creesto
Guest
Hey folks,
I'm a low time OW diver (10 dives), thinking about getting a computer. FYI, for the foreseeable future my diving will be mostly rec diving in warm water (cozumel next week!) and maybe in some local quarries this summer.
My question is what level of dive planning do people typically do once they own one?
Right now I use the wheel to plan multi-level dives, and record the info on the slate for reference, and then I try to keep track of things so I can back-calculate the actual profile back on the boat if it differs by much.
I like the idea of a computer for its ease, flexability and accuracy. What I'm a bit concerned with re a computer is falling into the trap (???) of just jumping in and letting the computer think for me (as I've seen more than a few people seem to do).
Now I know I can, and hope I will, keep using the wheel as a planning tool, sort of as a pre-planning "backup" to the computer, but in my limited experience I haven't seen much of this from other people. I do understand that one point of the computer is flexability to wander around a bit (as it were), so the idea of the wheel is to have identified general limits on the wandering as a back-check and planning aid.
I guess my question actually is: Am I even thinking about this the right way, and though everybody says "plan the dive...dive the plan" what does that actually mean in practice and how does the computer fit in? What do responsible folks typically do, in real life, on the boat?
Any guidance or practical tips here appreciated.
I'm a low time OW diver (10 dives), thinking about getting a computer. FYI, for the foreseeable future my diving will be mostly rec diving in warm water (cozumel next week!) and maybe in some local quarries this summer.
My question is what level of dive planning do people typically do once they own one?
Right now I use the wheel to plan multi-level dives, and record the info on the slate for reference, and then I try to keep track of things so I can back-calculate the actual profile back on the boat if it differs by much.
I like the idea of a computer for its ease, flexability and accuracy. What I'm a bit concerned with re a computer is falling into the trap (???) of just jumping in and letting the computer think for me (as I've seen more than a few people seem to do).
Now I know I can, and hope I will, keep using the wheel as a planning tool, sort of as a pre-planning "backup" to the computer, but in my limited experience I haven't seen much of this from other people. I do understand that one point of the computer is flexability to wander around a bit (as it were), so the idea of the wheel is to have identified general limits on the wandering as a back-check and planning aid.
I guess my question actually is: Am I even thinking about this the right way, and though everybody says "plan the dive...dive the plan" what does that actually mean in practice and how does the computer fit in? What do responsible folks typically do, in real life, on the boat?
Any guidance or practical tips here appreciated.