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My primary comms unit flooded on a job in the Gulf last week

It was a 20 minute dive at about 90 feet, and the unit just went silent halfway through. I had to switch to my backup hand signals with the tender, which felt super slow. We got the job done, but it was a good reminder to check my O-rings more often. Anyone else have a piece of gear fail at a bad time and what was your backup plan?
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3 Comments
ward.fiona
Oh man @rowan422 that bit about your hands getting sweaty reminded me of something that happened to a buddy of mine last summer. He was doing a solo dive in this old quarry and his primary light died about 15 minutes in, total blackout down there. He had a backup but it was a cheap one he never tested, and it flickered a few times then stopped working too. Luckily he was in pretty shallow water and felt his way along the bottom to the exit rope, but he said those 10 minutes of fumbling in the dark were the scariest of his life. He still talks about it at every dive meetup, always checks his backup lights now before every single entry.
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patel.leo
patel.leo2mo ago
Buddy's backup light died mid-cave penetration.
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rowan422
rowan4222mo ago
Wait what, he went caving with only one backup light? That's asking for trouble in total darkness. My hands get sweaty just thinking about being stuck down there. Dude needs to triple-check his gear next time.
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