Final questions!

ok i'm nearly there, going to place my order today or tomorrow, i'll be doing most of my diving in ontario and british columbia, final questions:

1- i'm buying a standard spg/depth/compass on a retractor ($90) until i have enough money for an air integrated wrist computer.. but i keep reading about all these retractors in the 'gear regrets' thread.. i don't like having my console hanging loose, and if its clipped to my bcd its farrrr too much of a pain to clip and unclip to read or use it (especially) the compass.. the retractor sounded like a perfect idea, why do they suck? whats the better alternative?

2- how do you guys mount your compass? i'm trying to decide if i should go with a wrist mounted compass and 2 gauge console or 2 gauge console w/compass.

3- din or yoke? i chose yoke

4- dive light for recreational night diving, my -only- choices are UK D4, D8, C4 eled, C8 eled. all are pistol grip except D8 which has the handle on top.

thanks!

jibjab:

ok i'm nearly there, going to place my order today or tomorrow, i'll be doing most of my diving in ontario and british columbia, final questions:

1- i'm buying a standard spg/depth/compass on a retractor ($90) until i have enough money for an air integrated wrist computer.. but i keep reading about all these retractors in the 'gear regrets' thread.. i don't like having my console hanging loose, and if its clipped to my bcd its farrrr too much of a pain to clip and unclip to read or use it (especially) the compass.. the retractor sounded like a perfect idea, why do they suck? whats the better alternative?

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I clip my console to my to the end of my shoulder strap. Once I cinch down the shoulder strap, there is enough length that I can just grab the console and tilt it to read it. Keeps it from dangling, close to my chest and enough play to be useful.

Retractors are nice....if you get a good one. If you decide to go this route, find a quality retractor that meets your needs. Cheap ones rarely work for long. I have a couple that I've had for years and am very happy for what I use them for.

jibjab:

2- how do you guys mount your compass? i'm trying to decide if i should go with a wrist mounted compass and 2 gauge console or 2 gauge console w/compass.

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I have usually had my compass on the console, but have tried the wrist compass also. I am going to make the change to keeping it on my wrist. Right wrist. In my estimation, this is a much more user friendly and stable platform for using the compass. Sometimes trying to keep the entire console level can be a challenge, as opposed to extending your left arm in front of you, grasping your left elbow with your right hand puts the compass right in front of you. Then it's just small adjustments to your wrist.

jibjab:

3- din or yoke? i chose yoke

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Probably the most common for where you are.

jibjab:

4- dive light for recreational night diving, my -only- choices are UK D4, D8, C4 eled, C8 eled. all are pistol grip except D8 which has the handle on top.

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All good choices. But I would recommend having more than one light. I always carry one UK Mini during all dives. However, if I'm diving at night or other low-light conditions I have my King Pelican, UK C-4 and UK mini. Not if but when a light fails for some reason, you want a backup.

Keep in mind that a light with 8 D-cell batteries is heavy and expensive to refill. Also, keep the lanyard around your wrist or clipped to you somewhere. These are rather expensive toys that you don't want to lose.

jibjab:

thanks!

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You're welcome and I hope this helps.

If you are doing purely recreational dives for now go with the retractor. I used one for about 120 dives and found it very convenient . I still have it on my recreational jacket style bc(oceanic probe BTW). Make sure though that you go with one that is adequate for your console size. Cetacea makes one that is packaged as a "High Force" gear retractor. Good heavy construction, braided line that could be cut if needed, and it is easily mounted. We have recommended and sold alot of them. Don't pay attention to those who are saying they are junk. Except for those of us who also dive BPW and clip off just a guage many of these people who say the don't work have never tried one or are the ones with their consoles hanging and dragging on the bottom . There are some restrictions such as I have to unclip mine if using the compass in the console for nav exercises in my dry suit. It lets me get it out there alittle further and is easier to see for me. This is the only drawback to one if using a console however that I can see. I'm sure someone else will come up with more(c'mon, everybody jump in with a horror story:11: ).

I have since now also gone to a wrist mount compass and if in the BPW that's all I have and if in the jacket the console is purely backup. I like the wrist mount as I can easily keep track of depth and time while doing navs since my computer is on the other wrist:14: . As to your choice I'd try both. Console boots themselves are cheap and you can always start with one in and then go to wrist . My personal choice is however a wrist mount.

If you are going to be traveling and renting tanks yoke is a good choice. the ops I've seen so far use al 80's with standard K valves. you could buy DIN and then get an adapter but it might not be convenient. Personally I like the yoke for convenience but as I get more into the tech side of things I'll be going DIN and keeping a travel reg seperate with yoke. They are easy enough to convert and I have 4 tanks with convertible valves and 4 with standard yoke. Two are the narrow neck and hard to find valves for. I'll keep those as they are but the other two will most likely get DIN valves or even a manifold once I actively start diving doubles.

Light choices endless. This is what I've used. Princeton Tech surge and shockwave C8, pelican mighty lite, shockwave LED(don't own borrowed from the shop to try), Q40 mini. All of these have done the job and been adequate at the times I needed them. What I've now gone to is the Nocturnal Lights TL50 extreme cannister with two pelican super sabres for back up. My surge and most likely my shockwave will go to my son. No negs on any of these. And pistol or lantern style grip is purely personal choice. I liked the pistol grip and until I get off my butt and make a goodman handle for my nocturnal it has what I call a mini lantern style handle and it is just as easy to use for me. So for what it worth there is my opinions and experience. Hope it helps.

jibjab:

ok i'm nearly there, going to place my order today or tomorrow, i'll be doing most of my diving in ontario and british columbia, final questions:

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Ok, cold water drysuit or thick wetsuit diving.

jibjab:

1- i'm buying a standard spg/depth/compass on a retractor ($90) until i have enough money for an air integrated wrist computer.. but i keep reading about all these retractors in the 'gear regrets' thread.. i don't like having my console hanging loose, and if its clipped to my bcd its farrrr too much of a pain to clip and unclip to read or use it (especially) the compass.. the retractor sounded like a perfect idea, why do they suck? whats the better alternative?

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Better alternative. Put your guages on your wrists where you don't HAVE to clip them off or use a retractor to read them. I hate "gadgets". They break at inopportune moments.

jibjab:

2- how do you guys mount your compass? i'm trying to decide if i should go with a wrist mounted compass and 2 gauge console or 2 gauge console w/compass.

Click to expand...

I mount a compass on my wrist where I can swim with it and read it. And I can hold my light too.

jibjab:

3- din or yoke? i chose yoke

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If you're renting tanks, yoke is probably more common. If you buy tanks, go DIN. In any event, buy a 300bar din regulator and a yoke convertor. If you have the luck to rent a steel tank, you'll be all set.

jibjab:

4- dive light for recreational night diving, my -only- choices are UK D4, D8, C4 eled, C8 eled. all are pistol grip except D8 which has the handle on top.

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I hate pistol grip lights. But I'd try to choose a bright LED one if I could. These things tend to find their way to retractors as well. Who posted on here that they had lost several of these things because the retractor was breaking. Put a bolt snap on it. By the way, why are those your -only- choices? Someone got a gun to your head?

jibjab:

loose, and if its clipped to my bcd its farrrr too much of a pain to clip and unclip to read or use it (especially) the compass.. the retractor sounded like a perfect idea, why do they suck? whats the better alternative?

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They suck IMO because they can break, not that they will. I'd personally say get used to unclipping the stuff, it's not hard and with practice gets easy.

jibjab:

2- how do you guys mount your compass? i'm trying to decide if i should go with a wrist mounted compass and 2 gauge console or 2 gauge console w/compass.

Click to expand...

It's mounted on my wrist. Best place for it IMO.

jibjab:

3- din or yoke? i chose yoke

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I like DIN, I own my tanks and dive cold water and it's not an issue for me, but I do carry an adaptor just in case I need to rent a tank.

jibjab:

4- dive light for recreational night diving, my -only- choices are UK D4, D8, C4 eled, C8 eled. all are pistol grip except D8 which has the handle on top.

Click to expand...

I've had a UK light and liked it, have dove with divers using all of those lights in fact. The 8 series would be my favorite if I dove with that style light now a days. There are other brands out there just as good if not better, but those are fine IMO.

Thanks for the replies, if I get yoke will I regret it in the future? Have any of you guys? Is there any disadvantage to buying a DIN w/ a yoke adapter? Is it possible to buy a DIN adapater later on?

Second, the lights, those are my choices because where I'm buying my gear (and getting a fantastic deal) those are the lights that are within my budget, I am also getting a UK Q40 mini eled as an everyday pocket/backup light. I like the C4 eled because its lighter and smaller and has plenty of burn time for my needs but according to some threads here it burns much dimmer than the C8 eled on the 'high' setting and brightness fades as batteries weaken which doesn't happen with the regulated C8. I don't know which trade off to go with.. brightness/consistency or size/weight.

Third, seems the Suunto SK-7 w/ DSS wrist mount is the way to go, question, can i just buy the standard Suunto SK-7 and attach it to the DSS wrist mount, or do I need to get the SK-7 w/ Suunto Wrist mount/strap because its somehow different or comes with hardware needed for the DSS mount? It's an extra $15 so why spend it if I don't need to..

Thanks! This forum is priceless

jibjab:

Thanks for the replies, if I get yoke will I regret it in the future? Have any of you guys? Is there any disadvantage to buying a DIN w/ a yoke adapter? Is it possible to buy a DIN adapater later on?

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I can't say if you'll regret it. I don't regret mine. But I sure wasn't interested in having more than ONE tank with a yoke. There is no real disadvantage to using a yoke adapter on a DIN reg. It moves the reg closer to your head a bit which bothers some people. Doesn't bother me.

DIN adapters are not as easy to find or use, or in some cases, may not exist. It's much simpler to go from DIN to yoke. And pretty cheap too. My DIN regs included the adapter.

jibjab:

I don't know which trade off to go with.. brightness/consistency or size/weight.

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If the light quality sucks, will you really care that the light is smaller? And how much does the "heavier" light weigh in the water where you need to use it? What it weighs on land is of nearly no consequence.

jibjab:

Third, seems the Suunto SK-7 w/ DSS wrist mount is the way to go, question, can i just buy the standard Suunto SK-7 and attach it to the DSS wrist mount, or do I need to get the SK-7 w/ Suunto Wrist mount/strap because its somehow different or comes with hardware needed for the DSS mount? It's an extra $15 so why spend it if I don't need to..

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Just get the compass and get the DSS mount. Spend the money on beer.

jibjab:

Thanks for the replies, if I get yoke will I regret it in the future? Have any of you guys? Is there any disadvantage to buying a DIN w/ a yoke adapter? Is it possible to buy a DIN adapater later on?

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There is a disadvantage to DIN w/ a yoke adapter. A DIN regulator with an yoke adapter will sit father from the tank valve then a normal yoke version. This may very based on the model of regulator or adaptor. But I can not even get a DIN scubapro MK25 with adaptor on my BP/W because the regulator hits the plate when the tank is a the proper location. The regulator may also be too close to the back of your head for comfort.

I would recommend that you buy DIN or yoke based on what the rental tanks have at your common dive destinations. If and when you plan to buy a tank then go DIN. Get DIN/yoke conversion parts instead of an adaptor. Your LDS regulator tech can convert it for you. I had my local tech show me how to do it and now just do it my self when needed (not recommending this).

The conversion parts actually change your regulator from DIN to yoke or yoke to DIN. (e.g. Remove the yoke parts and replace with DIN parts). The adaptor is something you put on a regulator to convert it. The adaptor is easier to use but not worth it to me.

I love my console on a retractor. It's not even an expensive one and it hasn't broke yet, nor has my husbands. If it did, it's not like you are going to loose anything anyway and you can just tuck the console in someplace for the rest of the dive. (There's such a thing as a retractor having too much pull for what you want, a console isn't heavy and you don't want to fight the retractor to look at it.)

My compass is on the back of my console which is fine for occasional use and nice because it's one less piece of stuff to keep track of. If I used my compass a lot I might move it to my wrist. I dive warm clear water, you will probably use your compass more than I do.