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Hand Signals for Scuba Diving, 5th ed.
Book Review By Peter Buzzacott
This is a nice little book that has been well-received by the cave & scuba diving communities, both at home in the US and abroad. In the introduction it is “hoped that divers will use this manual to gain common ground for easy and effective communication” and the author hits the nail on the head with this. Today, more than ever, NACD divers are visiting foreign caves and international divers are flocking to Florida, so a common hand-signaling system makes sense.
Like most readers I went straight to the signals, and there are over a hundred of them, but first it’s worth pausing on page six to understand the meaning of flex, extend, in, out and full, terms used to describe each signal. Each small drawing comes with a one-line description of how to perform the signal, (which is an improvement over just a picture and the signal-name), and the drawings are easily understood. Everyone I have shown this book to flicks through it looking for funny signals, or signals that no-one ever uses and, whilst there are some unusual signals in here, the majority of divers should recognize most of the signals. Another thing I like about this book is that it includes strings of up to five signals so readers can imagine the progression from one signal to the other, mentally learning the language as you progress through the book. Counting, deco and light signals are towards the end of the book and there is a nice description of how to count in three-finger mittens, which I’ve often wondered about. Now all I need is for my buddies to learn too, and then I’ll be able to tell them how much deco I have left, which is exactly why I hope this manual or the signals in it are adopted widely. At just $12 my tip is to tack it onto your next NACD products order, and I suggest instructors pass it around their dive courses to see if anyone wants a copy. The wider we circulate this book the better.
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NACD Hand Signals for Scuba Diving - 5th Edition
$12.00
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