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Showerthought: I used to think marking my umbilical with colored tape every 10 feet was just extra work.
But after getting turned around in zero-vis on a 40-foot wreck in Lake Michigan last month (and my buddy on comms calmly saying 'follow the blue stripes back'), I'm a total convert, so what's your go-to trick for keeping oriented in the murk?
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mitchell.wade3mo ago
Follow the blue stripes back" is such a solid line... what kind of tape actually holds up down there?
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emma_murray493mo ago
Honestly thought that whole tape thing was just for show until a buddy got me to try it on a local river dive. Got completely turned around in some thick silt and that bright pink line was the only thing I could see. Now I won't go into low vis without it, cheap insurance. The trick is getting the good vinyl stuff that doesn't peel off.
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grant.margaret1mo ago
Three seasons ago I wrapped a bright orange stripe around my tank valve just to test a theory about not grabbing the wrong gear in a buddy's garage. Turns out it was the only thing my dive light caught when the current kicked up a mud cloud that dropped visibility to maybe six inches. The cheap stuff from the hardware store peeled off after two dives but the 3M outdoor grade stuff is still holding after thirty something dives and a trip through the car wash by accident. Now I put it on everything that could possibly float away.
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