Dive Computers? HA!, Am I the last of the old timers????

[devilfish]

Yeah I have a few. The first I got was the Orca Edge aka The Brick when it came out with a special price for Instructors. Have also an Alladin, Citizen Aqua, Aladin Uwatec, so what, most of the times I don't use them unless I do some serious diving. For one or two dives per day dive tables are in my head. Besides, we used to do stepladder diving from the dive table before computers were invented, now it's called multilevel profiles. Same thing except computers calculate depth and time in finer increments. There is nothing wrong diving with a computer but if a diver does not understand tables then the computer is just a crutch not a tool.

 

[lamont]

I don't - people would still use them due to these attributes

no need for a bottom timer
no need for a depth guage
no need for a watch/timepiece
provide ascent rate warnings

Additionally many computers

log a lot of interesting information that can be downloaded to PC
show temperature
have a compass
have air integration

At the end of the day we can all choose to dive tables, but very few do.

I have a non-computer depth gauge (Suunto D3) that does all of that other than the compass and air integration. Air integration also solves a problem due to the lack of education about gas planning that shouldn't really exist.

 

[Chad Carney]

A Suunto D3 is a dive computer. I love mine!

For freedivers or tech divers, it automatically tracks depth, time, SI, downloads profiles, gives temperature, time of day, date & year, max depth, max time, etc.

I've had mine over 100' for a minute and a half, but never on scuba.

Nitrogen or O2 loading is not the definition of a dive computer.

Air integrated computers also show you where in a dive your breathing rate increased, and exactly how much. They show if you huff & puff alll the time, or if your breathing rate is so constant you appear to be on auto pilot. Digital accuracy is hard to beat. There is nothing wrong with more information. Owning one does not mean you will fold your hand if you don't have it. Just disreguard anything you don't feel is relevant for you. If they cost more than you want to spend, stay with a capsule model.

Ever watch a flow scan fuel computer on a boat? They are amazing! I don't own one. I wish I did, but I don't need one. For diesel engines they are big $!

Dive computers are now cheaper than their alternatives. ($219 for a nitrox computer console with psig. It has gauge mode too. Enough said!)

Chad

 

[Doc]

I get enough of that from my four girlfriends, two ex wives, and new wife's mother!.

Please post pictures of the cute ones. Funerals are a good place to meet chicks.

 

[vladimir]

A Suunto D3 is a dive computer. I love mine!

For freedivers or tech divers, it automatically tracks depth, time, SI, downloads profiles, gives temperature, time of day, date & year, max depth, max time, etc.

I've had mine over 100' for a minute and a half, but never on scuba.

Nitrogen or O2 loading is not the definition of a dive computer.

Air integrated computers also show you where in a dive your breathing rate increased, and exactly how much. They show if you huff & puff alll the time, or if your breathing rate is so constant you appear to be on auto pilot. Digital accuracy is hard to beat. There is nothing wrong with more information. Owning one does not mean you will fold your hand if you don't have it. Just disreguard anything you don't feel is relevant for you. If they cost more than you want to spend, stay with a capsule model.

Ever watch a flow scan fuel computer on a boat? They are amazing! I don't own one. I wish I did, but I don't need one. For diesel engines they are big $!

Dive computers are now cheaper than their alternatives. ($219 for a nitrox computer console with psig. It has gauge mode too. Enough said!)

Chad

It's just semantics, but Suunto disagrees with you:

Suunto D3 is an advanced wristop computer for freedivers and water sports enthusiasts. Lightweight, streamlined and equipped with versatile dive, time and alarm functions, it is the state-of-the-art freediving instrument and a perfect bottom timer and back-up device for SCUBA diving. However, Suunto D3 is not a dive computer and provides no decompression calculations.

 

[Chad Carney]

It's just semantics, but Suunto disagrees with you:

Yes it's semantics... and liability transfers.

Suunto D3 is an advanced wristop computer for freedivers and water sports enthusiasts. Lightweight, streamlined and equipped with versatile dive, time and alarm functions, it is the state-of-the-art freediving instrument and a perfect bottom timer and back-up device for SCUBA diving.

Gauge mode was never a desired feature until tech divers asked for it.

Chad

 

[SNorman]

Snorman, any time you dive, you have at least a rough idea of what the topography of the site is (or you should, or you set limits on what you're willing to do). You have an idea of the time you're willing to be in the water. You know whether you're diving from shore (deco upslope) or from a boat (deco on the line). Those parameters are actually enough to do a LOT of decompression planning before you ever put foot in the water, and you gather data while you're under there to refine it.

This system works for all the purely recreational (and not anally overplanned) diving that I do, whether that's in Puget Sound or Cozumel.

Sounds great but I have much much better things to do underwater than doing math. I've had instructors do bad math right in front of my face above water and show me how to read tide logs completely opposite of how they should be, I'm not so confident in the human brain!

I can keep a mental note of where I *think* I am as far as remaining bottom time and be roughly close, and double check with my computer. But to be accurate enough to actually rely on my own calculations, especially across a few repetitive dives where errors will compound, I think would require more attention to doing that and less looking at things and taking pictures.

But like I always say, I am but a beginner.

 

[lamont]

Air integrated computers also show you where in a dive your breathing rate increased, and exactly how much. They show if you huff & puff alll the time, or if your breathing rate is so constant you appear to be on auto pilot. Digital accuracy is hard to beat.

Again, you don't need that level of precision. The difference between a .60 and .62 SAC rate won't make any difference in your dive.

 

[Blind]

Ive been deeper than 200ft without a comp on my wrist Tho i do like having it since its a handy backup depth gauge and tells me the time and temp is. I dont see it *** necessary but it is handy, especially when logging dives afterwards. One day it might save my life and that makes it priceless in my book. They do get in the way when going for tasty crays/lobster tho.

 

[boomx5]

Ive been deeper than 200ft without a comp on my wrist Tho i do like having it since its a handy backup depth gauge and tells me the time and temp is. I dont see it *** necessary but it is handy, especially when logging dives afterwards. One day it might save my life and that makes it priceless in my book. They do get in the way when going for tasty crays/lobster tho.

I've got many dives well past 200' and don't use a computer as do many of my buddies. Most of our shore dives are long multi-level down, and multi-level back to our first gas switch and none of us use a computer; nor do we cut tables. A computer will not give us the right shape or profile and tables are to hard to cut for a multi-level divesite with an unpredictable (or unknown) bottom contour. So, for our application they are useless. For the record, I'm not against computers for most people who do not have the proper training. However, once people find out that there are other altenatives to using dive computers, they rarely go back to using them.