How often do you use your compass?

[tongben]

Imagine you dive in 5 to 20 Ft of visibility - which is normal diving in New England. Compass and navigation skill is a must. I rely on the compass so much that when I dive in great visibility - which does not require the compass at all, I till glance at my compass for general direction just out of a habit.

 

[Frosty]

From the very first time I put on a tank my dad drummed into me that when you are down there you are on your own.That has stayed with me so even as a "born again " diver I still work on the theory I have to look out for myself.
So As im "going down" I always do a compass check and a terrain check. Then when heading off I check the heading and landmarks again.
Then again at each course change.Its pretty easy with practice so when you find yourself diving in low vis its not a sudden shock to "suddenly" have to rely on the compass.

 

[Ardy]

I have always carried a compass and use it, but I had an embarrassment a couple of weeks ago. Went for a quick dip off the shore and thought I knew the way back and started heading out to sea before my buddy pointed out that we should have been headed South not North!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[drdaddy]

I always wear my compass and use it on many dives. Last week I decided to take a South Jetty (Yaquina Bay/Newport, Oregon) drift on an outgoing tide. As I was being swept out I used my compass to orient me with the Jetty(drifting kinda side ways so I don't get swept out to sea). Yes, you can watch contour of the bottom and vegetation, but it is still easy to get spun around. When the time came I just kicked "straight ahead" and found myself at my demarcation point.

I can't tell how easy it is to get spun around and disoriented in current and low visibility (sometimes 2 feet). You have to know and trust your compass (I use a Suunto on a tether, Oceanic on my wrist, plus I have one on my spg that I never use but I know it's there - just in case).

Tomorrow I'll be down in a 50 foot "crab hole" (hoping to pick up my limit of dungeness) - only with a compass can one navigate there. There are so many times we would be so lost without a compass.

 

[thimp]

I live and dive in the Netherlands where the viz can be as bad as under 1ft. For visting the highlights underwater a compass is a must. Also we mostly do shore dives where getting out where you got in is a benefit. For that a compass comes in handy too.

 

[Fishstalker]

AOW and navigation ?!?.....kick 20 times, turn 90deg, repeat three times, you are back where you started.....hurrah !....you are now an 'advanced' diver. As I drift along, look at my compass and try to remember what bearing I was on the last time I looked, I find myself musing about what a completely useless bit of 'training' that was.

Navigation by compass is approximate at best, compass and timing is also variable depending on current......and the reason you are 60' underwater is because you want to look at the pretty fishes, not wrestle with the technicalities of the perfectly controlled dive (I'll settle for 'well-controlled'). I estimate upwards of 80% of divers go in the water with no compass and of the 20% that do, 15% don't actually look at them. SCubaFanFL....you are not alone. Of course, afficianados of ScubaBoard are expert divers who always do everything correctly and so always use their compasses..

Cultivate the habbit....when you are spending a few minutes waiting for a buddy who is fascinated by the never-ending search for a pygmy seahorse, play with the compass. It can be your friend, even if you don't need it most of the time.

[NB comments exclude low visibility dives and shore dives where you need to know the shore direction !]

 

[EladLending]

Better to have it and not need it one hundred times, than to not have it and need it once. I carry mine always, and advise you to do the same.

 

[buddhasummer]

A little late to the party. I carry my compass on every dive. I use it on every local dive as the vis is 3-5 more often than not and sometimes less. Took about one season to become confident in my navigation. I found with regular practise it was a pretty easy skill to come to grips with. Strange as it might sound I enjoy my low vis dives gives me many things to practise and improves my overall diving skills. Having this skill increased my confidence immensely.

 

[Bubbledup]

I'm a new diver and I always have my compass with me, but I have never needed to use or have a chance to use. Most of my dives are drift dives from boat so I just follows the person who carry the marker buoy.

Just curios, do you carry your compass with you when you dive, and how often do you use it?

If you're diving at a Caribbean dive resort, you will usually have no need of a compass. However, if you're diving in water with low viz your compass will be valuable. You're swimming along, and your buddy is with the group ahead, but it looks like you might lose him (or the group). Take a bearing on the direction they are going, then follow that bearing if you lose sight. It's a good way to stay in touch. In addition, a compass will be valuable when you and your buddy are diving alone together. Say you're doing a shore dive at a remote site on Bonaire. You've located the entry point and you enter the water. Decide on a heading you're going to follow out to the point where you will start cruising. Note the features at this point: coral heads, rocks, whatever. This is the point from where you're going to head into shore at the end of the dive. The heading into shore from here will be the reciprocal of your heading out. For example, if the heading out was 120 degrees, the heading in is 300 degree. This is probably a lot more than you asked for, but I'm in a writing mood today.

 

[tomnoff]

I ALWAYS carry a compass. It took some effort to use it properly, but it has proved well worth the work. If I lose the group when taking a photo, or due to sudden poor visibility, I use it to get back to the boat.