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TIL a 68 year old diver in Port Arthur taught me to read my umbilical by feel before every splash
Six months ago I was gearing up on a dock in Port Arthur and this old timer named Ray watched me check my umbilical by eye and told me to grab the last 10 feet with both hands and run it through my fingers instead. He said eyes lie in low light but fingers catch nicks, soft spots, and kinks you would miss till they fail at 90 feet. Took me two minutes and I caught a flat spot I had been walking past for weeks. Now it's the first thing I do before every dive, even on quick inspections. Anybody else got a pre dive habit an old hand passed down that you still use?
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cooper.phoenix16d ago
That line about eyes lying in low light is the real deal. I worked deck for a few years before I ever got wet and the old guys would hand-over-hand the whole line on the surface before it ever got hooked up, looking for those soft spots that come from rubbing against the cage. What got me was how much smoother the whole run feels once you know every inch of what's feeding you air. Now I catch myself doing it on the surface line too, even on a 20 foot bounce dive in a marina.
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