quote:Better than nothing for sure! Did a dive on a charter last weekend in 6 foot, wind blown seas. Popped up well away from the boat and felt like I was on the surface for 15 minutes before I was picked up! Had 0 psi left in my tank. When I saw the boat headed away from me knowing it was too windy to hear my whistle I got a little nervous. Having a VHF would have been nice!!!
Originally posted by yellabirdSome of our group ordered these when they came out. I haven’t heard any reviews so far. Seems like range would be very low from the waterline. As far as I can tell you’re just relaying your coordinates via VHF to whoever is listening. I don’t know how well the transmit feature works. The typical transmit feature on VHS is rarely monitored by anyone other than coasties and there rarely 12 miles from me. Still better than nothing I guess.
Stephen Goldfinch
“Sleep When You’re Dead!”
Never met yellabird. his post shows his good judgement.(heard the story of him spending the night floating in a BC) if you don’t have a compotent crew aboard and you have to anchor to dive,(talking most deep dives on live bottoms off the sc coast,) you should stay on the hill! A head in the water is a tough thing to see in a chop, which can blow up in minutes!
If it got any better I couldn’t stand it.
You should always have an appropriate audible (whistle) signal device as well as visual (safety sausage). I have a whistle zip tied to my bc as well as an above water/under water in-line air powered squawker that is part of my set-up on my BC. A orange or yellow sausage is always rolled up and attached to my left side where i could find it blind.
Wanna kill fish, then let’s go!
These guys make a valid point about the gear. That being said, this is a hobby that many people people take up and never get to do as much as they had hoped. I have some really nice gear that one day I’m going to use more. My cousin and I bought our stuff at the same time. He sold his stuff at .25 cents on the dollar . He probably did 10 dives at the most. If you get it inspected, you should have no problems.
Tip #X… Realize that spearfishermen are the MINORITY and that there are many people that want to end the sport… Because of this, you should go out of your way to change that perception about us, make as many friends as you can, and always remember that people are watching. Fly under the radar, don’t participate in controversial things, and go out of your way to be courteous to non-spearfishermen on the water. Take every opportunity that you get to show people that we spearfish because we love the experience and not because we are meat-hogs that want to fill our freezer with fish that we couldn’t catch on rod and reel…
Tip #X+1… Be careful of what short cuts you learn from experienced divers. It’s always those divers that get killed. Don’t cut corners or get complacent. It’s not about who can get to the bottom the fastest, who can kill the most fish, who can push the limits the most… Your #1 goal should be making it back home alive. Your family will appreciate that. Killing fish is just a bonus…
quote:
Tip #X+1... Be careful of what short cuts you learn from experienced divers. It's always those divers that get killed. Don't cut corners or get complacent. It's not about who can get to the bottom the fastest, who can kill the most fish, who can push the limits the most... Your #1 goal should be making it back home alive. Your family will appreciate that. Killing fish is just a bonus...
That’s really good advice.
Someone said on here before…Scuba diving is not a dangerous sport but it is a very unforgiving sport.
Be safe in all that you do!!!