Sharing a Dive Computer

[dallaskincaid]

They can easily rent a computer for minimal cost.

And then there is that....

 

[Tigerman]

You can find NEW computers in the 125-150 dollar range on ebay and Amazon. Granted, they aren't feature rich, but I suspect someone who is borrowing a dive computer isn't really interested in anything fancy.

Heck you can get something like an aladin 2g which have nitrox, salt-/freshwater, altitude, gas switching (different nitrox mixes) and more for $275 brand new with a single quick google search...
Hmm.. maybe I should pick up another one to get rid of my wonky old prime...

---------- Post added May 6th, 2014 at 06:24 PM ----------

Because they are under age and new to diving and buying gear (even used) for a whole family gets expensive very quickly. Or maybe they just don't know if they want to because they haven't dove enough to be sure they'll continue diving. Lots of other reasons as well.

Then.. rent one?

 

[nimoh]

Then.. rent one?

...or borrow one for free.

 

[Tigerman]

Well, the case here was that he didnt WANT to lend them his computer.. But otherwise that would of course be an option..

 

[nimoh]

Well, the case here was that he didnt WANT to lend them his computer.. But otherwise that would of course be an option..

The OP had some misconceptions about lending a dive computer and was corrected.

However, if the OP still believes that one should never lend a computer to someone else for safety reasons, then recommending a rental computer would be very reckless

 

[Steve_C]

If OP really thought that sharing referred to dives days apart, then I would suggest that they think more carefully about what they learned in class and the why and why not for each of these rules of thumb. They should be able to explain the reason behind any rule of thumb. Not being critical of their asking the question, that is how we learn, but the question does raise a concern about their understanding of basic OW.

 

[FinnMom]

Sharing a computer is unreasonably much trouble and risky: there is just too great a risk of dropping it, maybe breaking or losing it as you pass it back and forth.
If you try sharing by each keeping just half the computer, each diver has to mentally double all readings he sees on the comper half to get the actual, normal value - geez what a hassle! There is also the pblm that spliting the computer can cause water to get inside the casing, and this leaves you with halves that are nicely clean, shiny, and pretty, but plagued by all sorts of performance issues.

 

[dallaskincaid]

Not being critical of their asking the question, that is how we learn, but the question does raise a concern about their understanding of basic OW.

I concur. It's one thing to understand how to use a dive computer but another to really comprehend what it's telling you. Partially because I'm paranoid (but mostly because I'm a big dork) I read a ton about dive physics when I first took my OW. I thought it was important stuff to understand learn because, ya know, death and all.

Now I understand the vast majority of new divers won't go to these extremes but it was important to me to understand it in order to feel confident and safe. I would hope after AOW and enriched air (don't they go through tables and tissue loading?!!?) the OP would know exactly why it would be completely safe to lend his computer to his family for a dive trip.

 

[NAM001]

Untill that domputer clears from all residual data (24-48 hours) DO NOT SHARE. Other than that water will kill cotti's

 

[chillyinCanada]

Dad is already paying for the whole trip. He just thought it would be nice and sensible to have one sibling loan the other sibling, a computer that wasn't going to be in use. Perhaps dad bought the computer for sibling 1 in the first place.

Family dynamics are often interesting, aren't they.