SCUBA with a detector / advice needed!

[BVI Hunter]

Does anyone SCUBA with a SeaHunter 2 (or any other machine)?

Does it pick up metal from your scuba kit / BCD etc?
I imagine, if you are finning in a prone position, the coil will be nearly below your chest? is this an issue?

Any advice, things to note / look out for, much appreciated!

Also, I assume a hand scoop is the best method to use?

Thanks!

 

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[pvet7521]

It's not like that, your machine will not pick up u. Go slow,than go slower. Nobody uses. A scupper , hand fan or what I found to be the best is a ping pong paddle, get a hit and dig it up. I've worked 3 hrs on barrel hoops.

 

[doc-d]

Agreed, the MD will not detect you.....but it is a PI and picks up all metal.

 

[BVI Hunter]

Cool thanks!!!

looking forward to my first MD Dive!!

 

[Jason in Enid]

PLease be careful. Take it SLOW and stay shallow. You are a brand new diver and not even used to the act of diving yet. Adding in a detector takes away your focus and awareness and adds greatly to your task loading. If something bad happens, drop the detector and make a safe ascent.

Stay safe, and good luck!

 

[BVI Hunter]

Thanks Jason - good advice

I plan to practice with a buddy this weekend in about 15 ft.

 

[Fletch88]

PLease be careful. Take it SLOW and stay shallow. You are a brand new diver and not even used to the act of diving yet. Adding in a detector takes away your focus and awareness and adds greatly to your task loading. If something bad happens, drop the detector and make a safe ascent.

Stay safe, and good luck!

Yes I agree. I've been open water diving for 24 years and only recently spearfished in last 6-8 years. I had a few times I wasn't comfortable with decisions my dive buddy made because of distractions of chasing big fish. Mainly the fact that he totally left sight of me at 100' and I never saw him again until we were up at 30' on anchor line. Be careful and take it slow. Distractions can hurt you! HH

 

[Fletch88]

PS: Never ever go down without a dive knife. Can be a lifesaver in certain situations.

 

[BVI Hunter]

PS: Never ever go down without a dive knife. Can be a lifesaver in certain situations.

Thanks! A few pals mentioned this too - I assume because of fishing line, rope etc.?

 

[Fletch88]

Yes exactly! I've been on artificial reefs that looked like giant spider webs throughout site with hooks scattered in mixture. HH

 

[Jason in Enid]

Thanks! A few pals mentioned this too - I assume because of fishing line, rope etc.?

fishing line! It can be almost invisible, and some is stronger than steel. Most ocean fishers use heavy line and you will NEVER break it.

Loose line gets tangled on reefs, rocks, wrecks, etc. and and just floats out there like an invisible hand. You wouldn't think it could wrap and snare your gear so fast and easy, but it does. It will tangle in your gear, and you can almost never generate enough force underwater to break it. So yes, always have a dive knife (stainless) or something like EMT shears. You may never need to use it once in your life, but if you NEED it and don't have it you will never need it again.

Sorry, I know this all sounds like doom and gloom here, but I just want you to stay safe. I speak from experience as a diver. Diving is deceptively easy, yet all the tiny tasks to master it require a LOT of bottom time and practice. Tragedies are never a single issue, but those single issues can compound fast.

Good luck!

 

[pvet7521]

I carry 2 knives and a shears, got tangled at 137' with no air, scary

 

[Uncle Jeff]

PS: Never ever go down without a dive knife. Can be a lifesaver in certain situations.

I carry a spare, They are invaluable. One at my thigh, and one by my ankle. The primary one in hands reach is a big ole Scuba knife, 8 inch blade, serrated on the back, with a line cutter near the end it is a solid tang and has a big round piece of steal at the end of the hand grip (handy for like banging on your tank with). The one by my ankle although it is much smaller it is sharp enough to shave with.

 

[BVI Hunter]

cool! I gotta get me a big knife!!!

joking aside, some good advice - thanks!!

 

[SADS 669]

PS: Never ever go down without a dive knife. Can be a lifesaver in certain situations.

Always better to be irritated because your knife or knives gets in the way instead of being really irritated cos you don't have one when u really need one. Knife story: always leave it in the scabbard unless you are actually planning to use it in anger. I took mine out once to reset my max depth gauge screw and promptly got it wrong and stuck the tip through my dry ( not anymore) suit leg, oh well lesson learnt.

 

[ScubaFinder]

Some good advice about the knives, to me the real killer is your lack of focus on safe diving while you are searching. Trust me, when you are down there swinging that detector and it goes off, the last thing on your mind is how much air you have, what might be swimming up behind you, etc. The closest I have ever come to drowning was in 11 feet of crystal clear water..simply due to a brief lapse in focus caused by some shiny yellow metal. While digging, I ran out of air...I had new gear on and wasn't completely familiar with the manual inflation of the BCD. That seems simple enough, and I had used 15 different sets of dive gear over the years, but that one little lack of preparation almost killed me. I struggled for several minutes on the surface grabbing gasps of air while trying to get myself buoyant. I swallowed a ton of salt water and came really close to leaving this world. This was after over 2,000 hours of dive time (not exaggerating). I knew i should have familiarized myself with the equipment before rolling over the edge but I got complacent due to my "high level of experience". :-) My new level of experience knows that I can NEVER get complacent again. You don't have 10 years of experience and comfort level under the water, to tell you to be careful would be a gross understatement. My advice would be to be over-cautious to a fault. At the first sign of trouble (even if it's just something not feeling right in your head) abort the dive!!! You can always dive another day, you can't come back from Davy Jone's locker.

All that said, enjoy yourself too. You have a rare opportunity to locate an untouched shipwreck! Never forget that it has archaeological value as well as intrinsic value...both are incredibly important.

 

[SADS 669]

Some good advice about the knives, to me the real killer is your lack of focus on safe diving while you are searching. Trust me, when you are down there swinging that detector and it goes off, the last thing on your mind is how much air you have, what might be swimming up behind you, etc. The closest I have ever come to drowning was in 11 feet of crystal clear water..simply due to a brief lapse in focus caused by some shiny yellow metal. While digging, I ran out of air...I had new gear on and wasn't completely familiar with the manual inflation of the BCD. That seems simple enough, and I had used 15 different sets of dive gear over the years, but that one little lack of preparation almost killed me. I struggled for several minutes on the surface grabbing gasps of air while trying to get myself buoyant. I swallowed a ton of salt water and came really close to leaving this world. This was after over 2,000 hours of dive time (not exaggerating). I knew i should have familiarized myself with the equipment before rolling over the edge but I got complacent due to my "high level of experience". :-) My new level of experience knows that I can NEVER get complacent again. You don't have 10 years of experience and comfort level under the water, to tell you to be careful would be a gross understatement. My advice would be to be over-cautious to a fault. At the first sign of trouble (even if it's just something not feeling right in your head) abort the dive!!! You can always dive another day, you can't come back from Davy Jone's locker.

All that said, enjoy yourself too. You have a rare opportunity to locate an untouched shipwreck! Never forget that it has archaeological value as well as intrinsic value...both are incredibly important.

Can't beat the advice above! Glad you beat back Davy's grasp.....

 

[BVI Hunter]

Can't beat the advice above! Glad you beat back Davy's grasp.....

I agree - good advice!

and I bet you still got the gold?

 

[Uncle Jeff]

Hire me BVI Hunter, Currently out of work computer geek with 30 years diving experience and 6 PADI diving certs, Basic open water, Advanced open water and 4 Specialties, including Deep diving, Search and recovery, and Equipment specialist. Did I mention I was a boy scout too ..

*** edited to change Dude to BVI Hunter .. LOL

 

[pvet7521]

Did I miss something? Where does he mention a wreck?