Air integrated or no?

[Joneill]

Just sounds like crap SPGs to me -- all of mine jibe with my electronics; so too, do my analogue depth gauges.

You often get what you pay for . . .

Hmmm… I use 2 Shearwater AI computers and 2 transmitters, but I bought cheapo SPG’s? Lol - nice try. Also, others here have noted the same on AI vs SPG accuracy and precision - for example:

Are AI transmitters as accurate as SPG's?

In case you were not aware, virtually all of the glass & brass SPG’s are made by the same Italian manufacturer and branded by different end sellers - so you can pay more for a more “prestigious” brand, but the SPG won’t be any “better”.

But dive as you like - SPG or AI - whatever works for you as they both do the job.

 

[Joneill]

Again, crap gear. You get what you pay for -- aside from a blown hose and a leaking spool, I have yet to have anything like an inaccurate or "frozen SPG" . . .

Great - but your prior reply to me on AI can now come right back to you:

“Your faultless record with SPG’s just recalls an old saying among motorcyclists: there are those who have been down and those who will go down . . .”

 

[kinoons]

For ten years I dove with a puck and a standard SPG. When my daughter started diving she got the hand me down puck and spg and I got an air intergrated puck which is on a console - no transmitter.

Since that time I’ve decided to get a suunto eon core so I can have a transmitter on my and my daughters regs so I can keep an eye on her air. The AI puck will live in the bag as a backup incase transmitter issues come up. If the Suunto fails mid dive I can scrap one dive - I don’t want to lose the trip.

 

[Bigbella]

Anyone claiming they've never had an SPG fail is full of BS and not to be trusted.

An absolutest, huh?

Where do you purchase your complete crap -- so I may avoid them?

Aside from the previously-mentioned hose issues and the occasional spool replacement, that's been it for me; and I have no motive whatsoever to lie about it -- have nothing to sell.

None of my analogue backup has ever failed -- believe it or not; electronics, not so much . . .

 

[Bigbella]

In case you were not aware, virtually all of the glass & brass SPG’s are made by the same Italian manufacturer and branded by different end sellers - so you can pay more for a more “prestigious” brand, but the SPG won’t be any “better”.

Yes, many are made in Italy -- so too, the UK; Finland; the rest of the EU; Taiwan; China; and Japan.

They all manufacture cars as well; but the quality certainly varies among them. I'd rather have a Mercedes any day, than an old East German Duroplast Trabi . . .

 

[Joneill]

Yes, many are made in Italy -- so too, the UK; the rest of the EU; Taiwan; China; and Japan.

They all manufacture cars as well; but the quality certainly varies among them. I'd rather have a Mercedes than an old East German Duroplast Trabi . . .

Please do enlighten us as to this “Mercedes” of SPG’s and how it is better…

 

[NothingClever]

 

[Bigbella]

Please do enlighten us as to this “Mercedes” of SPG’s and how it is better…

Wow, two Shearwaters and two transmitters -- didn't quite know who I was dealing with . . . just getting chills.

Who really cares?

In response to your rather snide question, I have had some great analogue Scubapro gauges that have stood the test of time, at well over thirty-plus years without issue; so too a few Poseidon and Suunto gauges (made in Finland, Finland, Finland) of similar ages and some even older.




"[H]ow is it better?" -- well, none of those gauges (and I have accrued quite a bit of gear over the years) have ever "frozen" on me, fallen apart, or have somehow lost accuracy, when compared to digital counterparts -- so too, any of my analogue depth gauges. Even those button gauges on my pony bottles, the complaint of so many, have lasted years.

On the other hand, I have had several Oceanic Datamax Pros (among the first AI computers -- a real brick) crap out in the early 1990s, as they were highly prone to flooding; two Suunto Cobras with faulty depth sensors which would haphazardly also enter some violation mode on a shallow first dive, that no one seemed able to explain, least of all Suunto-Oy; then there's my niece's spanking new Shearwater which regularly loses twenty percent of its charge over a couple of days -- and she's already on her second or, maybe, third battery by now -- we just gave her a Poseidon Cirrus double console for Christmas, sans battery.

I just bank on simple-stupid redundancy and have yet to be disappointed -- trust but verify.

I did, however, once lose an SPG and a Jetstream second stage to a lifted RAV4, driven by an sub-idiot on his phone.

Other than that, just hoses and spools were the only things replaced over time; but that was to be expected.

Can't be just the luck of the draw or an outlier -- not that lucky . . .

 

[kinoons]

An absolutest, huh?

Where do you purchase your complete crap -- so I may avoid them?

Aside from the previously-mentioned hose issues and the occasional spool replacement, that's been it for me; and I have no motive whatsoever to lie about it.

None of my analogue backup has ever failed -- believe it or not; electronics, not so much . . .

It’s an interesting argument. Basically it boils down to how much you’re willing to lose a dive or a trip vs how much redundancy are you willing to carry.

Some analog gauges will fail. Anything man made can.

Some electronics will fail. See above.

For both those rates of failure are pretty low, with the nod likely going to analog.

If you’re in a situation that a single equipment failure will place you in significant peril then having a backup is advisable. If you don’t want a backup then the primary better be dead nuts reliable.

For myself as a basic open water tropical recreational diver who never exceeds NDL and rarely even approaches NDL, a pressure gauge failure means I lose one dive if I have a spare on the boat/beach. No huge deal. Same for a computer failure. As such I’m willing to risk the dive on this single failure point.

Make your choices, play the cards you get delt.

 

[Blackcrusader]

I'm talking wrist mount not console....so wireless.
And at my age I seriously doubt if I'll ever get back into trimix diving.... so recreational Nitrox....+ MAYBE just a little light technical deco diving but that's unlikely too....

Do most folks still also rig a SPG as a backup?

I am doing similar diving that you do. I use a Perdix but without a transmitter. I did buy myself a Cressi Digital Console as I can use that for bottom timer and backup if Perdix failed on a dive. Cressi shows range to 50 bar on any point on the dive so it's easy to know what your dive time can be. The console is very compact and has large numbers and letters so it is very easy to see. The Cressi is good for redundancy to the Perdix. I'm 62 but had failing eyesight before so the large easy to read devices perfect for me. Others can see my SPG without having to be too close.