Sharing a Dive Computer

I knew this title would get your attention.

Here is a question, this summer, I declined to attend an extended family dive vacation because I refuse to be buddy with my father. Now, the rest of the family wanted to lend my dive gears to the newer diving member of the family who doesn't have gear. I am perfectly cool with that because, behind their back, I built myself a sidemount setup and I don't have any use for the old stuff anymore. However, they wanted to borrow my dive computer as well. My dad asked me for my computer and I pointed out the "Do not share a computer" rule, he started freaking out (my Rescue Diver training taught me that this is a symptoms of a stressed diver).

Here is the question, is it OK to share a dive computer between two person if one of the person is on the other side of the world, nice, warm, and dry, and not diving?

From my Open Water, Advance Open Water, Rescue Diver, and Enriched Air Diver training, the "DO NOT SHARE A COMPUTER" lesson is continuously drilled into my head. I understand the reason, while diving, a person MAY get separated and one may dive deeper than the other and thus their dive profile is completely different. If they plot their next dive without taking into account the variation in dive profile, they run the risk of decompression sickness. However, this isn't really sharing, it is more like lending.

Is there any problem with using someone else's computer without wiping its history?

Do not share a computer "ON THE SAME DIVE".

Once you and the computer are both "clear" you can lend one (or borrow one) and dive safely.

Sharing is fine. Just not on the same dive.

---------- Post added May 5th, 2014 at 12:08 AM ----------

And to be clear. If you are doing a week of repetitive dives, it is a bad idea to swap computers each dive. Sorry if I implied otherwise.

But, several weeks later, no issues! Borrow a computer and have fun.

Most computers will clear you to fly after 24 hours, so many people consider a 24 period as a safe "lock out" period if you have a computer malfunction. This may lead people to consider 24 hours as the minimum "swap" time. My computer calculates a "no fly" and a "unsaturated" time. The unsaturated time is longer than the no fly time. I would be worried about swapping computers if my unsaturated time had not elapsed.

So this does ask the question: how soon can you swap to another computer?

I prevent the issue by carrying a backup computer.

Once you turn on a new computer, it gets embedded with that person's DNA. Having another person operate it puts an undue stress upon the computer. Don't do it, kids. Do not share pets or diving computers.

Texasguy:

Once you turn on a new computer, it gets embedded with that person's DNA. Having another person operate it puts an undue stress upon the computer. Don't do it, kids. Do not share pets or diving computers.

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Our pickup trucks?

Deviance:

I declined to attend an extended family dive vacation because I refuse to be buddy with my father.

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Wow. That just sounds sad.

It will, most likely, void any warranty they implied you actually had.
RichH

Technically it is no problem even if the compartments are not completely cleared, it would only reduce the NDL (assuming recreational diving), but I would not want anyone to scratch the display of my divecomputer.

Personally I would have bought my father a computer as an early Christmas gift. You can purchase a used or inexpensive one for a few hundred bucks and avoid the family drama

There is absolutely no problem with lending your computer to someone else to use on a trip, so long as you have been out of the water for at least a few days before you do it. If you were to lend your computer to a friend during a multi-day trip, the computer would have been tracking your residual nitrogen, and would give the recipient erroneous information for HIS physiologic situation.

If the computer has reset to zero, there is no reason someone else can't use it. If you are using computer logging, you will need to delete those dives from your information.

TSandM:

If you were to lend your computer to a friend during a multi-day trip, the computer would have been tracking your residual nitrogen, and would give the recipient erroneous information for HIS physiologic situation.

If the computer has reset to zero, there is no reason someone else can't use it.

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Sharing happens all the time with rental computers, although most shops I know don't actually have a system in place to assure that the computer is cleared.