Metric or Imperial

[Shinsen]

So I have a handful of dives in the log book and I just bought a dive computer. Should I take this opportunity to force myself to adjust to and use metric? Being scientifically minded I appreciate the simplicity of using metric, but what do the majority of folks here in the states use? Most of my dives will be in the states with an occasional exotic trip thrown in.

 

[vladimir]

Even on exotic trips you will frequently encounter US units. (Which I will now call imperial to give some pedant the opportunity to point out the difference--you are welcome.)
I am pretty familiar with metric, having lived abroad quite a bit, but at the gut level I'm imperial, so that's what I use. It's pretty easy to do the conversion if you have to, for example, signal your air supply in bar instead of psi.

 

[scubamarketing]

If you live in the US, stick with Imperial. I've only been to Mexico, the carribean and Fiji outside of the USA, but all of those places defaulted to Imperial.

 

[Sas]

Go with what most of your buddies use. It is easy to switch when you have someone who is not used to either system. I've dived with a few Americans and just would use imperial as I was more comfortable with switching. Either way it should be fine.

Metric is the superior system though

 

[craracer]

Learn both. The US is one of, what 2 or 3 countries that uses Imperial.

Besides, metric is a whole lot easier.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

Please...don't lose any sleep over this one.

The majority in the U.S. use imperial units, but that doesn't mean you can't use bar/meters on your computer. If you don't have an air-integrated computer, you should know that some nifty analog gauges have both bar and psi on the same face. I've seen a few OMS brass and glass SPGs with both unit markings. Neat, huh.

My buddy and I do our own gas management. I have yet to have a DM ask: How much air do ya have? I'm sure this happens in some parts of the world, though. If that happened, I would just do the conversion from psi to bar in my head (my SPG is in psi) and signal it to the DM.

 

[kanonfodr]

Since you will be predominantly diving in the US, stick with imperial units if for no other reason it's what most of your buddies will be using so it makes communication a lot easier. If you go to a dive spot where metric is the standard, it helps to have an SPG like the OMS units that read in both imperial and metric for easier communication and (more importantly, IMO) less stress underwater from doing a bunch of math in my head.

It is still a good idea to learn how to work in both systems and learn the conversions between them. A few months ago I had the opportunity to dive locally with a diver who was visiting from Russia. Between my gear that is fairly bilingual and the fact that I can do some of the basic conversions we decided on using Metric for communicating gas status, since her SPG was metric only. If I wanted to know what she had in imperial, I simply had to look at my SPG.

It also helps in that situation to have a good dive plan with mutually agreed-upon numbers before getting in the water. In the example above, we did exactly that and the dive went incredibly smooth; better than many dives I have with the local divers around here.

To Recap:
Learn both systems and to convert between them (at least the basics)
If possible utilize equipment that reads in boths systems
Plan your dive and dive your plan.

Peace,
Greg

 

[clifftondiver]

use whatever you feel comfortable using. It's not something to get all worked-up about.

However! I can think of one situation where it's more beneficial to use the metric system rather than imperial (i WISH the US would convert!). It's when you're doing hangs or just practicing your buoyancy control. Some folks out here in Monterey (when they want to practice) change their Suuntos into metric because it gives ones depth to the 0.0 meters. For example, it'll tell you your depth just changed from 7.6 meters to 7.5, which is a change of 3". If it's in imperial, the Suunto wouldn't indicate that small of a change.

 

[Kingpatzer]

I like metric. Just because it is so much easier to do the math in my head. But as others have said, use what you want. If you're in the USA you are not likely to find many people using metric.

 

[Walter]

Most divers in the US, Mexico and the Caribbean use imperial, but use what ever you want to use.