Dive Computer or Tables - which is safer for a newer diver?
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Eric Sedletzky
Contributor
I was thinking the same thing.
Sherwoods have that little burp hole and are supposed to eject a small stream of bubbles, as the ambient pressure decreases (I think).
I used to have one but being the reg was behind me I never saw the bubbles, my buddies would just constantly point it out with big eyes. The OK sign became standard protocol.
CT-Rich
Contributor
Are you going to die if use rental gear? No, that is not the usual outcome for any type of gear. Rental gear in general is subjected to a certain amount of abuse, more than occurs to gear owned by an individual. I may be more heavily used, the care with which it is handled is less than stellar. back when I rented gear, I had a leaky BCD. and I did get regulators that would free flow. It is what it is... Not dieing is the minimum requirement for a regulators performance,but that is a very low bar. My putting having a reg before a computer is my preference. Of course the almost universal first dive item bought early on is a dive knife. Nothing says diver like the big honking dive knife. the bigger, cooler looking, the better.
Is that the most important purchase? Not at all, but it is always one of the first a new diver make. What you purchase first is primarily up to you. Comfort, fit and reliability are important for all gear, and the order you buy them is really upto you. My only recommendation is that you get the basics down before you end up looking like a christmas tree, otherwise have fun shopping around.
Is that the most important purchase? Not at all, but it is always one of the first a new diver make. What you purchase first is primarily up to you. Comfort, fit and reliability are important for all gear, and the order you buy them is really upto you. My only recommendation is that you get the basics down before you end up looking like a christmas tree, otherwise have fun shopping around.
Bob DBF
Contributor
The Sherwoods use the dry bleed from the ambient chamber so that water does not go into the reg at all and you have air on both sides of the piston in the first stage. The bleed is constant so turn off the reg when not in use, it's not much air, 10cc/min, but eventually it adds up. Sherwoods are less expensive [why I bought one], very reliable, and low maintainance [why I bought another] which is why they are used a lot as rental regulators in places that are not trying to sell you a particular brand.
As for the order in which to buy your gear, just put your own plan togather on what makes sense to you, not what someone else is trying to sell you. Once you have your list, research the gear for the best value, and then the list can be adjusted for any really good deal you run across while shopping. Personally, I put my freedive gear on the top of my list because I do that when I'm not tank diving, I started SCUBA diving to extend my snorkling/freediving limits is my reasoning for doing that.
As for rental gear, at least you won't get lulled into the false sense of security you will have with your own.
Bob
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I may be old, but I’m not dead yet.
oldschoolto
Contributor
Ok... I'm a old navy table / rep table guy, With a wife that is new to the sport... I have shown her and she can use the tables but... I'd like to get her a "SIMPLE" computer to have as a basic safety thing and For traveling to places that want you to have one... I'll get two so we " MATCH ":blinking: Anyone have a computer that is simple and don't have 6 buttons and 900 functions 
jim...
jim...
Actually for me at the end of the day it comes down to the simple fact I want to enjoy a dive vacation stress free.because of that my gearbag has a set of tables and an adjustable spanner in it at all times for the unlikely event I have a computer failure or even more unlikely a reg failure.
---------- Post Merged at 03:19 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 03:16 PM ----------
---------- Post Merged at 03:19 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 03:16 PM ----------
Jim Im happy with my sherwood vyper. 2 buttons big easy to read screen info easy to work outOk... I'm a old navy table / rep table guy, With a wife that is new to the sport... I have shown her and she can use the tables but... I'd like to get her a "SIMPLE" computer to have as a basic safety thing and For traveling to places that want you to have one... I'll get two so we " MATCH ":blinking: Anyone have a computer that is simple and don't have 6 buttons and 900 functions
jim...
KD8NPB
Contributor
Computer. Not for no-deco calculations, but for the ascent rate alarm.
Most newer divers have screamin' fast ascents.
Slloowwww down.
Most newer divers have screamin' fast ascents.
Slloowwww down.
I've read a couple of your posts already and have to say, you are having good questions. It's too bad that they weren't answered during your Open Water course...
As a PADI Instructor, I just recently got my LDS to start bringing in the crewpacks with the eRDPml. As you may or may not know, when the current batch of Table crewpacks run out, PADI will no longer be using them (so I've been informerd!). They have pretty well gone over to computers completely.
When I teach the portion of the course on the tables, I always finish off with a quick talk about why the students will want to go to a computer as fast as possible.
I give them a temporary promotion to Instructor status (they haven't even been in the pool yet!) for the next five minutes.
Then, I ask then to tell me the maximum allowable bottom time for a dive to 102'. 16 minutes....wow, not very long.
Next, I show them a visual dive chart for a dive I did last year. This was in cold water, 7mm drysuit, maybe 20' vis and easily stirred up silt. Not the best of conditions. I'll get one of the studelnts to look at the chart, see that I touched 102' (for maybe 30 seconds) ans slowly worked my way back up. Then, I ask them to read off my total dive time. Yup, 62 minutes.
Now, the only reason I even needed to surface then was simple. I was running low on air. That's it. I could have stayed down easily another 1/2 hour - if I had enough air!
The reason? My computer. My Cobra 3 is air integrated, so it constantly calculates how much air timeI have left. It samples my breathing rate, the depth, the water temperature and I don't know what else, but it tells me how much longer I have in air time at this depth before it's time to ascend.
It also calculates my Nitrogen loading in a similar fashion.
So, I have two numbers that I look at, my air time and my nitrogen loading time. Whichever number is smaller is the one I use. If either gets too small, I simply go up a bit. Less depth = more air time & more time before nitrogen loading becomes too much.
So, a 60+ minute dive with a max of 102'?? yeah, easy.
But why is this important Rob? I am happy with my tables!
Okay, let's dive together. I'm going down to 100' and then slowly proceeding up. I can stay down for about an hour. You, on the tables, gotta head back up to the surface after 15 or so minutes.
Guess how many dives I'm gonna do with someone without a computer.
As a PADI Instructor, I just recently got my LDS to start bringing in the crewpacks with the eRDPml. As you may or may not know, when the current batch of Table crewpacks run out, PADI will no longer be using them (so I've been informerd!). They have pretty well gone over to computers completely.
When I teach the portion of the course on the tables, I always finish off with a quick talk about why the students will want to go to a computer as fast as possible.
I give them a temporary promotion to Instructor status (they haven't even been in the pool yet!) for the next five minutes.
Then, I ask then to tell me the maximum allowable bottom time for a dive to 102'. 16 minutes....wow, not very long.
Next, I show them a visual dive chart for a dive I did last year. This was in cold water, 7mm drysuit, maybe 20' vis and easily stirred up silt. Not the best of conditions. I'll get one of the studelnts to look at the chart, see that I touched 102' (for maybe 30 seconds) ans slowly worked my way back up. Then, I ask them to read off my total dive time. Yup, 62 minutes.
Now, the only reason I even needed to surface then was simple. I was running low on air. That's it. I could have stayed down easily another 1/2 hour - if I had enough air!
The reason? My computer. My Cobra 3 is air integrated, so it constantly calculates how much air timeI have left. It samples my breathing rate, the depth, the water temperature and I don't know what else, but it tells me how much longer I have in air time at this depth before it's time to ascend.
It also calculates my Nitrogen loading in a similar fashion.
So, I have two numbers that I look at, my air time and my nitrogen loading time. Whichever number is smaller is the one I use. If either gets too small, I simply go up a bit. Less depth = more air time & more time before nitrogen loading becomes too much.
So, a 60+ minute dive with a max of 102'?? yeah, easy.
But why is this important Rob? I am happy with my tables!
Okay, let's dive together. I'm going down to 100' and then slowly proceeding up. I can stay down for about an hour. You, on the tables, gotta head back up to the surface after 15 or so minutes.
Guess how many dives I'm gonna do with someone without a computer.
The Chairman
Chairman of the Board
Computers are safer since they just don't suffer from narcosis or task loading issues. The alarms are a nice feature and tell you when you are exceeding a limit: depth, time, MOD and even gas on some. I haven't seen tables used by any rec diver is so long that it bogels my mind that some instructors still feel that they are useful.
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