59 replies to this topic

[JimG]

When I first started teaching SCUBA in 1994, I too thought I needed some kind of noisemaker to get the students' attention. I constructed one myself out of a large ball bearing and some PVC pipe - this actually worked pretty well at most recreational depths.

Over the years however, I found that I needed it less and less, as my experience and confidence grew as an instructor. One critical thing that I came to realize is that it's very difficult to get any group of 6-8 people to do something "right now", in or out of the water. What you really need to do is learn to anticipate when you will need to get peoples' attention, and then start the overall process a little sooner than you would normally do otherwise. Also make sure that you explain to the students that they are diving together as a group, and that means they will also be working together as a group - make them responsible for communicating not only with you, but also among themselves.

In reality, it usually doesn't take that much time to get everyone's attention - it only seems that way because you have grown accustomed to the "instant feedback" that you get from diving with a single buddy. You will just need to learn to adjust your expectations and procedures a little bit when you start leading groups.

[DandyDon]

Gawd I hate these things. Some guide think they have to use them repeatedly. And those quakers. Damn!

Sorry, not answering your question, and yeah - with students I can see it maybe. I'd use a different approach: PAY ATTENTION TO ME OR I'LL RIP YOUR MASK OFF FOR A DRILL.

[ddierolf]

I bet the B.A.T.F.E. or Homeland Security would love to see people carring around things that look like that pic! Heck a galvanized pipe with caps on both ends will ball bearings in??? Just a thought.

[shadragon]

I bet the B.A.T.F.E. or Homeland Security would love to see people carring around things that look like that pic! Heck a galvanized pipe with caps on both ends will ball bearings in??? Just a thought.

Total length is 3.5" and it is 1/4" pipe. Take a look at the hose clamp around it for scale. Even if you wished someone ill it is certainly not Hiroshima in scale...

[Indydivegal]

I bet the B.A.T.F.E. or Homeland Security would love to see people carring around things that look like that pic! Heck a galvanized pipe with caps on both ends will ball bearings in??? Just a thought.

Total length is 3.5" and it is 1/4" pipe. Take a look at the hose clamp around it for scale. Even if you wished someone ill it is certainly not Hiroshima in scale...

Perhaps not, however we have had teens here in Indy make them in very small containers to blow up mailboxes!

[ddierolf]

I bet the B.A.T.F.E. or Homeland Security would love to see people carring around things that look like that pic! Heck a galvanized pipe with caps on both ends will ball bearings in??? Just a thought.

Total length is 3.5" and it is 1/4" pipe. Take a look at the hose clamp around it for scale. Even if you wished someone ill it is certainly not Hiroshima in scale...

Perhaps not, however we have had teens here in Indy make them in very small containers to blow up mailboxes!

I could see how that would get your dive buddy's attention!!!! A small underwater explosion, not enough to shoot him out of the water, just small enough to take down an intimidating mailbox!

[pir8]

Its a shame that in todays world we really have to worry about these kind of things.

[ddierolf]

Its a shame that in todays world we really have to worry about these kind of things.

I agree

[nurseshark]

Gawd I hate these things. Some guide think they have to use them repeatedly. And those quakers. Damn!

Sorry, not answering your question, and yeah - with students I can see it maybe. I'd use a different approach: PAY ATTENTION TO ME OR I'LL RIP YOUR MASK OFF FOR A DRILL.

Ditto..sorry but they are very annoying to me....

[finGrabber]

Gawd I hate these things. Some guide think they have to use them repeatedly. And those quakers. Damn!

Sorry, not answering your question, and yeah - with students I can see it maybe. I'd use a different approach: PAY ATTENTION TO ME OR I'LL RIP YOUR MASK OFF FOR A DRILL.

Ditto..sorry but they are very annoying to me....

Well, there are people out there who have issues with mask removal. The last class I worked with had a guy in it who did every skill fawlessly but bolted to the surface after 3 rounds of mask drills. After the last time, he quit scuba. Not everyone is a natural in the water and we should all remember that.

[Penguin]

I can appreciate peoples desire for underwater "noisemakers" and there are certainly circumstances in which there is a need. While I would sometimes love to utilize the maskrip method, reg hose yank method or smack-in-the-head method, training agencies and insurance companies generally foown on that!!! And it seems that we have so much gear attched to us already that adding one more piece, regardless of how small is not something I like doing. SO.........I have found 2 things very effective which create 2 different levels of noise: 1) Smack open hand with closed fist. This works especially well with students in confined water or in open water diving while in close proximity (Really, it does) and 2) Tapping the tank with a knife. Quite sharp and quite loud.


Hey IndyDiveGal. I knew you looked familiar. I think it may be from the front page of the Indy Times an unspecified number of years ago in relation to a pipebombing incident??

[PerroneFord]

Well, there are people out there who have issues with mask removal. The last class I worked with had a guy in it who did every skill fawlessly but bolted to the surface after 3 rounds of mask drills. After the last time, he quit scuba. Not everyone is a natural in the water and we should all remember that.

Fingrabber, not to derail the thread, but if a diver cannot handle diving without a mask, should they be given an OW card? And I say this as someone who had to overcome a near phobia of not having a mask on. It took me literally 3 months of work in the pool nearly every day to develop comfort with it. Now it's nothing to me.

[Parrotman]

Ok, two comments here. As for the noisemaker. I have one that is made out of a piece of pvc pipe with caps glued on the end. It has several "bb's in side for the noise. Really simple, really cheap to make and the airport security people do not look twice at them.

Second comment = I don't use mine very often but there was a case in point where this thing came in very handy. I was on a dive with several other people and as I was diving along with my buddy I noticed some bubbles coming from below me. I was at 110' There was obviously a problem. Using my shaker I got the attention of the Divemaster that was too far away for me to go get him. He looked at me I gave him a signal about the diver in trouble below me. Off he went. By the time he got to the diver the guy was well below 150 ft. This guy thought it would be cool to see how deep he could go..... I won't even give any opinons on that...

It is all well and fine to find fault in all things that you do not yourself use but who knows when something like this will come in handy.

[DandyDon]

Well, there are people out there who have issues with mask removal. The last class I worked with had a guy in it who did every skill fawlessly but bolted to the surface after 3 rounds of mask drills. After the last time, he quit scuba. Not everyone is a natural in the water and we should all remember that.

Fingrabber, not to derail the thread, but if a diver cannot handle diving without a mask, should they be given an OW card? And I say this as someone who had to overcome a near phobia of not having a mask on. It took me literally 3 months of work in the pool nearly every day to develop comfort with it. Now it's nothing to me.

Nope! Maybe she only means we need to be kind to them, but no - if he won't do what's need to deal with it like you did, then he'd be a potential hazard.

My post about threatening the students was meant to suggest getting their attention, tho - not actually ripping a mask off in OW class.

Edited by DandyDon, 12 March 2007 - 08:23 PM.

[PerroneFord]

Second comment = I don't use mine very often but there was a case in point where this thing came in very handy. I was on a dive with several other people and as I was diving along with my buddy I noticed some bubbles coming from below me. I was at 110' There was obviously a problem. Using my shaker I got the attention of the Divemaster that was too far away for me to go get him. He looked at me I gave him a signal about the diver in trouble below me. Off he went. By the time he got to the diver the guy was well below 150 ft. This guy thought it would be cool to see how deep he could go..... I won't even give any opinons on that...

It is all well and fine to find fault in all things that you do not yourself use but who knows when something like this will come in handy.

I don't understand what the problem was. Guy wanted to see how deep he could go. That's his right. Have a great life. He would have come back up eventually. One way or another. I don't rescue darwin candidates.

I don't think the issue is so much finding fault in things, as much as it is evaluating the relative worth of somehing, weighing it agaisnt other methods of accomplishing the same goal, and choosing what works best for you. Fortunately, noisemakers are popular where I like to dive. If someone brought one, they'd probably get their tank valve cut off.