Dive Computer or Tables - which is safer for a newer diver?

[CT-Rich]

And we here that a lot, especially from an LDS who wants to sell us the latest $1000 regulator set. However, I don't here a lot about incidents involving rental regulator failures. Dive shops tend to purchase the minimum bells and whistles easiest to maintain regulators, and they service them as per the recommended schedule.

On the other hand, I do here a lot about sudden unexpected ascents where the diver says "I just shot to the surface. I don't know what happened", and I think that a lot of these incidents (near misses for the most part)...

That type of accident is usually the result of poor bouyancy. A diver comes up from say 40 to 30 fsw on an incline and he gets caught off guard and doesn' realize he needs to vent his BCD to keep trim. The shallower you are the more likely the mistake.

BCD. This item goes at the top of my list of items to buy first. There are a number of unsafe conditions that can rise from a misfit BCD, and it is essential, in my opinion to be able to use the BCD controls without having to think about it. Trim can be adjusted by using built in weight pockets, or adding your own custom modificaitons to accomodate trim weights. Even if your first BCD isn't quite right long term, it is yours, and you can modified to work for your style of diving. I believe that the biggest danger to new divers is task loading, and achieving good trim early on significantly improves the attention a diver can pay to other more important things. In short the BCD doesn't have to technically "fail" to endanger my safety. All that really has to happen is for me to forget which button is the inflator, and which is the deflator.


Dive Knife. I don't dive without one, and it only goes below the BCD, because I need somewhere to put it.

I keep one on my leg for when I want a hammer and a small one on my BCD for when I need to cut stuff.

Computer. Yes, this item rates second on the big list. The reason why it does, is it substantially reduces the amount of task loading on the diver. Instead of having to constantly track depth and time, the diver only has to supervise the computer to ensure it is functioning correctly. The brain power that would have gone into tracking max depth (and those little max depth needles tend to bump pretty easily), and time, and making decissions about going a little deeper to look at something can than be used for things like not running into the boat, or keeping track of a buddy's location better.

Going back to the original discussion, this is actually a major concern against dive computers. A bottom timer and depth gauge are not for filling in the log at the end of the dive. they need to be constantly (or at least regularly) monitored during the course of the dive. Your example of a diver spontainiously shootin to the surface is most likely the result of him not paying proper attention to his depth and maintaining trim. Bottom time becomes more useful with experience for calculating turn around times on dives as well as measuring safety stops if they are used. I would say you need to use some of the brain power to monitor your buddy and your depth. The only function that a dive computer spares you is the mistakes made in planning a series of dives where the you might cut it close with the NDL. All the other functions, depth, temp and time are available to you during the dive just the same as if you were wearing seperate gauges.

Wetsuit. Wetsuits are hard to get to fit right, especially the 7mm and 7mm two piece. The thicker the wetsuit, and the colder the water, the more important it is to have your own. I personally have no trouble renting a 5 mm or 3mm though, and I really don't care if someone peed in it.

Regulator. This to me is actually a "nice to have". I can fit my own mouthpiece to it, and configure my hoses and SPG however I want. However, I trust the rental regulators just as much as my own, and I find that for the most part the regulator is not a personal "fit" item. They all pretty much work the same. One caveat, is that if you are diving cold water, you really need to trust the place you rent your regulator from, but you also need to have the same trust when it comes to servicing your own cold water regulator.

The good thing about rental gear is that a good LDS will give you a chance to try before you buy. and if you are going to drop thousands on stuff they will often try to accomadate your wish to test drive. I they don't have a loaner for a particular piece, they usually have at least something of that type.

 

[Lopez116]

You guys are actually bringing up my next question: what's the next piece of gear I should buy.

I have owned my own BC for years now and the thought of wearing a rental sucks - having to get familiar with where the dumps are, how the weights ditch, etc when I'd rather be focusing on my dive seems like a pain in the butt.

I am debating between reg or computer, but I'm torn. I like the idea of knowing how often my reg gets used, serviced, and maintained, and I like the idea that it probably breathes a lot better, but at the same time, is there something to be said for the fact that a rental reg is probably used regularly and (maybe) serviced regularly???

I wonder what the reality is about the frequency with which rentals are serviced and maintained? I bet a lot of it varies by dive shop, but maybe former/current instructors would have some insight?

 

[NCadiver]

You guys are actually bringing up my next question: what's the next piece of gear I should buy.

I have owned my own BC for years now and the thought of wearing a rental sucks - having to get familiar with where the dumps are, how the weights ditch, etc when I'd rather be focusing on my dive seems like a pain in the butt.

I am debating between reg or computer, but I'm torn. I like the idea of knowing how often my reg gets used, serviced, and maintained, and I like the idea that it probably breathes a lot better, but at the same time, is there something to be said for the fact that a rental reg is probably used regularly and (maybe) serviced regularly???

I wonder what the reality is about the frequency with which rentals are serviced and maintained? I bet a lot of it varies by dive shop, but maybe former/current instructors would have some insight?

I would say computer that way it not always changing and you have the style you want. A regulator you can test before you take it out on a dive.

 

[AfterDark]

IMO a new diver should know and use both. If your PDC fails a diver should know bottom time and max depth and how to use the tables. Not that it will always save a day diving but, the info might enable a diver to keep diving until the PDC is running again. The one time my PDC failed I was on a trip. It failed just before I got to the safety stop. I had streched out my bottom by diving shallower when the NDL got to within a couple of minutes of max at the current depth. When I finished my SS which was longer than the 3 minutes the PDC was going give me, I found I had 93 min @ 100fsw max. Can't do much with those numbers in the tables!

 

[CT-Rich]

the reg is probably your best purchase, primarily because while a rental may be service regularly, people treat them like crap. they leave it unrinsed, drop tanks on them they may not put the dust cap on.... probably worse than I can think of. It is your link to your breathing gas and that should be a top priority. You can get a reg with the computer on special. Unless you are planning on going tech or getting into deep diving, a basic computer will give you what you need: depth, time, temp and surface interval. It will also give you your updated NDL based on the dives you already logged. But getting a steady flow of gas trumps that convience.

 

[windapp]

Could someone please point me to an accidents and incidents posts were somebody died from using a rental regulator.

 

[fjpatrum]

Could someone please point me to an accidents and incidents posts were somebody died from using a rental regulator.

While I doubt anyone can find a death from a rental regulator failure, those of use who don't dive often are far more likely to be stressed by a semi-faulty rental reg than one we know is good. One of my regs trickles air occasionally, I know it, I'm okay with it. It's not a major leak and I can plan accordingly. If it was a rental I'd be far more likely to stress over it and therefore not enjoy my dive quite as much. For that reason, I like owning my own regs. I don't think I'd be likely to die using a poorly serviced rental, but I'd be willing to bet good money that I can find at least half a dozen examples here on SB of "stressed conditions" during a dive due to poor rental regs.

 

[PfcAJ]

Diving Accident Broken Regulator - YouTube

That girl probably didn't die, but I bet it sucked real bad. A situation like that can turn someone off from ever diving again.

 

[NAM001]

lIKE OTHERS I COULD NOT REFERENCE ANY FATALITIES. I can say that on multiple occassions i have wasthed dm's like in coz ect have the streeming bubbles from the first stage. When i have asked them about it they have no concern and say that many of thier regulators do that. So if thery are not concerned about that how about the indications of other problems that may become big ones in thier rental gear. I always dive my own regulator's and most vital gear, like bp/w and computer

Could someone please point me to an accidents and incidents posts were somebody died from using a rental regulator.

 

[windapp]

lIKE OTHERS I COULD NOT REFERENCE ANY FATALITIES. I can say that on multiple occassions i have wasthed dm's like in coz ect have the streeming bubbles from the first stage. When i have asked them about it they have no concern and say that many of thier regulators do that. So if thery are not concerned about that how about the indications of other problems that may become big ones in thier rental gear. I always dive my own regulator's and most vital gear, like bp/w and computer

Where they perhaps diving Sherwood regulators?