I thought the old guy's trick for finding dropped tools was a joke

Working a job in the Gulf last year, I lost a brand new 3/4 inch socket wrench off my belt. This old diver, Frank, told me to just stop moving and hum a low note into my comms. I thought he was messing with me, but I was desperate. I floated still, hummed like he said, and felt a weird vibration through my suit. Followed it and found the wrench stuck in some silt about ten feet away. The sound waves from humming through the helmet actually bounced off the metal. I've used it three times since for small stuff. Has anyone else had a weird trick like that actually work?

3 comments

3 Comments

bennett.noah1mo ago

That's actually a solid use of low-frequency sound. Makes sense when you think about how sonar works on a tiny, personal scale. The silt down there probably dampens higher pitches, so the deep hum gets through. Frank knew his physics.

margaret_taylor421mo ago

Lol, my brain just made the dial-up internet sound trying to follow that. Good point though, @bennett.noah.

xena_fox391mo ago

Remember my uncle swearing by tapping the side of a soda can to stop it from fizzing over. Sounded like total nonsense to me. Tried it once in his garage after shaking one up as a kid, and it actually worked. Never understood why, just that it did. Some old tricks just stick around because they work, even if they sound silly.