Should young divers use computers (split from Which computer thread)

[Pearldiver07]

My experience leading dive trips and working with new and somewhat new students is that if they don't want to deal with the hassle of tables, they won't. Whether or not they have a computer on their wrist.

I hate to see it, but too many divers just think of planning a dive as "too much of a headache." I watch on dive boats and see all of the "table divers" on board who aren't doing any planning, not wearing a computer, and just assuming that the dive guide will keep them safe. These same people don't ever look at their SPG until the guide asks how they're doing.

Most of them won't be on this board. They view scuba as one of those side-activities that is done occasionally on vacation and don't give it any more thought.

Instill good basic values from the beginning. This means being aware of where you are during a dive in terms of depth and time whether you're diving gauges or computer.

I had a computer on my wrist during my OW check outs, and always have. I still logged all of my first several hundred dives using tables, and used those tables to plan my next dive. Don't blame bad habits and a lack of awareness on the dive tool. It's the diver who uses it as a crutch to make up for bad habits, or decides to use a tool to enhance his/her knowledge of the situation.

 

[RJP]

I learned to use a real camera with a manual focus 35 film camera

I dive an air intergrated wireless computer. And I recommend it to everyone as flawless.

I think that young divers should be required to use computers. A dive computer correctly setup is much better than 'tables'

Like anything else, a computer is nothing but a tool. If you learn how to use it correctly it can be invaluable and enhance your overall safety and enjoyment of diving. If you don't learn how to use it correctly it can dramatically DECREASE your safety and enjoyment.

This holds true whether your a new diver or an experienced diver, young diver or old diver.

 

[scubamama5]

Why not use a dive computer? RJP is right...a diver can use a computer wrong and get into just as much trouble as using the tables wrong...tho the table is much more conservative..too many divers forget how to use the tables a short while after their Open Water course.

 

[budgy]

A computer is a tool, that needs to be followed. When it isn't followed, many models lock up and throw up messages like error or refer to tables. Whilst a dive timer obviously wont give you as much information, I find a dive timer is more reliable, battery life is longer, no buttons that break and it isn't effected by what you do.
There are advantages to using tools and there are consequences. If I drive where I could walk I dont exercise the body, when I use a calculator for basic math I'm not developing or maintaining my math skills. There is less task loading, skill and understanding needed to follow instructions. Most of us follow computors explicitly and rely on them without harm. Solo, buddy dependant, or dive leader, many if not all divers are likely to have incidents of going deeper, staying longer which the computer can handle well. Neither of us handle fast ascents or surfacing without completing deco or deep stops but then we are not suppossed to. Where I dive the viz is regularly lower than 5m and incidents of separation are quite common. Buddies here need self reliance and solo skills. There have been times when computors have malfunctioned on me, sometimes they just malfunctioned, somtimes the'd lock up because I chased a new buddy or cut it to fine and whilst their generally set quite conservatively most sport divers dive shallower and shorter on tables. I prefer to rely on a dive timer and calculate my own deco on the fly.

 

[fresh_fish]

Learn both, dive what's comfortable. The tables allow you to understand the limits and their relationship to each other. A computer definitely helps with ascent rate and sac rate type stuff.

Example: You're diving in a group, and someone asks you what the MOD is for the tank they were just handed from the dive operator. You'd grab a table, take a glance, rather than reprogram your whole computer just to help a friend out. The reverse is true as well. If someone asks what the surface interval was for the last dive, you'd grab your computer and look, instead of taking your timer out and try to recall what time you cam out of the water, etc.

Had this very scenario happen this past fall. Group of my friends, some with tables, some with computers. We were filling out our log books after warming up by the campfire.

 

[JahJahwarrior]

Young as in age, or young as in new to diving?

Keep in mind, there is a new generation of divers coming out now that have certifications requiring them to dive with a computer, as tables were not taught in their class.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I think people should stop fixating on dive gear and focus more on the knowledge and skills it takes to use the gear appropriately.

There's nothing preventing a computer user from understanding the science behind its use. You don't need to impose old-school methods of diving on someone to get them to understand tables. In fact, you don't need to teach tables in order to get someone to comprehend the relationship between depth, bottom time, surface interval, ascent rate, and the various other factors that go into decompression theory.

A good book can do that for a fraction of the cost of either a dive computer or a bottom timer.

Discussions like this are just silly. Dive computers can be a convenience or a crutch ... depending on how the individual diver chooses to use it. They do not, in any case, inhibit a diver from learning ... not if the diver chooses to learn. And if they do not, then all the equipment in the world isn't going to make them any safer.

If it were my kid, or my student, I would recommend a dive computer ... I would also put some effort into teaching them how to use it properly, how to interpret the data the computer is giving them, and how to prepare for the eventuality that the computer would fail at some point during a dive. These things are NOT mutually exclusive.

Good diving practices are not at all about gear ... they are about making good choices. A dive computer is just a tool ... and like any tool it can be used properly or improperly. The choice is really up to the individual.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[David_57]

A computer is a tool, that needs to be followed. When it isn't followed, many models lock up and throw up messages like error or refer to tables. Whilst a dive timer obviously wont give you as much information, I find a dive timer is more reliable, battery life is longer, no buttons that break and it isn't effected by what you do.
There are advantages to using tools and there are consequences. If I drive where I could walk I dont exercise the body, when I use a calculator for basic math I'm not developing or maintaining my math skills. There is less task loading, skill and understanding needed to follow instructions. Most of us follow computors explicitly and rely on them without harm. Solo, buddy dependant, or dive leader, many if not all divers are likely to have incidents of going deeper, staying longer which the computer can handle well. Neither of us handle fast ascents or surfacing without completing deco or deep stops but then we are not suppossed to. Where I dive the viz is regularly lower than 5m and incidents of separation are quite common. Buddies here need self reliance and solo skills. There have been times when computors have malfunctioned on me, sometimes they just malfunctioned, somtimes the'd lock up because I chased a new buddy or cut it to fine and whilst their generally set quite conservatively most sport divers dive shallower and shorter on tables. I prefer to rely on a dive timer and calculate my own deco on the fly.

I dunno what the big deal is if your dive comput goes on the blitz abort the dive and make a very slow accent to the surface, can even make a safety stop as 15 ft should not be to hard to judge, besides if you have a buddy stick with him when making you accent.

I have close to 300 dives on my comput never a problem, yes I took the dive tables and there use in OW, AOW and the Nitrox course but hated it as they were conservative and was a pain in the a.s so much better with a computer.

Another option dive with a cheap backup computer although I really do not see the need, I mean a dive timer is just as likely to go on the blitz as a computer after all they are both tools. Lets face it when doing a tech dive we use software like say Vplanner wich by the way is also run by a computer.

 

[RJP]

Keep in mind, there is a new generation of divers coming out now that have certifications requiring them to dive with a computer, as tables were not taught in their class.

A related, but broader consideration is that fact that this "younger generation" of people were raised with all manner of computers and electronic devices. They do their homework on a laptop, they manage their schedule on a PDA, they text from their cell-phones, they download and use a wide range of apps on their iPod, they play Wii games with people on the other side of the planet while siiting on the couch in their own family room.

They embrace and understand technology. They are not afraid of it nor do they regard these things as "magic boxes" that are trying to steal your soul.

In short - they are not their parents, who's VCR's blink "12:00"

 

[Blackwood]

I think that for most divers, personal dive computers offer the best solution to decompression (both accounting for and learning about).

I'm not an instructor, but I could much more easily teach a diver about how profile affects deco requirements/inert gas loading (fundamentally far more important than being able to extract a time limit at a given depth) with something that changes in real time as we're diving than I could with a table.

Further, I'd assume (I have no basis for this) that computers fail with less frequency than people accidentally slide their finger off the correct row or column in a flat table.