Ascending without a dive computer

[caruso]

It is the same like diving. Most of the dives I do are shallow dives. It is very easy to make a diveplan for me, even a multilevel dive. I don’t have to use my smartphone or wetnotes. I don’t have to change setting in my computer. I don’t have to put in the right nitrox mixture.

You may dive in a different way than I'm familiar with, but I can't wrap my head around why you'd have to change a setting on your computer mid-dive if you change your plan? Setting the right nitrox mixture is a 30 second procedure (or less) and it's a lot less work and more accurate than manually figuring your P02 exposure and limits as well as no deco time (or deco stops).

For the dives I do a computer doesn’t give me more bottomtime. Most of the dives I thumb is because low temperature and minimum gas.

There are other advantages to computers besides the possibility of more bottom time.

1 My planning is pretty accurate. It is not a big problem if I could do 1 or 2 minutes more bottomtime or 1 or 2 minutes less deco.

It adds up! Why do it if you don't need to?

2 Your computer can tell you the divetime is left at the depth you are diving now. But it can’t give you the dive time if it is a multilevel dive and it does not know your plan. I can tell you that underwater.

Well you couldn't tell me that underwater because I wouldn't understand what you're saying. Sorry I had to go there. Sure a dive computer can't predict where you're going to be during the part of the dive that hasn't happened yet but it will continue to calculate it in real time which can be very useful. Sure if you don't deviate even a foot or two from your original plan then you could do better than the computer but who does that? If you do, then great- when I dive I will happily admit I don't know if I'll be going up to look in a hatchway or going down to peer under a ledge or if I'll see some sort of marine life at a different level than I planned to be swimming at.

Sometimes more info isn’t better. I like a display with only info I need/want. I don’t care about ascent rate and time of the day.

The time of day, temperature, elapsed dive time and P02 exposures are on subsequent screens on my computer. I never see them unless I push one main button to scroll.

 

[Landlocked123]

Agree with those commenting on 60 feet x minute too risky. Very interesting. The presenter has worked closely with Shearwater over the years..

 

[Landlocked123]

Sorry jump to minute 12... 18M x minute resulted in considerable DCS in divers during one of the many studies conducted.

 

[doctormike]

Sometimes more info isn’t better. I like a display with only info I need/want. I don’t care about ascent rate and time of the day.

Time of day is crucial to track during a dive if your wife is waiting for you back at the hotel...

 

[Landlocked123]

Yeah my wife is pretty mad at me this year... been diving every weekend since May. Good to know time of day to get back and avoid the dog house

 

[caruso]

Time of day is crucial to track during a dive if your wife is waiting for you back at the hotel...

Or say, a dive boat captain says during the briefing that the divers need to be back on the boat by 1 pm (or whatever).

 

[Chavodel8en]

I went many years without a dive computer, mainly bc I was cheap and poor. I had a computer, but it died, and I really didnt need one for the local shallow shore dives I was doing.

However, when I had a vacation planned, I bought a computer, bc I didnt want to be limited from doing wreck dives and other deep dives. And there a few local deeper sites that I avoided before, that I now happily can access.

So you can dive w/out a computer, but it sure is nice to have one.

and in response to the OP (altho I see he has bought a computer), I could use visual references to help the ascent, as there is generally a kelp stalk around here. If there is no visual reference available I guess its bubbles.

 

[BRT]

I went many years without a dive computer, mainly bc I was cheap and poor. I had a computer, but it died, and I really didnt need one for the local shallow shore dives I was doing.

However, when I had a vacation planned, I bought a computer, bc I didnt want to be limited from doing wreck dives and other deep dives. And there a few local deeper sites that I avoided before, that I now happily can access.

So you can dive w/out a computer, but it sure is nice to have one.

and in response to the OP (altho I see he has bought a computer), I could use visual references to help the ascent, as there is generally a kelp stalk around here. If there is no visual reference available I guess its bubbles.

I guess I don't understand why you can't just ascend at a reasonable rate without anything but a depth gauge. The only time I pay attention to my rate while ascending is when I have no visual reference and then I just watch the depth change and keep it slow. I have looked at my ascent rate dots occasionally but just for interest.

 

[JackD342]

I guess I don't understand why you can't just ascend at a reasonable rate without anything but a depth gauge. The only time I pay attention to my rate while ascending is when I have no visual reference and then I just watch the depth change and keep it slow. I have looked at my ascent rate dots occasionally but just for interest.

Not everyone, especially newer divers, has the same sense of time passed while watching a gauge. I am confident in my ability to do a nice slow ascent with just a gauge now, but 25 years ago? Not so much then.

 

[elbig]

Not everyone, especially newer divers, has the same sense of time passed while watching a gauge. I am confident in my ability to do a nice slow ascent with just a gauge now, but 25 years ago? Not so much then.

My G2 uses variable accent rate based on depth. For example it uses 30 ft/min at 115 ft., 25 ft/min at 40 ft, 18 ft/min at 8 ft. That would be diffficult to do without a computer. It’s easy to follow the ascent rate bar on the screen which starts green and then goes yellow or red if ascent rate is exceeded.