Review: DiveSigns Stickers

Why do I even need stickers?

Divers, particularly technical (tekky) divers, generally all look the same in water (with their twinsets and black gear!). And as the gear is typically the same too, so it is quite possible to lose track of people and gear, above and below the water.

I recall a dive in Malta (so gin clear waters, nice and warm - in fact the very dive in the picture below) ... the return journey to the stern of the Um El Faroud had taken longer and consumed more gas than planned so I was getting edgy about my gas reserves (I was actually thinking about the gas reserves to get from 30m, when in fact we were at about 22m so I still had some extra margin). On the way back the team swam through the engine room - there was at least two other teams in there and I got split up from the team. I followed one twinsetted diver out and gave him the thumb (dive cancelled) but then he looked at me in shock, he gave me a "who are you?" type look - turns out I thumbed the wrong diver! I turned to my left and I spotted the one diver in my group in sidemount so I knew to head that way - in this situation no harm resulted, but my stress was running higher than it needed be. I was on the precipice of the incident pit and just holding myself back.

In the picture below, taken in Malta, there are four divers in the shot (that's me at the very back with the light!), three of us are wearing twinsets with a stage, one is sidemount. As you can see, its damn near impossible to tell the three twinsetted-divers apart!

Three twinsetted divers, one in sidemount ... so who's who? (Photograph by Steve Wilkinson)

Putting your initials on your cylinders, (back gas and stages) means they are uniquely identifiable to you. So things like finding your cylinder in the fill station, or even finding your buddy in a crowd when practising skills at a quarry far far easier.

Oh look it is Mr SB!

Before DiveSigns

Initially there were just two options for marking cylinders, you could either paint initials on, or you could buy self-adhesive letters from Halfords that were originally intended for making up car registration plates. The drawback with the painted approach is that post-testing your 'marking' is almost guaranteed to be in a different position and not in the nice flat position along the length of the cylinders as shown in the picture above. I chose to buy the Halfords lettering ...

The stickers are typically very cheap, around 50-75p a letter. So you could mark up both sides of your cylinder for just a few quid. The first problem: they looked pants. I would use just three, say "CTA" and I had the problem of getting the lettering neatly lined up and equally spaced. Basically it looked naff, it certainly did when I did it!

The other problem is that the lettering is very thin, probably 1-2 mm at most and it didn't take many dives before it was getting scuffed and peeling away. It wasn't a practical solution.

Halfords stickers - big thumbs down

DIR Direct Stickers

As I started to get into following Global Underwater Explorers (GUE) more and more, I found that the primary outlet for the gear (particularly the non-primary gear like wings, but more accessory type stuff) was DIR Direct. Finding stickers at DIRdirect.com I thought that I was on to a winner. I bought stickers to make up my full name "CHRIS". I also bought stickers for 21m to put onto my deco bottle.

In the picture below, you can see the 21m sticker is getting torn and ruined. This wasn't after a few years of diving either. Again these are not recommended.

NOTE: DIRdirect no longer sell these stickers.

DIR Direct Sticker: ruined

GUE Stickers

So with both the Halfords stickers and DIRDirect.com stickers quickly scuffed and pealing off before I even got to the dive sites, my next choice was to look at the stickers GUE made. Surely if my training organisation makes them, and they do world record dives, surely these will cut the mustard?

The GUE stickers are definitely a step up, these now have a reflective backing which shows up on either camera flashes or if a torch illuminates them. The laminate material that the stickers are made from are definitely better than both of the previous ones, and does have some degree from resistance - the sticker in the picture below is 3 years old.

You can see in the picture below, the stickers are definitely more robust than both the Halfords stickers and the DIRdirect stickers.

GUE Stickers: better

Enter the scene: Dive Signs

Brand new stickers ...

About DiveSigns

I first discovered DiveSigns as they were a sponsor on the direxplorers forum. Broadly speaking, DiveSigns has these main products:

1. SOLAS Stickers - these are intended for DSMBs to aid visibility
2. Diver Identification stickers - typically with your initials and attached to cylinders and scooters. There is also an Explorer version that is higher contrast.
3. Stealth stickers - like the Identification stickers, these are usually your initials, but the materials used to make the stickers are all black, but show up nicely when illuminated by torches
4. Rebreather stickers - OXYGEN and DILUENT with colouring of green or white to be put on either the RB case or along the cylinders

I've used the first three. The SOLAS stickers are on my DSMBs, The Diver Identification stickers are on all my cylinders (twinsets, stages and argon bottle) and the stealth sticker is on the canister of my canister light.

In the images below I'm showing the stealth stickers. These are great on canister torches where you might want the sticker to be a bit more subtle. In daylight the stickers look very dark in a two-tone black effect. But the minute a light is on them the lettering shows up like Casper!

In the image below, I'm showing off the worst of my Diver Identification Stickers. The stickers below have been removed and replaced on the cylinders several times (during testing) but have been on since 2008!

Diver Identification Stickers

The last set of stickers are the SOLAS stickers. These are intended to be highly visible and go on DSMBs. There is also the option to have your mobile number on the sticker, which I have but redacted in the image below. This is a really nice touch - if for any reason you lose your DSMB, you might just get a call about it!

DSMB SOLAS Stickers

The original version of DiveSigns stickers had the self-adhesive backing and reflective cover with the desired lettering stuck on top (to form a two layered product). The drawback with this approach is that if you are in a situation where a lot of scraping occurs, typically in wrecks or caves, or at inland quarries during the bad-season, it is vulnerable to impact and tearing.

This isn't something I've actually had a problem with personally - look at the picture above of the stickers on my twinset - whilst they are scuffed they are far from falling off! - although Mark does have some cave diving customers. And when I say cave divers, I'm talking about the ones that go into sumps, crawling through holes 50% the size of themselves, with damn-near negative values for visibility, grinding their way through holes along rocks and gravel. So in these cases they have reported the stickers becoming scratched and damaged. 

Mark took this feedback on and came up with Mk2...

DiveSigns (Mk2)

The next revision to the design was to apply an armoured coating, a protective layer over the lettering and adhesive-reflective backing to give that extra layer of resilience against damage. I was actually with Mark when he brought a sample of these new armoured stickers and we got a rock from the waters edge at Stoney Cove and intentionally tried to scratch the stickers - it just couldn't be done!

This high endurance laminate layer is actually designed for use on Motor Cross, which take a pounding but they hold up perfectly.

I noticed that when attaching these latest stickers, they are considerably thicker which makes them very easy to handle. When attaching to my cylinders, I ripped off the backing completely, then the midpoint along the length of the sticker was then gently pressed on to the cylinder where I wanted it. I then pressed each half in turn to secure it to the cylinder.

The great thing with the stiffness is that you don't have to worry about getting air bubbles (think back to high school when you had to laminate your text books and you would get those inevitable trapped air bubbles - this doesn't happen here!)

On one time, I didn't get my stickers quite as straight as I wanted (I'm a GUE diver, it HAS to be flat :) ) so I could just rip the sticker off easily enough and re-attach - the glue isn't stick instantly, you do have plenty of opportunity to tweak if you need.

Attaching the sticker

Interview with DiveSigns

I was very fortunate to get some time with Mark from DiveSigns. I took the opportunity to find out a bit more about the product and the company:

[DITF]: So Mark, what was the inspiration for starting DiveSigns?

[DS]: After almost swimming off with the wrong team a number of times on dark, low-vis dives in the English Channel where everyone was wearing identical kit and suits, I thought how useful it would be if  pre-made reflective diver identification stickers were available. MOD stickers were easy enough to buy but nobody made ID stickers for divers. So I had what seemed like a good idea and started making some pretty basic stickers which were all assembled by hand. After a couple of months of selling these basic stickers via forums, our website was put together and we bought some professional equipment to take the products to the next level.

[DITF]: Can you remember your first order?

The first stickers I ever made were tried out at Vobster Quay Diving Centre with Clare and Alistair Pooley back in 2005. A guy from Yorkshire Divers asked if I would like a website setup so I bought the .com and .co.uk domains after coming up with the name and the website went live in May 2006.

[DITF]: How do you make the stickers?

[DS]: Orders are produced by cutting out the designs on a vinyl plotter then hand assembling the vinyl / reflective layers and finally laminating with a very high endurance film so the sticker is protected. The stickers are then trimmed. Everything apart from the plotting of the design is done by hand.

[DITF]: I get the diver identification stickers, what's the point of the SOLAS stickers?

[DS]: I invented SOLAS diver identification stickers for DSMBs. A small number of DSMBs came with a strip of SOLAS tape attached so I thought it would be a good idea to combine the high visibility of SOLAS tape with black vinyl lettering. So if your DSMB has no SOLAS tape you could order a nice big strip with your name on. Dive boat skippers like the SOLAS stickers as it makes identifying the divers so much easier. We also make plain black text stickers that can be stuck on to a factory fitted SOLAS tape strip. Generally DSMBs only have 2" wide SOLAS tape attached whereas we use 3" wide tape which is better!

The SOLAS stickers are covered with the same high-endurance laminating film as the normal reflective diver ID and MOD stickers.

We only used to laminate the SOLAS stickers to prevent the letters from peeling off when continually being folded or rolled up when the DSMB was stowed away. In 2015 we found a great high-endurance laminating film that we now use to protect all of the stickers we produce.

[DITF]: So why did you suddenly start adding a lamination to your stickers?

[DS]: I started laminating the ID and MOD stickers after a customer complained after trashing a sticker. I found the right laminate, bought a press and remade his entire order free of charge. He was extremely happy with his new stickers.  They are very robust now.

The old un-laminated stickers lasted well with a bit of care but the odd knock was unavoidable. Not any more. I tested the new ones by repeatedly bashing my AL80 onto stickers fitted to my twinset.

I can't see how the current stickers could be damaged in normal use.

[DIFT]: Have you ever had an order that made you go WTF?

[DS]: We have had to make some rather rude SOLAS stickers in the past and some very long ones.

[DITF]: What has been your coolest customer?

[DS]: We have supplied stickers to scientific research teams on the Great Barrier Reef (for the University of Queensland) and also to the large research vessel that was hosting David Attenborough on his most recent TV series. Plus US government agencies and a South Korean Navy rescue dive team. Among others.

The stickers also appeared in the Apeks advertisement "Technically Inspired".

Whenever I watch a dive video, I'm always keeping an eye out just in case I spot one of my DiveSigns!

[DIFT]: You clearly spotted a market for a product, where can you see the future for DiveSigns?

[DS]: We have always been more focused on the worldwide Tek/Cave/RB  Diving community but we would like to cater for recreational divers as well. Our SOLAS stickers stick very nicely to rubber tank boots for instance and every BSAC & PADI dive club in the UK have many divers using these maybe with mesh over the tank. SOLAS stickers on the boots would work very well.

Having the sticker on the boot would also mean that it would not have to be removed at tank testing time.

[DITF]: Ah yes, excellent idea, my twinset has just been in for test and the stickers were ripped off as part of test, but they kindly stuck them back on, although stuck on the back of the cylinders (facing away from the diver) so you can only see them if you are above me!

[DS]: I have just joined a BSAC club so I will see what they think. They might not have even heard of us.

[DITF]: Well if they haven't heard of you they have been living under a rock, and after they've seen your incredible stickers, I'm sure they will love your products as much as I do!

Other DiveSigns Products

Mark isn't shy about innovation or product development, Mark has experimented with NFC tags inside of his stickers which have been programmed to push status updates to Facebook whenever he arrived at certain places, such as his gym.

If you've got a novel idea, Mark will certainly be eager to help if he can!

Tips & Advice

The following sections are provided on the DiveSigns website, I've made a copy here for completeness.

Attaching DSMB stickers

Divesigns SOLAS stickers will stick to your DSMB without any extra gluing providing the DSMB surface is thoroughly cleaned prior to application. 

1. Wash the DSMB with warm soapy water to remove any salt deposits/grease and dry.
2. Clean with a solvent cleaning product (Cotol or similar)
3. Deflate the DSMB completely, lay it on a flat surface and then apply the sticker. 
4. The self-adhesive must then be given 36 to 48 hours to stick to the DSMB surface. 
5. Place a hardback book over the sticker with a heavy object on top for the duration of the sticking time. 
6. Test the stickers in the pool/bath/bucket of water to ensure that they have stuck correctly. If the stickers peel off of the DSMB they will need to be glued on as described below.

Re-attaching DSMB stickers

1. Make sure DSMB is clean, free from salt deposits and dry.
2. Deflate DSMB and lay it flat. Decide where you want to put the sticker then clean the area with Cotol (or similar solvent product) on a cloth.
3. Remove backing paper from sticker. The stickers are self-adhesive backed so your fingers will stick to it. The easiest way to remove the backing paper is to lay the sticker flat, peel up one corner of the backing paper, hold the sticker with a pen/pencil on the revealed sticky corner then fully remove the paper.
4. Using the sticker backing paper as a size guide, apply a thin layer of Aquasure to the DSMB.
5. Apply a thin even layer of Aquasure/Stormsure over the entire back of the sticker. Then apply the sticker to the DSMB. Firmly smooth out the sticker, from the centre out to the edges. Any excess glue can be wiped off with Cotol on your cloth. Finish off by going all round the edge of the sticker with the Cotol cloth to get a professional finish with no mess.
6. Leave to cure over night.
7. Go diving.

Removing stickers

If you ever need to remove Dive Signs stickers, here's a guide, again based on the guidance on the Dive Signs website with some of my extra comments:

1. Use a hair dryer or heat gun for heat shrink to warm up and soften the glue on the back of the stickers. It will take a few minutes to get the glue soft enough, keep the heat moving over all of the sticker



Heat gun

2. Start peeling from the corner, keeping the heat on ahead of the peeling
3. If you keep the heat everywhere you should get the sticker off in virtually one piece
4. Very damaged stickers (like mine in the above picture - NOTE these are the original version, not the new armoured ones) can fragment and the silver reflective backing may get left behind on the cylinder



Remainders

5. You can see above, taken with the flash on, the reflective parts of the sticker that remain. Along with these fragments is the sticky residue of the adhesive
6. To get this off, first cover the affected areas with masking tape



Masking tape

7. Now use the hairdryer or heat gun again to soften the adhesive then tear off the masking tape. This will take off the adhesive
8. For any adhesive that STILL remains, use some WD40 and some hard scrubbing to clean up the surface



Use WD40

Conclusion

Mark has come up with some great products, they are robust and perform brilliantly - I personally love the stealth stickers, they just appear as black, but if you light them up ... BOOM ! There they are clear as day.

So how reflective are the stickers? Check this out with the flash on ... the picture almost looks like a binary (black-white only) photograph, but its not, its full colour!

Ultra-reflective!

The original stickers had great durability, these new armoured ones are going to stand up to the most brutal conditions and keep on looking good (and hopefully avoiding following the wrong team which inspired Mark in the first place!)

Stickers start at £2 typically, with each extra letter £0.50 extra. This means that a typical diver with a cylinder and primary light (in stealth) wanting 3 letters (CTA in my case for example) is just £8.50 (taken directly from the website). I think this represents fantastic value for money and would make a great gift to a fellow diver.

Mark also has some brilliantly innovative products such as the Gas Analysis stickers ... no longer is duck tape with faded writing going to be stuck to the neck of your cylinders!

I cannot recommend these stickers enough, I will be buying up more in the near future to finish labelling my ever-growing collection of cylinders! The Wheelie Bin stickers are also calling too! I think that any of the other sticker options,  are inferior to a level that can't really be described - just look at the pictures. I wouldn't recommend using anything else other than stickers from DiveSigns. I believe these to be the only solution that should be considered. To that end, I will be adding a link to the Dive Signs website on my front page to take you straight to the website.

Ethics Statement

Prior to conducting this review I have purchased and used the stickers for my own use (circa 2008 - see twin-set photograph). At the end of 2015, Mark asked me to provide a public review of his product and given my previous experience I was delighted to put this together. DiveIntoTheFold was not paid for this review, other than providing samples of the most recent incarnation of the product that I was unfamiliar with. The views, opinions and experiences with the stickers (including competitive solutions) are all my own.