Which do you prefer?

[TSandM]

I don't think knowing how much you are breathing at a given phase of the dive is that useful. Gas consumption is a range, anyway, and will change somewhat, depending on level of exertion, gear configuration, emotional stress, cold, etc. Checking your normalized gas consumption rate (SAC or RMV) is useful for trends.

If you are talking about finding out how much gas you use at a given depth, once you know your SAC rate, that's just a matter of some simple arithmetic. (If my SAC is .7 cfm, for example, and I'm at 60 feet, I know I'm using 2.1 cfm. If I know my tank has 3 cf in every 100 psi, then I'm using approximately 66 psi per minute at that point.)

I'm honestly puzzled at the utility of a "time remaining" readout on a computer (based on remaining gas). You should have an idea, before you get in the water, of how long your tank will last at the depth you propose to go; checking your SPG frequently will give you plenty of warning as to when you have to move shallower. Your computer has no idea what the profile of the dive is (are you going to go directly up, or swim up a slope?) and also has no idea what proper gas reserves (rock bottom) are.

I'll stick to my wrist gauge. I don't need any information it doesn't give me, and I gain a whole bunch of advantages from having it where it is.

 

[Ith]

I get that information (remaining dive time) on my wrist, using a radio transmitter on the regulator first stage. I don't find it particularly useful, but I do like my tank pressure reading on my wrist.

Good God that is expensive.

 

[fjpatrum]

Good God that is expensive.

Aren't most things in this sport?

 

[CriticalMass]

Aren't most things in this sport?

Try aviation sometime. You'll be amazed at how CHEAP most things in this sport are, by comparison.

 

[CriticalMass]

I get that information (remaining dive time) on my wrist, using a radio transmitter on the regulator first stage.

I get it from two radio transmitters on my 1st stage - one for the Galileo Luna on my wrist, and one for the display inside my mask (Oceanic DataMask).

A little redundancy never hurts.

 

[WeldonDowd]

Or golf, or boating, or fishing, or the xbox, shoot, I saw a $250 ping pong ball paddle the other day.

 

[CT Sean]

Good God that is expensive.

It is but also keep in mind that that would be considered a "top of the line" PC with a fair amount of features that not everyone feels they need. Plenty of divers "get by" on just an SPG and basic wrist or console computer (or even an analog depth gauge and bottom timer - gasp!)

 

[DennisS]

I'm honestly puzzled at the utility of a "time remaining" readout on a computer (based on remaining gas). You should have an idea, before you get in the water, of how long your tank will last at the depth you propose to go; checking your SPG frequently will give you plenty of warning as to when you have to move shallower. Your computer has no idea what the profile of the dive is (are you going to go directly up, or swim up a slope?) and also has no idea what proper gas reserves (rock bottom) are.

The time remaining function could get someone unfamiliar with the unit in trouble. If someone is motionless watching the fishes, it could give a time remaining of 30 minutes. Once they start heading back, swimming into a current, that could instantly drop to 15 minutes remaining. It's not a good planning tool.

 

[NYCSurfer]

Or golf, or boating, or fishing, or the xbox, shoot, I saw a $250 ping pong ball paddle the other day.

That was probably a table tennis paddle.