Or have longer surface intervals.
Unless you do a 16 hour surface interval the algorithm of the Cobra 3 is going to have reduced no stop times compared to a pure dissolved gas algorithm. It is the nature of the bubble model based algorithms that they reduce the no stop time based on your ascents.
Personally if I know that no stop time is going to be an issue I try to maximize my surface intervals, but on the typical double dip charter you have 3 hours from tie in until tie off. So I get at most a little over an hour of a SI. But regardless of how long of an interval the Cobra 3 would always be more conservative after the first dive.
Yes, for accelerated deco you need a multigas computer really, although as a backup if you have a plan for deco then a bent single gas one will do. It is remarkable how late in the dive they bend.
Yeah it doesn't bend until the end of the dive, but then it stays bent for 48 hours, and will be inaccurate for deco information after that. Which defeats the purpose of having a second computer, particularly when you are on a long expensive dive trip.
“Quickly racks up deco”? You understand that for a 30m dive 1 minute of stops will show as a TTS of about 7 minutes? This depends on the model, but for the simpler ones they seem to like to include the SS as well as ascent and actual stops.
Identical dives Teric is showing 1 minute of deco that clears up on ascent, Cobra 3 has a 15 minute hang at 10ft, not a 15 minute TTS from the bottom, but a 15 minute stop. Now in that case I did it on purpose as I wanted to see what the difference was between the two computers.
You could buy an Aqualung i300c for a LOT less money and spend the difference on diving.
And it would be unsuitable for Tech diving. Even if you exclude the ability to do tech Shearwater computers are markedly better than those computers, sure there are recreational computers with similar features like OLED screens and WAI, but they are almost the same price as a Shearwater, Garmin, or Ratio.
Other than a rebreather and more tanks, time limits my diving more than cash flow.
How is your eyesight? The Teric owner I know is now considering a prescription mask. It seems like if you are old enough to afford one you are old enough to need reading glasses.
Pretty good so far.
Don't get me wrong, I think that recreational computers like the Cobra 3 and others have their place. They are perfectly suitable for the average diver, particularly those that do the typical DM guided dives of vacation divers. But my purposes where I am on the edge of going tech, am routinely diving below 100 feet, and in low light environments they aren't suitable for me.
And even for those that would see the benefit of a tech computer like a Shearwater I don't advocate someone just going and dropping the cash on two at once. If you have a perfectly serviceable computer, run it as a backup, just know that you will either have to make a choice to follow the likely more conservative algorithm or bend it. If and when you can afford a second tech computer, then upgrade.
