Heard a surface guy say comms checks are a waste of time - who else thinks that's crazy?

I was on a job off the coast of Louisiana last week helping with a pipeline inspection, and I overheard one of the tender guys telling a new diver that doing comms checks every 10 minutes is just slowing things down. He said if the radio's working, why keep testing it. But I've had two buddies get into serious trouble when comms cut out mid-job and nobody knew for 5 minutes. Doesn't that just beg for an accident, or am I being too cautious about gear checks? What do you all do on your dives?

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1 Comment

ruby_grant16h ago

Oh come on, you're being way too dramatic. A comms check every 10 minutes? That's like checking your front door lock six times before bed. Modern dive radios are rock solid unless you're using junk equipment. Fresh batteries, good maintenance, you're fine. I've done hundreds of dives on production platforms where we checked once at the start and once at turnaround. Never had a problem. All that constant checking does is waste time and annoy the surface crew. If the gear is good, it's good. Trust your kit and get the job done.