[torbaydiver]

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Some people are telling me that they won't let you dive with a knife or gloves in the red Sea !
Isn't this a bit hazardous?
Can they really stop you on a day boat?
What if you get a entanglement situation, fishing wire or nets.  Or shark attack, I would like to think I had some form of defence!

 

[David Wallace]

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Quote[/b] (torbaydiver @ Jan. 13 2004,17:28)]Some people are telling me that they won't let you dive with a knife or gloves in the red Sea !
Isn't this a bit hazardous?
Can they really stop you on a day boat?
What if you get a entanglement situation, fishing wire or nets.  Or shark attack, I would like to think I had some form of defence!

Err....
Just got back from a week out there.

Correct gloves are banned - sort of encourages you not to touch  

 which IMHO is a good idea

No one mentioned knives....
But I didnt see an entanglement possiblity all week apart from the 40 odd morring lines from day boats on the Thistlegorm. Most dive knives wouldnt touch one of these - they are about 60mm thick

As for a shark attack, If your thinking of defending yourself with a typical divers knife then I want to come to watch (out of the water)  

 

 

 

Regards

David

 

[Dr Stevil]

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No one should be wearing gloves around coral as it only leads to folk touching and damaging these  delicate animals.
And knives are totally unnecessary, I've been diving for over 6 years in all kinds of conditions and never been entangled yet, line cutters or shears are fine if you're really worried,

and as for sharks...

if you see one you'll be very fortunate indeed and if a shark was determined to bite you (you've more chance of winning the lottery than being bitten by a shark)  a dive knife is only going to p*** him off, plus you'd never get the better of a shark for in water manouverability. If you're really that worried you can get electronic shark repellant kit but I certainly wouldn't bother.
THis is of course all the fault of Peter Benchly and Stephen bloody Speilberg , Jaws my a***  

 

[Janos]

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Evening,

It depends on the operator. When diving with Emperor they told some fellas on our boat not to wear gloves. And they made me take my 2 inch dive knife off. (It's sort of screwed on to my jacket)

OTOH, when diving with Ocean College last December, the guides didn't say anything at all.

Laters,
  Janos

 

[torbaydiver]

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Quote[/b] (Skipper @ Jan. 13 2004,17:38)]As for a shark attack, If your thinking of defending yourself with a typical divers knife then I want to come to watch (out of the water)  

 

 

 

Well Leonardo DiCaprio managed it in that film The Beach  

 

[torbaydiver]

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Quote[/b] (Steve W @ Jan. 13 2004,17:40)]and as for sharks...

if you see one you'll be very fortunate indeed and if a shark was determined to bite you (you've more chance of winning the lottery than being bitten by a shark)

erm I think I would rather win the lottery  

 

[torbaydiver]

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Quote[/b] (Janos @ Jan. 13 2004,19:19)]OTOH, when diving with Ocean College last December, the guides didn't say anything at all.

I'm diving with Ocean College so shall probably be okay  

thanks guys
Steve

 

[John Gulliver]

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Quote[/b] (Steve W @ Jan. 13 2004,18:40)]No one should be wearing gloves around coral as it only leads to folk touching and damaging these  delicate animals.

Sorry, Steve, but I realy don't see the logic in that. Why on earth should wearing gloves automatically make someone want to touch the coral? Personally, I always wear gloves when diving in the Red Sea or tropics. Not because I want to touch the coral, but because I tend to get finger eczema when I have my hands repeatedly immersed over several days. Having listened to the diveguide's usual lecture, I always announce that I SHALL be wearing gloves during the trip, whether they like it or not.

 

[David Wallace]

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Quote[/b] (John Gulliver @ Jan. 13 2004,21:06)]I always wear gloves when diving in the Red Sea or tropics. Not because I want to touch the coral, but because I tend to get finger eczema when I have my hands repeatedly immersed over several days.

Sounds like you have a good reason to wear them John. But given the general lack of bouyancy skills seen in the Red Sea I understand the general request not to wear glovers

Regards

Skipper

 

[Dominic]

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Quote[/b] ]and as for sharks...  if you see one you'll be very fortunate indeed and if a shark was determined to bite you (you've more chance of winning the lottery than being bitten by a shark)  a dive knife is only going to p*** him off, plus you'd never get the better of a shark for in water manouverability.

You're missing the point Steve - you use the knife to stab your buddy so the shark'll go for him instead of you

 

[Lou]

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If you really want to cut something in the Red Sea (which is very unlikely) then take scissors.

On the couple of occasions I have been we have been once told not to wear gloves, and once politely asked.  UNless you have a medical reason like John, I cannot for the life of me think why you would want to wear them.  You won't be touching anything, so you don't need them for protection, and the warmer water makes diving without having to wear them a rare luxury that, personally, I enjoy!

 

[Paul Beal]

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I was with OC a couple of years ago and was *told* not to wear gloves. They were the same people who told me off for shooting a dSMB on Ras Mohammed when there were about 4 liveaboards and mad crew in chase ribs whizzing about! I had a small knife on my Stab, they were not bothered about that.

Be careful getting scissors or trauma shears through airport security. We had a cork screw confiscated as it has a small knife on it....FFS! My fist could do more damage than that!

Paul

 

[Dr Stevil]

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John, I'm sure you appreciate that not every diver would be as conscientious as yourself in regard of the marine life, so for medical purposes it's ok in my book but in general I support the no-gloves rule. plus I totally agree with Lou that one of the real joys of warm water diving is off-loading as much as you can of the restrictive clothing, i particularly appreciate diving without a hood, brilliant

Good point Dom, makes for the ideal photo opportunity too

 

[tiewrapdiver]

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I'm off to the red sea in a couple of weeks and i wanted to wear my gloves mainly for diving on the wrecks. I understand the reason for the reefs and no gloves, but wrecks are full of sharp edges etc. I'm diving with ocean college, what are they like?

 

[BSH]

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<font color='#0000FF'>I always take my 2mm gloves with me, I tend only to take them on night dives though.  I took them on a night dive in the Maldives and regretted it because as I was surfacing something stingy must have got caught up in them and I had a very nasty rash which blistered around the wrist.  Some might say I got what I deserved  

 so might consider leaving them on the boat next time.  However we did a night dive on the Thistlegorm a few years ago and would wear them on wrecks again in the future

Fiona

 

[Dr Stevil]

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I think wreck diving in the Red Sea is a far different proposition than here in the UK where gloves are essential.

We did a few wrecks in November, Thistlegorm, Dunraven, Kormoran, and some other thing in 6m I can't remember the name of, all sans-gloves and all without injuries. Most of the wrecks are covered in marine life so divers shouldn't be touching them anyway, The Kormoran in particular is spectaculalry festooned with the most beautiful corals, you can get an idea of it from this bow shot, inside the wreck is even better but I don't have a piccie handy
Pic courtesy of Timing

 

[Snash]

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Quote[/b] (Paul Beal @ Jan. 14 2004,09:29)]I was with OC a couple of years ago and was *told* not to wear gloves. They were the same people who told me off for shooting a dSMB on Ras Mohammed when there were about 4 liveaboards and mad crew in chase ribs whizzing about!

Paul

Interested in why OC gave you a botty slapping for firing off your DSMB?

Trying to wrack my brains to come up with one, but am failing miserably

Ta

Simon

 

[gblades2]

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I went there with Ocean Club last month.

All they said was that using gloves is not allowed in Ras Mohamed and they prefer you not to wear them at other places. For the wreck dives we were told that if we wanted to wear gloves because of sharp edges it was fine.

Knives were not really mentioned other than generally not needed but we could take them on wreck dives if we wished.

 

[Paul Beal]

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I was told that there was no need for them as you should be coming up tight on the reef and there was suggestion that it can be seen as a distress signal (It was a red one so not sure how this can ever be true). He was also concerned about fast ascents when deploying them (i.e. he is far too used to muppet divers).  

My arguement was that there were ribs around and I was acting safely so that we did not get hit - I was really quite worried about surfacing I have to say. There were about 4 chase ribs all hammering around with seemingly very little concern for divers.  

I think one of the problems was that none of the other divers on board (all out and out holiday divers) had seen a dSMB before and neither had any of the crew. It was the last dive of the last day so I didn't ever get to discuss it further unfortunately.

Anyone else had this before?

Paul

 

[Lou]

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You can see their point, Paul.  Ok, so a red DSMB is usual here, for a "I am here" signal when surfacing, usually away from the shore.  However what use is it where very few, if any, others know it's meaning?

A red signal could well mean distress, at worst, but at best it won't keep the RIB drivers away as they won't know what it is.  It could even encourage them over for a look!

The local protocol is to surface right up against the reef wall and if you follow this then you should be just as ok as surfacing under an SMB in the UK.  

Cheers

Lou