Frankie_Fla
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Any suggestions on Dive watches? What features/functions are usefull and whats useless? I been looking online and am suffering from information overload. If you could get any watch, what would you get?
Dive watches
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There are 2 ways to look at this. You can spend a lot of money on a watch and hope it doesn't give you any problems or go cheap and not a lose a bunch of cash when you lose it or it breaks. If I were gonna spend a bunch I would go buy a Citizen Pro Diver watch but I actually wear a Timex Expedition. It's cheap. Somewhere around $100 and it holds up pretty well. I have had mine at 100 feet and it hasn't given me any problems. I am personally not into all the bells and whistles so just a basic dive watch does it for me. The more features the more that can break.
brucetrinity
Contributor
Agree .... I have quite a few Seiko and Citizen dive watches that I wear on a daily basis but NOT to dive. I dive with a computer and a Timex Ironman 100m ($45). You may not want to push all the buttons at 100 ft. but to just tell time it works fine.....and has BIG numbers.
Charlie99
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Do you want to get a dive watch or a dive computer?
If you get just a timekeeping device, you still need to get a depth gauge.
If all you are looking for is a watch my recommendation is a cheap waterproof watch like the Timex Ironman series. That watch plus a depth gauge and dive tables are all you really need.
If you do dives where you spend a lot of time much shallower than your maximum depth, then you may find yourself running out of NDL time (per the square profile table) before running out of air. In that case, a basic nitrox-capable dive computer would be a good choice rather than getting a watch and depth gauge.
If you get just a timekeeping device, you still need to get a depth gauge.
If all you are looking for is a watch my recommendation is a cheap waterproof watch like the Timex Ironman series. That watch plus a depth gauge and dive tables are all you really need.
If you do dives where you spend a lot of time much shallower than your maximum depth, then you may find yourself running out of NDL time (per the square profile table) before running out of air. In that case, a basic nitrox-capable dive computer would be a good choice rather than getting a watch and depth gauge.
I use a dive computer as my primary as well but I have been at depth and had the screen go blank so it is best to have a decent watch on at all times. Most watch manufacturers will tell you not to dive with a watch that is rated at less than 200 meters but I must be honest and tell you that I have had more problems out of the 200 meter watches than the 100 meter watches. I have a cheap $14 dollar Walmart watch that I have had at 80' in the Gulf and it still works great. So it is just a matter of preferance. Like I said before I really like the Timex Expedition series and it has a couple of pretty nice dive watches that do a real good job.
I dive a Citizen Hyper Aqualand. This watch records depth, average depth, temperature, dive time start and finish, actual dive time and surface interval. It also has a rapid accent alarm, plus it does all the things a modern digital watch does. It also saves the last 30 dives you have done and comes with a nice program you can load on your pc so you can keep a record of all your dives. It's a bit pricey at $300 or so, but well worth the money. I've been diving this watch for 5 years with only one battery change, it's had no other issues. Check out this link Citizen Hyper Aqualand Promaster Diving Watch MA9024-24E
almtree: Bob
Night Vision
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I used a Seiko self winding mechanical for 27 years rated at 150m. The bearings finally gave out and it was pretty beat up and was loosing more than a minute a week. I Just went to a Seiko kenetic. It's still self winding, but instead of a spring it charges a capacitor and powers a quartz movement. It's the best of both worlds and I hope to get at least another 20 years out of this one. I'm old school and like hands on a watch. The chart at the Seiko store read that they only consider current watches that say 'Divers 200m' to be rated for scuba. The factory store in Ellinton has some pretty good prices.
I have never seen a watch rated at 100m or better flood on a dive. Your mileage may vary.
I have never seen a watch rated at 100m or better flood on a dive. Your mileage may vary.
I have a casio sport watch from walmart. I bought it 5 years ago and it has about 300 dives on it ! It keeps time and has a stop watch. It looks like crap now but still keeps going....
Beachlover
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I dive a Citizen Hyper Aqualand. This watch records depth, average depth, temperature, dive time start and finish, actual dive time and surface interval. It also has a rapid accent alarm, plus it does all the things a modern digital watch does. It also saves the last 30 dives you have done and comes with a nice program you can load on your pc so you can keep a record of all your dives. It's a bit pricey at $300 or so, but well worth the money. I've been diving this watch for 5 years with only one battery change, it's had no other issues. Check out this link Citizen Hyper Aqualand Promaster Diving Watch MA9024-24E
I have the same watch.I have changed the battery twice in ten years.This watch is very durable and has been on hundreds of dives with me here in so.Cal and many other dive spots with NO problems at all.
III
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