New diver gear

[rmh84]

Personally, I like a wrist mounted computer and analog gages - so what I went with was a cheap Suunto Zoop I got on Ebay for $160. It's very intuitive, also takes about 5 seconds to change the Nitrox setting. Didn't come with a download cable - but I managed to pick one of those up for $40 a little later on. Still way better then retail, and the bonus is the battery in the Suunto is rediculously easy to get to and replace.

Depending on where you're planning to dive - I dove end of June - October in a 3mm wetsuit, so 7 might be a bit overkill, but it depends on your sensitivity to the cold. I personally don't prefer lake diving - but may make an exception to hit Tobermory this year.

 

[grf88]

Depending on where you're planning to dive - I dove end of June - October in a 3mm wetsuit, so 7 might be a bit overkill, but it depends on your sensitivity to the cold. I personally don't prefer lake diving - but may make an exception to hit Tobermory this year.

If you are planning to dive Tobermory this year in a 3mil I would suggest you stay away from anything deeper than 40ft. I have seen 34 degrees in July on the Niagara II. In Ontario 3 mil is only good for the St. Lawrence River in the summer or shallow quarries.

 

[Aqua-Andy]

I dove end of June - October in a 3mm wetsuit, so 7 might be a bit overkill, but it depends on your sensitivity to the cold. I personally don't prefer lake diving - but may make an exception to hit Tobermory this year.

Any chance you have polar bears in your family tree?

 

[drrich2]

I have used an Oceanic Atom 1, and VT3, and switched to an Atomic Cobalt. The ease-of-use interface was the decisive factor. A few questions:

1.) Do you have a good comfort level adjusting your digital wrist watch, or does the thought of daylight savings time fill you with dread because you have to change it (hold 2 buttons for x seconds, then jab one button so many times, then...)?

2.) Does the prospect of turning to a manual & reading technical writing to deduce how to change settings make you grind your teeth?

3.) Does the idea of opening the thing to change the battery even if everyone says it's easy bother you, as opposed to a Cobalt with a long-lasting built-in rechargeable that you don't swap out (at least for years)?

Here's where the rubber hits the road. On the VT3, I did set Nitrox. But, I generally did not adjust the time for time zone shifts, or to correct for inaccurate times due to internal clock error. So my dive times on the home computer log are badly enough wrong to be near useless. With the Cobalt, hey, adjustments are obvious and easy, so on a Bonaire trip it's not a problem to fix the time to be right.

That's me & my situation. Other people vary a lot. Some actually remember how to operate their dive computers between trips, don't bitterly resent the manuals or find them confusing, are 'hands on' confident and not put off by swapping batteries, find the extra cost of a Cobalt, vs, say, an Oceanic Pro Plus 2.1 to be excessive or simply don't have extra money to justify it, and then some people love wrist units and won't use a console computer.

Whether a Cobalt is right for you I cannot say. I love mine!

Richard.

 

[ddmattos]

Right wrist mounted computer two gas nitrox minimum with back light. All your info in front of you. You will find yourself checking more often since you won't have to look down potentially breaking trim.

I bought a vt3 for wireless air monitoring. Now they have the vt4. I currently run the vt3 in gauge mode on left wrist and have a shearwater on the right wrist.

IMHO wrist mount is the way to go and grow.

 

[Teller]

Take a look at HOG regs. They are priced very well and work well in cold water. If you want my opinion I would forget the Zeagle and get a BP/W. I would also look at a simple non air integrated wrist computer or bottom timer.

 

[drrich2]

Worth mentioning - some dive computers log your dives and offer the option to download them to your computer. This can make it easier to log dives as you go, and if air integrated, even starting & ending tank pressures. And you can view a graph-style 'depth vs. time' profile.

Not all dive computers do it. I stick to those that do. Some use the feature, some don't.

Richard.

 

[rmh84]

Any chance you have polar bears in your family tree?

Distinct possibility, I was thinking maybe Orca or something based on the ammount of blubber I'm carrying around - lol.

If you think I'm nuts, my dad went on a lot of those same dives in a 3mm shorty.

The more I look into places I'd like to dive though, the more I'm looking at drysuit training anyway - it's a great skill to have for any type of lake diving, and I've heard there's a wicked thermocline on some of the deeper Tobermory wrecks.

I LOVE the software my Zoop came with. The depth graphs are super cool to look at, and a valeuable tool as well

 

[grf88]

Distinct possibility, I was thinking maybe Orca or something based on the ammount of blubber I'm carrying around - lol.

If you think I'm nuts, my dad went on a lot of those same dives in a 3mm shorty.

The more I look into places I'd like to dive though, the more I'm looking at drysuit training anyway - it's a great skill to have for any type of lake diving, and I've heard there's a wicked thermocline on some of the deeper Tobermory wrecks.

In order that people do not get the wrong idea about the exposure protection needed to dive the wrecks of Lake Huron and Lake Ontario maybe you could tell us where in Ontario you are warm enough in a 3 mil wetsuit. I would venture a guess it would be places like shallower lakes and the St. Lawrence and Niagara rivers or even maybe the shallower wrecks in Lake Erie.

The OP's idea of a 7mm Bare with a hooded vest is a good choice for Ontario diving if you are going to stay with a wetsuit.

 

[rmh84]

In order that people do not get the wrong idea about the exposure protection needed to dive the wrecks of Lake Huron and Lake Ontario maybe you could tell us where in Ontario you are warm enough in a 3 mil wetsuit. I would venture a guess it would be places like shallower lakes and the St. Lawrence and Niagara rivers or even maybe the shallower wrecks in Lake Erie.

The OP's idea of a 7mm Bare with a hooded vest is a good choice for Ontario diving if you are going to stay with a wetsuit.

You're right - I should have specified. We've done most of ours in Georgian Bay, as my place is right on the southern edge. Dive sites include places near Christian Island, Giants Tomb Island and several smaller shore dive wrecks. We've also done a bit in the river below Bala falls.