What if the white belt replaced the black belt as the top belt?

[Oily Dragon]

All that would do is change the color of the tail of the Vomit Comet.
A better cure is reaching the dive site. First one off the boat, last one back on. That's me. Motion sickness ends once you get under.

Seriously though, small bland crackers work well against nausea from boat rocking. Chew a couple now and then. Not sure how it works but it does.

I'm also a fish underwater, a whale on deck.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

I am an avid diver, but prone to get sea sick. The first 1-2 days of every trip, I spend the boat rides calling Europe to talk to my buddy Ralph. After that, I'm fine. I can eat greasy cheeseburgers and pizza on the boat. But because of that, I would suggest a really roughly woven material, died a green/yellow sort of camo pattern to resemble vomit for Leif Erikson Day.

Ever barf through your regulator? I’ve seen it during a heavy surge day. It’s great because it brings all the fish near.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

All that would do is change the color of the tail of the Vomit Comet.
A better cure is reaching the dive site. First one off the boat, last one back on. That's me. Motion sickness ends once you get under.

Not for everybody. I don’t get sick but I love to see other people doing the technicolor yawn.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

I heard an interview on the radio of a local celebrity that was getting to ride with the Blue Angels. After the preflight meeting, the celeb asked the pilot "I hear everyone vomits in the air the first time... is there anything I can do about that?" The pilot told him "Eat peanut butter." The celeb asked "Does that really keep you from throwing up?" The pilot answered "Nope. But it tastes the same both ways."

Not sure, but that may help you on your next boat ride...

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

It is as pretentious to wear a white belt as an instructor as it is to wear a black belt.

What color do you wear?

 

[Dirty Dog]

Seriously though, small bland crackers work well against nausea from boat rocking. Chew a couple now and then. Not sure how it works but it does.

I'm also a fish underwater, a whale on deck.

Saltines can help with nausea from some causes. Because they absorb excess gastric acids. But motion sickness is caused by a discrepancy between the signals your body, inner ear, and eyes (or eye, in my case) are sending to the brain and crackers are not going to help. That's the problem with advanced training in physiology... you can't rely on the placebo effect any more.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

Saltines can help with nausea from some causes. Because they absorb excess gastric acids. But motion sickness is caused by a discrepancy between the signals your body, inner ear, and eyes (or eye, in my case) are sending to the brain and crackers are not going to help. That's the problem with advanced training in physiology... you can't rely on the placebo effect any more.

You have to suspend your disbelief. It’s how I got through those travesty movies they blithely refer to as The Lord of the Rings without vomiting.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

No amount of saltines could soak up all the bile produced during viewing.

 

[Dirty Dog]

Ever barf through your regulator? I’ve seen it during a heavy surge day. It’s great because it brings all the fish near.

Sure. Once when I was brand new and didn't know enough not to fight the surge (excessive exertion leading to CO2 buildup). And once due an unusual concatenation of dive conditions; a night dive in long patchy sea grass with erratic currents. The erratic currents caused weird movements of the sea grass, and since it was a night dive at 100-120 feet it was REALLY dark, and the only thing you could see was what your light was on. So optical data didn't match the other data and the brain objected.

For the non-divers: barfing through a regulator is no big deal. The prescribed procedure is to make sure the regulator stays in your mouth (for obvious reasons) and puke away. When you're done, you hit the purge button to clear it out. But that's got a (purely psychological) ick factor so most people will, if they have the chance, change to their backup regulator and then swap back after the vomiting stops.

My own solution is to go to my dive buddy and give them the "I'm out of air, share air" sign and get their regulator. Once I'm done, I can switch back to my own.

Both my dive buddies have said they will never share air with me again, for some reason...

 

[Oily Dragon]

Saltines can help with nausea from some causes. Because they absorb excess gastric acids. But motion sickness is caused by a discrepancy between the signals your body, inner ear, and eyes (or eye, in my case) are sending to the brain and crackers are not going to help. That's the problem with advanced training in physiology... you can't rely on the placebo effect any more.

Cheerios are low in sodium and gluten free, though.

Oats, dawg.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

Sure. Once when I was brand new and didn't know enough not to fight the surge (excessive exertion leading to CO2 buildup). And once due an unusual concatenation of dive conditions; a night dive in long patchy sea grass with erratic currents. The erratic currents caused weird movements of the sea grass, and since it was a night dive at 100-120 feet it was REALLY dark, and the only thing you could see was what your light was on. So optical data didn't match the other data and the brain objected.

For the non-divers: barfing through a regulator is no big deal. The prescribed procedure is to make sure the regulator stays in your mouth (for obvious reasons) and puke away. When you're done, you hit the purge button to clear it out. But that's got a (purely psychological) ick factor so most people will, if they have the chance, change to their backup regulator and then swap back after the vomiting stops.

My own solution is to go to my dive buddy and give them the "I'm out of air, share air" sign and get their regulator. Once I'm done, I can switch back to my own.

Both my dive buddies have said they will never share air with me again, for some reason...

Hilarious! That’s my kind of prank. 100 ft in dark sea grass? Wtf? Was this a clandestine operation? That’s beyond my comfort zone for a couple reasons. I’m fine with kelp, I grew up diving the west coast and Channel Island. I’m not fine with 100+ ft. I was involved in a dive accident at 120 ft. I don’t care to go that deep since. I prefer a lazy mans dive at 35-55.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

Cheerios are low in sodium and gluten free, though.

Oats, dawg.

But do they attract fish when you hurl them?

 

[Oily Dragon]

But do they attract fish when you hurl them?

Maybe. Like any chaff it might trick the fish into biting.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

Sure. Once when I was brand new and didn't know enough not to fight the surge (excessive exertion leading to CO2 buildup). And once due an unusual concatenation of dive conditions; a night dive in long patchy sea grass with erratic currents. The erratic currents caused weird movements of the sea grass, and since it was a night dive at 100-120 feet it was REALLY dark, and the only thing you could see was what your light was on. So optical data didn't match the other data and the brain objected.

For the non-divers: barfing through a regulator is no big deal. The prescribed procedure is to make sure the regulator stays in your mouth (for obvious reasons) and puke away. When you're done, you hit the purge button to clear it out. But that's got a (purely psychological) ick factor so most people will, if they have the chance, change to their backup regulator and then swap back after the vomiting stops.

My own solution is to go to my dive buddy and give them the "I'm out of air, share air" sign and get their regulator. Once I'm done, I can switch back to my own.

Both my dive buddies have said they will never share air with me again, for some reason...

Btw barfing through YOUR own regulator is no big deal. Barfing through mine means I owe you a prank in return.

 

[Dirty Dog]

Cheerios are low in sodium and gluten free, though.

Oats, dawg.

Which still won't help with mixed neurologic signals...

Hilarious! That’s my kind of prank. 100 ft in dark sea grass? Wtf? Was this a clandestine operation?

No, just a night dive. Different critters come out to play at different times of the day. Want to see Lobster, Squid, Octopus and Eel out and about, instead of hiding in holes? Night dive. Want to see some of the really weird fish that live inconveniently deep without becoming a technical diver? Night dive. Want to see Mana Ray feeding? Night dive. Want to see some of the strangest mini-critters in the world? Black water night dive, ideally with a UV lamp.
I'm guessing you won't be joining me for a cave dive?

That’s beyond my comfort zone for a couple reasons. I’m fine with kelp, I grew up diving the west coast and Channel Island. I’m not fine with 100+ ft. I was involved in a dive accident at 120 ft. I don’t care to go that deep since. I prefer a lazy mans dive at 35-55.

Care to share what happened?

I'm guessing you're a recreational diver, not technical. Safe bet, since less than 5% ever do even the most basic tech dive training. I'm a tech diver; wreck, cave, trimix, hypoxic trimix... I'm certified for everything except rebreathers. I've dove a rebreather, but I'm not certified. But neither Sue nor Kim do tech diving. And most of our dives are recreational, "let's go look at some fish" stuff. The best depth for that in the Caribbean is less than 80 feet. In places like Bonaire and Curacao, it's less than 50.

Strapping on 6 tanks with 4 different gas mixes for a 400 foot wreck dive allows you to see some amazing things. But it's also a lot of work.

But do they attract fish when you hurl them?

Yes. It's pretty common (unfortunately) for dive guides in areas that cater to the sort of diver who does 2 dives a year to carry a bag of this sort of thing and use it to get fish to move close to divers.

I usually carry a ziplock bag with some chocolate covered Oreos on long dives. You can eat them on deco stops, and the chocolate keeps them from getting soggy and icky in the water.

Btw barfing through YOUR own regulator is no big deal. Barfing through mine means I owe you a prank in return.

Revenge pranks are half the fun.

And (at least sort of) on the original topic, just as students don't care what color my belt is, other divers don't care if I'm diving a backplate and wing with doubles and long hose, or a rented poodle jacket. Students can tell if you know what you're doing. So can divers.

 

[drop bear]

What color do you wear?

Purple

 

[Dirty Dog]

Purple

Not tie dye?

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

Which still won't help with mixed neurologic signals...

No, just a night dive. Different critters come out to play at different times of the day. Want to see Lobster, Squid, Octopus and Eel out and about, instead of hiding in holes? Night dive. Want to see some of the really weird fish that live inconveniently deep without becoming a technical diver? Night dive. Want to see Mana Ray feeding? Night dive. Want to see some of the strangest mini-critters in the world? Black water night dive, ideally with a UV lamp.
I'm guessing you won't be joining me for a cave dive?

Care to share what happened?

I'm guessing you're a recreational diver, not technical. Safe bet, since less than 5% ever do even the most basic tech dive training. I'm a tech diver; wreck, cave, trimix, hypoxic trimix... I'm certified for everything except rebreathers. I've dove a rebreather, but I'm not certified. But neither Sue nor Kim do tech diving. And most of our dives are recreational, "let's go look at some fish" stuff. The best depth for that in the Caribbean is less than 80 feet. In places like Bonaire and Curacao, it's less than 50.

Strapping on 6 tanks with 4 different gas mixes for a 400 foot wreck dive allows you to see some amazing things. But it's also a lot of work.

Yes. It's pretty common (unfortunately) for dive guides in areas that cater to the sort of diver who does 2 dives a year to carry a bag of this sort of thing and use it to get fish to move close to divers.

I usually carry a ziplock bag with some chocolate covered Oreos on long dives. You can eat them on deco stops, and the chocolate keeps them from getting soggy and icky in the water.


Revenge pranks are half the fun.

And (at least sort of) on the original topic, just as students don't care what color my belt is, other divers don't care if I'm diving a backplate and wing with doubles and long hose, or a rented poodle jacket. Students can tell if you know what you're doing. So can divers.

I am indeed a recreational diver. I started with a PADI open water cert at 16. Did a bit of bug hunting and spear fishing. Now I live in humboldt so it’s cold and murky. The accident was off Catalina. 120 ft wreck dive. As we approached the bottom one of my friends signaled no air. His twin brother assisted him and we began our ascent immediately. Something in the o ring and valve had malfunctioned under pressure that prevented air from leaving the tank. Everyone surfaced ok but it was a group breathing effort. Not something I care to relive. I will at least check out the cave if it’s less than 55 ft but unless it’s huge I’m not going in there.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

Purple

How bout your instructor?

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

Which still won't help with mixed neurologic signals...

No, just a night dive. Different critters come out to play at different times of the day. Want to see Lobster, Squid, Octopus and Eel out and about, instead of hiding in holes? Night dive. Want to see some of the really weird fish that live inconveniently deep without becoming a technical diver? Night dive. Want to see Mana Ray feeding? Night dive. Want to see some of the strangest mini-critters in the world? Black water night dive, ideally with a UV lamp.
I'm guessing you won't be joining me for a cave dive?

Care to share what happened?

I'm guessing you're a recreational diver, not technical. Safe bet, since less than 5% ever do even the most basic tech dive training. I'm a tech diver; wreck, cave, trimix, hypoxic trimix... I'm certified for everything except rebreathers. I've dove a rebreather, but I'm not certified. But neither Sue nor Kim do tech diving. And most of our dives are recreational, "let's go look at some fish" stuff. The best depth for that in the Caribbean is less than 80 feet. In places like Bonaire and Curacao, it's less than 50.

Strapping on 6 tanks with 4 different gas mixes for a 400 foot wreck dive allows you to see some amazing things. But it's also a lot of work.

Yes. It's pretty common (unfortunately) for dive guides in areas that cater to the sort of diver who does 2 dives a year to carry a bag of this sort of thing and use it to get fish to move close to divers.

I usually carry a ziplock bag with some chocolate covered Oreos on long dives. You can eat them on deco stops, and the chocolate keeps them from getting soggy and icky in the water.


Revenge pranks are half the fun.

And (at least sort of) on the original topic, just as students don't care what color my belt is, other divers don't care if I'm diving a backplate and wing with doubles and long hose, or a rented poodle jacket. Students can tell if you know what you're doing. So can divers.

Well on the prank note, I have been known to super glue toes together when the drunk guy passes out on the boat. The best is when you wake him up and he tries to put his flip flops on (slippas if you are from Hawaii).