Back-up Equipment

I am interested in finding out what everyone uses in the event that their computers fail during a dive. I am thinking of analog guages in addition to my computer so the dive does not have to be terminated. I have heard this is over-kill since computers usually will not fail during a dive. Thanks

Hi Capt. Dave:

I have had a computer battery case flood and fail. I had a backup analog depth gauge and my Timex Ironman watch (which is supposedly good to 100 meters, but I've only taken to 90+ fsw). I believe in self-sufficiency/redundancy as well as a buddy for another backup.

I have a bottom timer and a set of tables in a pocket for some dives.

More often however, the computer is the backup to a bottom timer and a computer generated set of tables (DPlan on my Palm).

For recreational diving, you just check it often enough to be abel to estimate closely where you are at at any point regarding deco status and if the computer dies, you just ascend. So in that sense, no back up is really needed. After the fact you can reconstruct the max depth and time to figure RNT for subsequent dive planning so a bottom timer with depth and time is still an asset.

sailing_diver:

Hi Capt. Dave:

I have had a computer battery case flood and fail. I had a backup analog depth gauge and my Timex Ironman watch (which is supposedly good to 100 meters, but I've only taken to 90+ fsw). I believe in self-sufficiency/redundancy as well as a buddy for another backup.

Click to expand...

I recently had a Nitek Duo go out of program during a dive or somehow while packed in my dive bag. Imperial went to metric, gas went from EAx32 to air, and the date reverted to a date in 2003. After the dive and with the manuel, I was able to reset and reprogram and all has been well with the Duo. My point here is that I wear redundant backup (actually the Nitek is the backup), as my primary is an analog depth gauge, and I wear an analog dive watch. So when I noticed the failure of the Nitek during the dive, I looked at the analog gauge and realized it had failed as well, as I know that 3 1/2 meters on the Duo (at the safety stop) is not 40 feet! So, two failures at the same time. Well as you know your buddy is your redundant source of gas, assistance, and information, so the safety stop was done with my buddies analog depth gauge and my working dive watch....no problem. Dive ended safely, and gear went on to the workbench. As I said before, the Duo was reprogrammed and seems to be fine, but the analog gauge seems unfixable and may be trashed. I have another analog depth gauge (triple redundancy??) and not a dive was missed.
Moral of the story, dive with redundant gauges, don't solely depend on a computer, have analog backup, and dive with a buddy.

Safe diving,
Geoff

I use a wrist mount computer and have an analog depth gauge in my console. I also keep an Ironman dive watch in a pocket on my BC incase I need it.

get all your gear and back up gear than then find a buddy who give a hoot about you and is not leaving you on a beach somewhere..

PotableWater,

Two complete equipment failures, wow:shocked2:
Where were you diving? The Bermuda Triangle?

analog depth guage and 200 meter water proof watch here---all you will ever need.....Guess there are advantages to keeping old(er) things when you get a new play toy(computer)......

My rule is that I bring along what might be needed to safely ABORT a dive.

My NDL dives are such that I don't feel a need for hauling extra backup gauges and computers.

On any dive where it would be critical, I have a buddy. His gauges are my backup.

On my solo dives I am generally at a shallow site that I know well and deco is not an issue.

On a multiday multiple dives per day dive trip I'll bring a backup computer and leave it in my bag on the boat. If my computer fails during a dive I consider myself as surfacing in pressure group Z of the PADI RDP and plan my next couple of dives by table, while starting to wear the backup computer. The next day I'll transition to using the computer.

By changing the batteries when I get a low battery alarm, I have never had a computer failure during my first 600 dives.

I use a wrist mounted wireless computer and after having it fail and having to use the PADI RDP, my Citizen Aqualand, and rental SPG's (and having 1 of those fail) for 2 weeks, I learned some valuable lessons. Like, tables can't get me nearly as much bottom-time as a computer and to always carry back-ups. I now carry a back-up non-AI computer strapped to my BC and carry a SPG in my save-a-dive. If something happens to my computer now I can either thumb the dive and pop on the SPG and use the back-up computer for the next dive. Bummer to have to end a dive like that, but I'm strictly a for fun rec. diver, so no big deal. Or I can simply unstrap the back-up from my BC, put it on and get my gas pressure from my buddy/wife who has a transmitter on my reg. telling her my pressure for buddy check, and continue the dive. I'm more apt to want to pick the former option. By choice my 2 HP ports are already occupied with transmitters (my wife and I have 2 different makes of computers), so having a SPG in additon is not an option.

I'm hoping that since I'm now prepared, Murphy and his asenine laws will pick on someone less prepared.