How important is a depth gauge as part of a reg set?

[Centrals]

NO depth gauge because I wear two cheapo DC.
Also save some tiny weight on my checked bag as well!

 

[Streydog]

I don't have the experience that many of the posters on this thread have but the last time I saw someone with a mechanical depth guage was me with the gear provided when I was getting certified, it didn't work by the way. An SPG clipped to your left hip is easy to access but out of the way. On the rare occasion your only DC fails during a dive, surface. If you have a backup computer you can continue to dive. Technology is not perfect but it continues to get better.

 

[boulderjohn]

I always believe in having any system that is critical have a redundant back up.

Yep, except....

On a recreational, no-stop dive in which the diver has one computer, the ability to read depth accurately is critical UNTIL the computer fails. At that point, the diver is supposed to end the dive and begin a normal slow ascent to the surface. That means that an accurate reading of depth is no longer critical. If you look at your bubbles, you can tell which way is up, so you will know you are getting slowly shallower if you head in that direction. How slow? It really doesn't matter all that much as long as it is somewhat leisurely and not hurried. You can stop for a while when you are reasonably near the surface if you want to add a safety stop--the exact depth doesn't matter.

 

[kelemvor]

Is it a good idea to have one as a backup in case my dive computer goes out?

I post this here rather than the gauges section because I'm beginning to shop around for my first reg set and I'm considering options from Deep6 and HOG because I like the idea of learning to service them myself some day.

I'm looking at the single tank package from Deep6 where the gauge options are +$75 for an SPG or +$200 for a two gauge console. Deep 6 Configurable Single Tank Package

DGX has a Deep6 "streamlined" setup for a bit less $$ and comes with only the SPG option. DGX Custom - DGX Gears D6 Streamlined OW Reg Package

Last, I'm considering getting a HOG set assembled from individual pieces at Divers-supply. If I go with an SPG I can get it for about the same $$ as the DGX setup if I only go with an SPG.

I know with any of these I can switch to a console later on but I'm wondering if I should just spend the extra cash now or just rely on my dive computer alone.

I used to bring a depth gauge as a backup to my dive computer but gave up on that quite some time ago. If you're NDL diving, then you just end your dive as soon as the DC fails. If you can't manage a safety stop without a depth guage then remember that it is an OPTIONAL safety stop. Head to the surface. It's not like a dive computer failing is a common problem. Granted I've only been diving for a little over 5 years but all my dives have been with a computer and never have I had a computer fail during a dive. I've used Sherwood, Scubapro, Shearwater, and now Ratio.

Unless it's some type of technical dive (deco or similar) then I like to bring as little stuff down with me as possible.

 

[Bigbella]

If you can't manage a safety stop without a depth guage then remember that it is an OPTIONAL safety stop. Head to the surface. It's not like a dive computer failing is a common problem. Granted I've only been diving for a little over 5 years but all my dives have been with a computer and never have I had a computer fail during a dive. I've used Sherwood, Scubapro, Shearwater, and now Ratio.

Unless it's some type of technical dive (deco or similar) then I like to bring as little stuff down with me as possible.

In the Carmel area of California, many if not most of the dives are well over 20-30 meters, if not more -- and pushing, if not frequently exceeding the NDL. If one has an air-integrated unit, for example and it fails during the dive, the diver has no idea when that occurred, unless he or she is obsessed with constantly looking at gauges, in the manner of today's masturbatory smart phone use.

I'd rather look at fish and scenery.

Uncommon or not, I have had failures with Scubapro and Oceanic computers, AI and not; Suunto, both AI and not; the old Dacor; Aqua-Lung; UWATEC; Princeton Tec; Cressi Sub; and even the much-lauded Shearwater, over the years.

Variously, the computer screens may have simply gone blank, during the course of a dive, even with full battery; given oddball, if not even impossible pressure readings, if AI; or may have given anomalous error or violation messaging -- none of which was ever attributed to low-battery, etc; or from any "real" user violations -- most often, on a first dive.

Given enough time and opportunity, crap will inevitably fail; and I am more than happy to carry my hefty 440 gram insurance policy below, with which I have yet to miss or abort a dive . . .

 

[halocline]

In the Carmel area of California, many if not most of the dives are well over 20-30 meters, if not more -- and pushing, if not frequently exceeding the NDL.

In that case, what you are talking about is de facto technical diving, and simply carrying an extra computer does not make a technical diver. Dive safety is dependent on diver behavior and judgement. Pushing and exceeding NDLs without the training, skills, and gear (including but not limited to extra gas, managed appropriately) for overhead diving is risky diving, no matter how many extra computers or depth gauges you have with you.

 

[Bigbella]

In that case, what you are talking about is de facto technical diving, and simply carrying an extra computer does not make a technical diver. Dive safety is dependent on diver behavior and judgement. Pushing and exceeding NDLs without the training, skills, and gear (including but not limited to extra gas, managed appropriately) for overhead diving is risky diving, no matter how many extra computers or depth gauges you have with you.

Who says that I don't have the training? We were regularly doing 30 meters dives in OW-1, in the late seventies; and we certainly never thought of it as "technical," by a long shot; that designation was for the marketing boys . . .

 

[drk5036]

The reason I view a depth gauge as completely unnecessary is that in my experience they break at least as often as a DC (before I had my own gear I rented, and I can say not once did I have a functioning depth gauge!) and the cost of cheap dive computers is just so low that if you were worried about missing a dive, just spend 100 bucks on a backup insurance policy computer

 

[Bigbella]

The reason I view a depth gauge as completely unnecessary is that in my experience they break at least as often as a DC (before I had my own gear I rented, and I can say not once did I have a functioning depth gauge!) and the cost of cheap dive computers is just so low that if you were worried about missing a dive, just spend 100 bucks on a backup insurance policy computer

Over thousands of dives, since the late 1970s, I have yet to experience a single mechanical SPG or depth gauge failure. The same cannot be said for electronics . . .

 

[Altamira]

The reason I view a depth gauge as completely unnecessary is that in my experience they break at least as often as a DC (before I had my own gear I rented, and I can say not once did I have a functioning depth gauge!) and the cost of cheap dive computers is just so low that if you were worried about missing a dive, just spend 100 bucks on a backup insurance policy computer

If you were renting gear, what kind of half assed dive ops were you using that did not provide you with an operational depth gauge, and why would you accept that as normal? I own two dive computers (not cheap ones), and I would bet good money that both of those will fail long before my mechanical depth gauge quits.