No depth gauge just computer?

[rx7diver]

Personally I went from double console (spg & depth guage) with wrist mounted compass to AI integrated computer with compass (yes its a SW Petrel).

Personally, I went from a double console (SPG & depth gauge) to, well, I removed the two gauges from the console, discarded the console, and purchased a wrist mount for the depth gauge. That was many, many years ago. I have dived this configuration (with self-winding dive watch and wrist-mount analog compass) ever since for my recreational dives in temperate water.

My (Scubapro) gear is robust and reliable and familiar, and has been paid for for several decades--with no batteries or computer hardware/software faults to worry about.

I advise new divers--this is the "New Divers and Those Considering Diving" forum, after all--that they can dive completely safely, literally forever, using basic, high quality, well-maintained gear. I don't consider a dive computer to be basic gear. The extra coin that they might spend on unnecessary, non-basic gear, they can spend, instead, on air fills, and gasoline for trips to their local diving spots, and hotels/campsites for overnight stays--if expenses are a consideration for them.

Full disclosure: I have had to replace my submersible dive tables (because the orange and white color scheme of the Nu-Way tables don't play well with this sexagenarian's eyes).

rx7diver

 

[Lostdiver71]

Wait

Wait, won't you die if you dive with an air2?

You might, but probably not because of the Air2!

 

[Neilwood]

Personally, I went from a double console (SPG & depth gauge) to, well, I removed the two gauges from the console, discarded the console, and purchased a wrist mount for the depth gauge. That was many, many years ago. I have dived this configuration (with self-winding dive watch and wrist-mount analog compass) ever since for my recreational dives in temperate water.

My (Scubapro) gear is robust and reliable and familiar, and has been paid for for several decades--with no batteries or computer hardware/software faults to worry about.

I advise new divers--this is the "New Divers and Those Considering Diving" forum, after all--that they can dive completely safely, literally forever, using basic, high quality, well-maintained gear. I don't consider a dive computer to be basic gear. The extra coin that they might spend on unnecessary, non-basic gear, they can spend, instead, on air fills, and gasoline for trips to their local diving spots, and hotels/campsites for overnight stays--if expenses are a consideration for them.

Full disclosure: I have had to replace my submersible dive tables (because the orange and white color scheme of the Nu-Way tables don't play well with this sexagenarian's eyes).

rx7diver

Personally I do consider a dive computer to be basic equipment in this day and age. A basic computer can be bought for as little as $150-200 (or less if bought as part of a package). I would actually go as far as to say it can be obtained for a lot less if willing to look at Ebay/ Craigslist etc for a used computer.

Can someone dive safely without one? Yes, undoubtedly but they are going to run up against huge problems if diving with commercial operations, most of which base their trips on computer use. Diving tables is near if not absolutely impossible on those trips and I would urge anyone doing these to at least rent a computer for the duration.

Even when not diving with a commercial outfit, you can lose a huge amount of dive time by sticking to a table. For example a dive I have done a few times off the coast here. It is basically a large square where you swim to a buoy about 20-30m out (which marks about 6m deep), swim out down the slope, run parallel to the shore at about 20m and back up and then back to the buoy going parallel to the shore again at 6m. Given that the average depth of the dive is round about 13m, it is quite easy to get over an hour long dive with a 12L cylinder. On tables, I have to treat it as a single depth dive (can't use multi level tables as I am on a continuous descent for a quarter of the dive and ascent for another quarter of the dive). Using Padi tables, the NDL is 45 mins. On the computer, it actually accounts for the slow descent and slow ascent as well as being at safety stop depth for a quarter of the dive. Last time I finished the dive with my DC (the one prior to the Petrel) showing 99 as my NDL (it only displays up to 99).

On another dive (in the Red Sea) we had dived to approx 30m (NDL on tables 20 mins) drifting along a reef wall with a gradual ascent over time and ended up under the boat to start our safety stops (still had about 100 bar in my cylinder). At that point, three Oceanic White Tip sharks arrived under the boat. My buddy and I ended up doing a 15 minute safety stop under the boat until we had run out of gas watching the sharks (with the NDL actually rising the longer we were in). Had we been on tables (even multi level) we would have had to get out when we got back to the boat as we would have been at the NDL.

Both of these dives I am so far off tables that I should spend 24hr out of the water as emergency decompression (if I follow their guidance to the letter). The reality is that I am so far within NDL on both dives that I can easily carry out further dives each time. Example 1 I actually did that dive 3 times and example 2 was followed by 2 further dives that day @approx 1 hr each dive.

With regards to batteries, I can check my DC pre dive with regards to outstanding charge and change the battery in 2-3 minutes. Ditto for the transmitter.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Personally I do consider a dive computer to be basic equipment in this day and age. A basic computer can be bought for as little as $150-200 (or less if bought as part of a package). I would actually go as far as to say it can be obtained for a lot less if willing to look at Ebay/ Craigslist etc for a used computer.

Can someone dive safely without one? Yes, undoubtedly but they are going to run up against huge problems if diving with commercial operations, most of which base their trips on computer use. Diving tables is near if not absolutely impossible on those trips and I would urge anyone doing these to at least rent a computer for the duration.

Even when not diving with a commercial outfit, you can lose a huge amount of dive time by sticking to a table. For example a dive I have done a few times off the coast here. It is basically a large square where you swim to a buoy about 20-30m out (which marks about 6m deep), swim out down the slope, run parallel to the shore at about 20m and back up and then back to the buoy going parallel to the shore again at 6m. Given that the average depth of the dive is round about 13m, it is quite easy to get over an hour long dive with a 12L cylinder. On tables, I have to treat it as a single depth dive (can't use multi level tables as I am on a continuous descent for a quarter of the dive and ascent for another quarter of the dive). Using Padi tables, the NDL is 45 mins. On the computer, it actually accounts for the slow descent and slow ascent as well as being at safety stop depth for a quarter of the dive. Last time I finished the dive with my DC (the one prior to the Petrel) showing 99 as my NDL (it only displays up to 99).

On another dive (in the Red Sea) we had dived to approx 30m (NDL on tables 20 mins) drifting along a reef wall with a gradual ascent over time and ended up under the boat to start our safety stops (still had about 100 bar in my cylinder). At that point, three Oceanic White Tip sharks arrived under the boat. My buddy and I ended up doing a 15 minute safety stop under the boat until we had run out of gas watching the sharks (with the NDL actually rising the longer we were in). Had we been on tables (even multi level) we would have had to get out when we got back to the boat as we would have been at the NDL.

Both of these dives I am so far off tables that I should spend 24hr out of the water as emergency decompression (if I follow their guidance to the letter). The reality is that I am so far within NDL on both dives that I can easily carry out further dives each time. Example 1 I actually did that dive 3 times and example 2 was followed by 2 further dives that day @approx 1 hr each dive.

With regards to batteries, I can check my DC pre dive with regards to outstanding charge and change the battery in 2-3 minutes. Ditto for the transmitter.

The only time I tell people they don’t really need a computer are for some shore dives off of our coast where we do and out and back on a graduating slope and the depth reaches 15 meters or less. Those dives are timed and based on gas supply rather than bottom time.
Usually they are new divers still getting their gear together on a budget and may not have the extra money for the computer they want. For instance, I have a friend who got certified a while back and is still assembling gear. He bought a nice Scubapro MK 25/ G 250 w/ R195 octo and a full manual console with SPG/analog depth ga./ compass, in great shape for $300. He wants to do some shore diving but doesn’t have a computer yet, so I told him he could easily do that with what he has plus the addition of a timing device like one of my wind up bottom timers or a cheap watch. He would have to learn the tables though because SSI didn’t get into that.
If he was buying it all new my advice would have been to just get a SPG and get a simple wrist computer because by the time he buys all the analog stuff new to use with tables it would have been about the same price as a simple wrist computer.
So in this instance just using what he has with tables makes sense until he saves the money to get the computer he wants.

 

[boulderjohn]

The only time I tell people they don’t really need a computer are for some shore dives off of our coast where we do and out and back on a graduating slope and the depth reaches 15 meters or less. Those dives are timed and based on gas supply rather than bottom time.

I did a lot of "muck" diving on a house "reef" in the Philippines, and I realized during one of them that there was no need for any instrumentation of any kind. You just surfaced when you felt like you had had enough. Even if you miraculously used up your air, if you started up as soon as you felt the regulator getting harder to breathe, you would not even need a short CESA. (People were diving for years before the SPG was invented.) Yes, there are many kinds of diving for which there is no benefit to a computer, and if that is all you do, then there is no point to having one.

 

[formernuke]

I’ve never had a separate depth gauge. Just wrist computer.

Same here. I used to dive two computers in case one failed and will likely do so again once I finish renovating my house, get my custom drysuit, get a home fill station set up I'll get a second perdix.

 

[Chavodel8en]

For many years, I shore dived locally with just a depth gauge, a cheap watch & tables. I was shore diving, so no need for a computer.

I bought a (non-AI) computer when I had a trip coming up, so I could maximize my diving. I figured since I had a spg in a console, may as well keep the depth gauge there, plus the watch as backup

When Puck Pros were on sale for $170, I bought one as a backup. I was able to get rid of the bulky console, and put my spg in a small rubber cover.

If I didnt have a back-up computer, I would probably keep the depth gauge as back-up -- why not? (I think its still in my scuba junk drawer somewhere). Although I'd be fine diving just one computer on my recreational dives, and if it died, just come up slowly and end my dive day.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I did a lot of "muck" diving on a house "reef" in the Philippines, and I realized during one of them that there was no need for any instrumentation of any kind. You just surfaced when you felt like you had had enough. Even if you miraculously used up your air, if you started up as soon as you felt the regulator getting harder to breathe, you would not even need a short CESA. (People were diving for years before the SPG was invented.) Yes, there are many kinds of diving for which there is no benefit to a computer, and if that is all you do, then there is no point to having one.

Exactly, why use a computer for those dives when it’s just one more thing that can get banged up or lost.
As long as I have a compass and some way of determining depth (to some degree) I can do those dives with no other instrumentation. I’ve done some shore dives here so many times I can tell you about how deep I am at any given point just based on the familiarity of the typography.
Like you say, use an unbalanced MK 2 with and unbalanced second like an R195 or 108 and when it starts to draw harder make your way up. After those regs start breathing hard you still have probably 5 minutes before you suck the tank dry.

 

[kelemvor]

Buy a Teric and Air2 and you could ditch the depth gauge, spg, octo and compass. I have two hoses on my singles rig.

To answer your question specifically though, yes, with a computer you can eliminate the depth gauge.

I do the same. It's hard to express just how nice a two hose setup is to use. I use a different computer, but the result is the same.

 

[BoltSnap]

SB is starting to get to you.
Consider taking a break.

Please tell me that you see the sarcasm in my post No one else did.