system that lets me talk to the supervisor like we're on a phone call. It's a world of difference for safety, but I kinda miss the simplicity sometimes. Anyone else feel like the old methods made you a sharper diver?

2 comments

vera_roberts•8d ago

Took me 4 hours to replace a single valve underwater last week because I forgot to check the bolt pattern first

Ended up having to haul a whole different set of wrenches back down from the boat after a wasted trip, anyone else ever mess up a simple job by skipping the prep?

2 comments

gonzalez.phoenix•9d ago

I finally realized my drysuit was flooding because of neck seal angle

After 6 years of getting wet on deep dives off the Port of LA, I figured out I was pulling my neck seal up too tight against my jaw instead of letting it sit flat on my collarbones. A retired diver at the compressor shack pointed out the crease pattern on my chest. Anyone else catch a basic fit mistake this late in the game?

2 comments

blaker75•10d ago

That moment a harbor pilot asked why my lift bag had no backup valve

I was doing a salvage job in Portsmouth harbor last month, working a 40-foot prop removal. A harbor pilot came by to check the site and pointed at my lift bag setup asking where the backup dump valve was. I told him I'd never used one on bags under 500 pounds. He just shook his head and walked off. Now I'm wondering how many other divers skip the backup valve on smaller lifts and if it's actually a problem.

2 comments

henderson.hugo•13d ago

That $600 dive in zero vis last Thursday was the worst day I've had on the job

We were pulling mooring lines in Charleston harbor and I couldn't see my hand six inches from my face, got tangled in an old fishing net for twenty minutes. My comms went dead halfway through and I had to rely on rope pulls to tell the tender I was stuck. Has anyone else had a day where everything went wrong underwater and you just had to fight through it?

2 comments

robinl90•15d ago

Took me 5 dives to notice the color tag on my own tank was wrong

Was doing some work on a pier repair in Norfolk last month and kept wondering why my air felt off. Turns out my tank had a green band instead of yellow, which means it was supposed to be nitrox not regular air. I checked the fill log and sure enough, the shop mislabeled it. Anyone else ever catch a mix-up like that on a routine fill?

2 comments

alice_barnes35•16d ago

Debate: Should we use penetrants on seized bolts or just heat them? Ran into a nightmare underwater.

I had a job in Portland last month where a valve bolt on a pipeline was completely seized at 30 feet. I tried Kroil first, waited 20 minutes, nothing. Then I switched to a torch-underwater welding rod trick, took another 45 minutes to free it. My partner swore the penetrant would've worked if I'd let it soak longer, but I think heat is faster in cold water. What's your go-to when time is tight and the bolt won't budge?

2 comments

kai779•19d ago

Found a better way to clear a blocked Kirby vacuum in Seattle

I was out on a job near the Ballard locks last week and my Kirby started losing suction bad. Took the hose off and noticed a wad of hair and debris stuck right past the bend. Instead of fighting it with a coat hanger like usual I used a shop vac on the other end to pull it through. Took maybe 2 minutes instead of 15. Anyone else do something similar to clear a tough clog?

2 comments

felix478•20d ago

Showerthought: A deckhand in Port Fourchon told me something that still bugs me

I was working a job in Port Fourchon last spring and this old deckhand pulls me aside. He said "You guys worry too much about the gear and not enough about the buddy breathing." I laughed it off then, but later that week we had a minor issue 60 feet down and I realized he was right. We drill on equipment checks all day but barely practice sharing air. Has anyone else run into old timers giving advice that actually saved your skin?

2 comments

diana_bell74•20d ago

Got chewed out by an inspector for skipping a pre-dive equipment check on a job in Corpus Christi

I used to think I could skip the full gear look-over if I was running late. Then an inspector watched me pull on my gear without checking the valves and lit into me for a solid five minutes. He said 'every hose and seal can fail, you're betting your life on a glance.' Now I take 10 minutes every morning to check everything from my drysuit zipper to my regulator. Has anyone else had a close call because they got lazy with prep?

3 comments

riley58•21d ago

Bought an old Kirby Morgan band mask for $200... it cost me double that in headaches

Found it at a pawn shop in Houston and thought I got a steal, but the exhaust valve was seized and the oral seal dried out on 3 dives before I figured it out. Anyone else ever get burned trying to save money on used gear?

2 comments

emmar75•23d ago

Hit 300 dives last week and it changed how I see this job

I was always one of those divers who thought experience was just about time underwater. But hitting my 300th dive last Tuesday on a bridge inspection in Norfolk really made me stop. That number felt big because I remembered barely surviving my first 30 foot mud dive back in 2021. Now I notice little things like current patterns and silt behavior that I used to totally miss. Has anyone else felt a specific milestone shift their whole mindset about safety or technique?

3 comments

reeseanderson•24d ago

Spent $300 on a brand new Kirby Morgan band mask without checking the neck seal first.

Bought a size 12 from a shop in Seattle and my neck seal had a half inch gap that flooded on the first dive to 60 feet, anyone else stuck with expensive gear that just doesn't fit right?

2 comments

kai779•26d ago

Gas blending cert was a waste when I started diving in 2017

I was super skeptical about taking the advanced gas blending course. Thought it was just another way for the training center to grab $400 out of my pocket. But after 3 months of running nitrox trimix for a job off the coast of Gulfport, I saw how easy it was to mess up a mix by eyeballing it. Now I check my partial pressures on every single tank and it keeps my deco stops from going sideways. Anyone else get humbled by a cert they thought was useless?

2 comments

kellymurphy•27d ago

Warning: Relying on that bottom timer trick for deeper dives almost got me bent last week

I've been doing inland commercial work around the Great Lakes for about 8 years now, and I started using this shortcut where I'd shave a few minutes off my bottom timer to squeeze in an extra job on the same set of tanks. Last Thursday at 65 feet on a bridge pier repair in Detroit, I felt that weird joint ache coming on halfway through my first hang and realized I had pushed it too far. Has anyone else here survived a close call with decompression sickness because of a bad habit or corner you thought you could get away with?

3 comments

nancy3•28d ago

Old school vs new gear debate in the Gulf last month

Me and my partner had a big argument 3 weeks ago offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. He swears by his old Kirby Morgan helmets still. I upgraded to a new Dive Comm last year. His argument is the old stuff never fails. Mine is that new comms are just clearer and lighter. Which side are you on for deep work?

2 comments

phoenixp30•28d ago

Had a 12 hour day in Puget Sound last Tuesday that almost turned into a disaster

I was doing a hull inspection on a barge near Tacoma when my comms unit started crackling at the 8 hour mark, then went dead silent. Had to finish my last two bolts by feel and surface intervals while my tender yelled through hand signals on the ladder. Has anyone else had their underwater comms fail on a long job and what did you do to get through the rest of the dive?

2 comments

simonreed•29d ago

Old dive supervisor told me to switch from steel to aluminum tanks on a 100-foot wreck dive

He said the weight difference would save my back on the swim back to the boat, but I argued the extra buoyancy was a hazard in current - what do you guys think, is aluminum really worth the trade-off or was he just pushing cheap gear?

2 comments

grant_torres•29d ago

Threw $600 at a cheap drysuit and regretted every dive

Bought a no-name drysuit off eBay last year thinking I was saving money. First real job at 40 feet in Puget Sound and the wrist seals failed within an hour. Anyone else have a gear purchase that just wasted your cash?

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paigewood•1mo ago

That guy who told me to switch to a drysuit in 50 degree water

Worked a bridge job in Portland last October. Water temp hit 52. Buddy kept saying I was crazy in my wetsuit. Said I'd be shivering within 20 minutes. Ignored him for two days. Third day I gave in and rented a drysuit from the shop. Night and day difference. Could actually focus on the weld instead of counting down until my hands went numb. Any of you guys have a piece of gear you fought switching to but now swear by?

2 comments