New BP/W user. Would appreciate some advice.

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If the reason is to get the Shearwater then look for reasons, It is a really nice computer. However others will do what you want if you truly only want to do tropical/recreational diving. One good reason if you have to justify it to someone (worked with my wife) was using different regs set ups for different applications, or easier to just keep my computer with me on airplanes in the cabin and not checked.
If you aren't set on the Shearwater, your current set up doesn't need to be changed.
 
A reason to get the Shearwater, there are many, outstanding computer, great customer service, if you get one, you will never need to upgrade again if you do venture into anything technical. I am actually headed to my LDS this morning to get a Petrel 2.
 
Thank you to all who have given me great advice. I have come to the realization I am also trying to find a reason to get myself one of those new fangled Shearwater Petrel 2 computers. :D

Great computer. But it has nothing to do with the Hogarthian gear configuration. A Hogarthian gear configuration would shun a console because it is considered non-streamlined, that is true. And the Hogarthian configuration would have "gauges" on your wrist. Gauges may include a depth gauge and bottom timer, but of course a computer takes care of both those functions. The Petrel is one of a number of available computers that can be worn on the wrist.

The Petrel is overkill "strictly for tropical recreational diving," as you said in your original post. But my take on that is "so what?" I like that the thing is built like a tank, seems like it was designed by no-nonsense engineers rather than marketing folks, has big colorful numbers that I can easily read, and is backed by customer service said to be second to none.
 
I would get a 22" hose and a bungee necklace and rig your octo (backup) on that. Breathe off your primary, if someone needs air they'll grab it out of your mouth or you donate that, then you breath off your backup, it's 4" away under your chin.

Get 2 small bolt snaps, one for your primary regulator, and one for your console. Primary gets clipped to your right chest d-ring if you're not using the regulator. Clip your console to your left hip d-ring or if you are really feeling sporty, clip the console to a chest d-ring if you can see it better there. When you go BP/W, clipping stuff to d-rings keeps everything from dangling around as you don't have BC pockets. When you're on a boat, if it's not clipped off someone's going to smash it with a tank, step on it, etc.

Don't pinch your wing with your tank as you're putting stuff on, taking it off, putting it in the rack. That's everything I know.
 
I would get a 22" hose and a bungee necklace and rig your octo (backup) on that. Breathe off your primary, if someone needs air they'll grab it out of your mouth or you donate that, then you breath off your backup, it's 4" away under your chin.

This is a great idea, but ONLY if you also get a longer primary hose. I would suggest 5 ft, and rout it across your chest and behind your head. It's a modified hogarthian routing for single tank, OW diving, and having tried almost every imaginable hose routing, to me this is the best. I only use a 7ft hose in cave diving where air sharing in single file along a restricted passage is necessary.

If your primary regulator is on a 'standard' short hose, don't put your alternate on an even shorter hose, because then you'll really be struggling in an air-share situation. It is true that really OOA divers will usually yank the 2nd stage right out of your mouth. Fortunately, real OOA divers are somewhat rare.

As far as the computer goes, it's you money, so spend it as you wish. I far prefer a wrist computer because I like to check time/depth frequently, and I only need to check air pressure occasionally. But you already own the console; to me that's a big plus. I don't see any reason whatsoever to get an expensive computer for recreational diving, it really does zero to increase your safety or dive experience. I've been using the same atmos 2 for over 10 years. It does way more than I or anyone else needs for rec diving. All you really need to know is depth, dive time, and some representation of N2 (or O2 for nitrox) loading. The big advantage with computers is that they track your N2 loading over several dives; this is a nice convenience. I strongly suspect at this point there are smartphone apps for dive planning that could easily do the same thing as long as you stick to a given depth/time profile.

Once one gets into more technical diving (which you say you are not interested in) then the decompression calculations are far more critical and complicated. So an expensive computer is more warranted, although many tech divers don't even use any dive computer, only dive planning software and a bottom timer/depth gauge.
 
This is a great idea, but ONLY if you also get a longer primary hose. I would suggest 5 ft, and rout it across your chest and behind your head. It's a modified hogarthian routing for single tank, OW diving, and having tried almost every imaginable hose routing, to me this is the best. I only use a 7ft hose in cave diving where air sharing in single file along a restricted passage is necessary.

If your primary regulator is on a 'standard' short hose, don't put your alternate on an even shorter hose, because then you'll really be struggling in an air-share situation. It is true that really OOA divers will usually yank the 2nd stage right out of your mouth. Fortunately, real OOA divers are somewhat rare.

I understand where you are coming from, but I don't think having the primary reg on a approx 32" hose is a bad idea for a recreational setup. No overhead, no caves, no penetrations. A rec diver who has air issues is probably not as well trained as a cave - wreck - tech diver. The OOA diver gets the primary reg to breathe from, and I grab their right shoulder strap with my left hand. We are going up face to face, looking each other in the eye. We're both in a controlled ascent together, with me trying to erase any panic in the other diver. If necessary I can control their BC. That's the way I was taught, and I think it makes perfect sense in a recreational environment.

I have an unused 5 ft hose, and I may take your advise and try that out.
 
I understand where you are coming from, but I don't think having the primary reg on a approx 32" hose is a bad idea for a recreational setup. No overhead, no caves, no penetrations. A rec diver who has air issues is probably not as well trained as a cave - wreck - tech diver. The OOA diver gets the primary reg to breathe from, and I grab their right shoulder strap with my left hand. We are going up face to face, looking each other in the eye. We're both in a controlled ascent together, with me trying to erase any panic in the other diver. If necessary I can control their BC. That's the way I was taught, and I think it makes perfect sense in a recreational environment.

I have an unused 5 ft hose, and I may take your advise and try that out.

youre assuming everything is textbook.

Real world isn't.
 
op, how about a predator? we have one for sale. nothing at all wrong with it, but we're going to rebreathers and need one with a fischer connection. if you're interested, shoot me a pm.
 
. . . and I grab their right shoulder strap with my left hand. . . . That's the way I was taught, and I think it makes perfect sense in a recreational environment.
Interesting approach - holding onto the OOA diver with your left hand, rather than your right. How do you manage your own inflator? Just curious.
 
Interesting approach - holding onto the OOA diver with your left hand, rather than your right. How do you manage your own inflator? Just curious.

IIRC the rescuer dumps air from their BC and uses the victims BC to control the ascent during a rescue of an unconscious diver so perhaps Rooster uses that method for rescuing an OOA diver?

Personally I would prefer to ascend face to face, physical contact should not be necessary after the initial panic of OOA, but I would also keep my left hand free to control my own buoyancy and use my right hand to hold onto the OOA diver.
 
http://cavediveflorida.com/Rum_House.htm

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