Nitrox training worth it w/o a computer

[boulderjohn]

At a rental rate of $10-15 per day you'll pay it off after less than 10 dives, plus you'll have the advantages of owning a computer over renting which include: Knowing the computer,

I agree, and the part I put in bold is very important. There is much more to a computer than the simple dive facts on the face. You should know how to use it to plan a dive, and you should know how it shows you how to do emergency decompression, for example. If I rented a computer torday, the odds are I would not know how to do either on it, and I need instruction to find out.

 

[rongoodman]

Get the Nitrox certs and know the computers you are using. Some will try to reset things between dives, leading to unpleasant surprises. Others will lock you out if you don't jump through the required hoops.

 

[oly5050user]

Do you now use a watch and depth gauge to keep to dive plan? A watch and depth gauge can cost more than a computer. Cannot share computers as well. Buy 2 computers and READ the instructions. Purchase at a LDS and they will be happy to work with you on how it works,purchase online figure it out yourself. Cost of computers a very small part of a dive trip to islands when you figure all costs involved and it will give you more time , a longer dive, even without nitrox due to multi level abilities.

 

[Neilwood]

Personally I made the decision early that a dive computer was one of the first purchases I wanted to make.

Main reason was safety. If I was renting a DC from different places there is no guarantee that I would know exactly what the algorithm was, exactly what information was in what position on the screen and what alarms/warnings meant. This is even more important on a dive trip where you are doing multiple dives over multiple days - it is very hard to log your cumulative exposure otherwise.

As soon as I bought my own, I could read the instructions and play with it until I knew exactly what it was telling me. It definitely felt a safer approach to me.

A new DC doesn't have to be too expensive ($150) but if you buy the right one it will last you for years.

 

[Saniflush]

As many others have said, do the course and buy a computer. You can get one really cheap now compared to other scuba gear. The wife and I came off a liveaboard in September and for fun I went back and worked the math on the dives that I actually did using the tables. Almost without fail I would have been at my NDL for the day by somewhere in the midst or at the end of the 3rd dive had we been on are and diving square profiles.

 

[boulderjohn]

A new DC doesn't have to be too expensive ($150) but if you buy the right one it will last you for years.

I bought my first computer in the late 1990s. I used it for hundreds of dives over a number of years before I switched to a different one, and I only switched because I needed some different features. I sold my original computer, and it is still being used, nearly 20 years later.

 

[jeff h]

IMHO - take the class for the "knowledge" and it will be worth it. It could easily be argued that taking it without a computer will force you to be more knowledgeable, and understand the science better. Hand calculate your equivalent air depths, partial pressures and MOD's. Then switching to a computer will be easy. It's possible they don't even teach those skills anymore. I've heard stories that some of the newer recreational courses just teach you your MOD (maximum operating depth), how to analyze a tank and set your computer. Hopefully they cover oxygen compatibility/cleanliness requirements too.

On the computer question, I agree with the others that you can find them very affordable now. I just saw a clearance on a Mares 2 gas for ~$130. I've seen plenty of used nitrox computers for less.

 

[boulderjohn]

Hopefully they cover oxygen compatibility/cleanliness requirements too.

They do.

I took nitrox many years ago, and the requirements were quite stiff back then. The final exam was 50 questions, and a lot of math was required. I still remember the biggest "aha! " moment I had during the class--I fully realized that most of that was absolutely unnecessary for that level of diving. For example, if you are going to get into trouble with pulmonary oxygen toxicity while doing recreational dives, you really have to be doing some seriously unusual dives. That's why they really don't even teach that any more.

The difference between recreational and technical diving in terms of the dangers in high oxygen use are enormous. It is actually pretty hard to get into serious danger of oxygen toxicity in recreational diving. It is far easier in technical diving, and people have indeed died, but the overwhelming majority of those accidents were actually caused on the surface by failing to analyze and mark tanks properly.

 

[Rred]

Toga-
Consider that Nitrox is just a trademarked brand name for a mixed gas fill. Which happens to be air with an extra shot of oxygen. Big deal.
You are already diving with a mixed gas when you dive with air! It is a NINE GAS MIXTURE and somehow, we all dive with that without needing any computers. NINE GAS MIXTURE.
Nitrox is just a different blend of the same nine gasses.

So while computers have reasons to exist, they also have o-rings and batteries and computer electronics, and they can and will fail. Knowing how to dive the tables is still more important. And with Nitrox? Funny thing, but there are tables for all the common mixes, and you use them in exactly the same way that you use the air tables.

Nothing to worry about here, unless your instructor is some nimrod who thinks you don't need to know about tables anymore. In which case I'd have a brief discussion about that and then find a real instructor, who appreciated the value in teaching folks about "ignore the man behind the curtain".

 

[boulderjohn]

Nothing to worry about here, unless your instructor is some nimrod who thinks you don't need to know about tables anymore. In which case I'd have a brief discussion about that and then find a real instructor, who appreciated the value in teaching folks about "ignore the man behind the curtain".

Just so people know...

The "some Nimrods" of which he speaks are the overwhelming majority on the planet. If you don't like the Nimrod you run into in your first class, you may have a hard time finding a "real" instructor. So, while the tone of his post implies that Nimrods are rare and the real ones are in the majority, the post is actually analogous to someone telling you that if someone tries to sell you a smartphone, run away as fast as you can and find a store that will sell you a real phone, the ones with the rotary dial and the cord connected to the wall. (Okay, it''s an exaggeration, but ot that much of one.)

As an instructor, I taught students to use tables for many years. I can remember vividly the one and only time I saw a diver use one on a dive outside of instruction. It was me, and it was on my first dive trip after certification, not quite 20 years ago. It was on a DM-led multi-level dive, and I found the tables would not work on a dive like that. Another diver on the boat suggested that the tables in my hand would make a reasonable frisbee if I wanted to put them to good use.