How useful is a compass and how much is it really used?

[Teamcasa]

Here in SoCal most of the boat diving you are on your own for navigation. (No Guide or DM underwater) I use my compass frequently and more often as vis deteriorates. My wife/buddy, almost never looks at hers.

Side Story:
She wants to become a better navigator so on the last boat dive, I was giving her instructions, showing her different headings and just exactly how to get back to the anchor. Feeling pretty confident I asked her to lead the last leg back to the line.

After passing over where the anchor line should have been, I started to get concerned that somehow we messed up on the numbers because the line or boat were not anywhere to be found. Running low on air we ascended and looked for the boat. It was 300 yards away! She lost all confidence until the boat picked us up and apologized. They had slipped the anchor and we picking divers up all over the place. We did after all, come up right where the boat SHOULD have been. She wants to try it again.

 

[Cajuncru Diver]

Not really, but but with our great viz on the majority of the lakes around here, there is a reason they call us Swampers and that makes us uniquely qualified to answer compass questions!

It was kind of funny that several of us answered the question at the same time though.

Yes, I thought that was funny alsol.........now about "dem swamps" dats something we knows about.......fact is I'm in the middle of one right now-The Atchafalays Basin.
In the RV at Lake Fausse Point State Campground--no cell phone service, but wi-fi--go figure.

 

[Damselfish]

Depends where you are diving. I like the description "between useful and essential." Even though I don't need mine often I wouldn't be without one.

If you use your compass a lot you may find it better to have on your wrist or on a slate. If you use it just occasionally, in the console is ok, and that's what I have. While less convenient or accurate there are a couple advantages of having it in the console - one less bit of gear to keep track of, you can't lose it or forget it. Or be tempted to not take it then discover during the dive you would really have liked to have it...

 

[AndrewA]

Paul, to add a little local perspective. If you are planning to dive in the "Gin Clear"waters off Jeddah where you will mainly be following a coral reef/wall a compass it not essential (although I always carry one) however visiblity on the East Coast (Jubail, Half Moon Bay etc) and for that matter over in Bahrain can be very poor (<2-3m) and a compass is really vital

 

[Tom Winters]

You definately need a compass diving in Saudi Arabia. You make a wrong turn and come ashore where you maybe shouldn't have, the next thing you're gonna wind up getting auctioned off and wind up in Sana'a as a boytoy for some qat dealer who got tired of goats.
Above water, I always know where north is, but underwater without a compass, I can't navigate too well in deeper water.
I only have a pressure guage running off my reg - the compass is always mounted on my wrist next to the computer/timer.

 

[TSandM]

There is no way I can beat Tom Winters' post on this thread (I'm still laughing too hard), but I have done guided dives in tropical locations where my buddy and I stopped to look at something or take pictures, and when we looked up again, the group was gone. Knowing what direction we were heading helped us swim a little faster to rejoin the group (or would have allowed us to find the boat by ourselves). Unless the structure you are diving is a defined wall, it can be quite confusing to figure out where you came from. A compass is very useful -- I never dive without one, even in caves, where we mostly follow a line.

 

[Not so Blue]

OK, I think I will go for a wrist mount. seems like the best and most economical solution! Thanks a lot.
Paul

 

[Thalassamania]

I would not dive without one. I use it so often that I mount it on my wrist so that is is constantly and easily available

 

[DandyDon]

You only need one if you care where you're going and how to get back. I can't imagine diving without one. It also helps if you use it often enough to remember how. I suggested we shoot a compass reading back to the entry point to my bud last week and he couldn't. Nothing wrong with it; he just never uses it, has no other experiences with one, and failed.

Also useful driving thru strange areas. A wrist compass would be easier to pull out of the bag, but also easier to forget to take on a dive. I like mine mounted on my console hose, easy to remove for driving.

get the compass.

East bank Albuquerque was in Texas, but the US made us give it up when we joined.

 

[jsado]

My navigation skills are NOT where I'd like them to be. When I go for AOW soon, that will definitely be one of the specialties I'd like to learn more of....