Gauge backup or not?

[BrianDixon71]

Hello,
I have just bought an Aeris Elite T3 for myself and one for my girlfriend who is just getting certified. I have been debating with myself about whether to get rid of my console and SPG or whether to keep the old setup as a backup in case of computer failure during a dive. I realize that one of the advantages of a hoseless air-integrated computer is less clutter but if you have a failure of either the computer or the transmitter it relegates you to aborting the dive. Whereas with a backup SPG and dive watch you could simply revert back to diving the tables and continue with the dive. I realize there is also the point that with a normal console you don’t have a backup either.
What do you do? Have you ever had a computer or xmitter failure?
Thanks for the opinions
Brian

 

[Cyclops_Diver]

I've never had a failure...but just in case my Smart Tec fails I've got a brass and glass SPG clipped off to my hip, a backup dept gauge on my Citizen dive watch, and a spare set of tables in my pocket. Not cluttered at all to me.

Never hurts to be prepared I reckon.

 

[driftwood]

You probably will not get much for the old console. Keep in for insurance and keep it rigged close in case you need it. I wish that I had kept my old console instead of selling it.

 

[bubbleblowindude]

Ditch the console, it's an entanglement hazard. Wrist mount your timer/computer, and put a brass & glass spg without boot on a 26" hose bolt snapped off to the left hip d-ring. Then, learn to plan your gas consumption so that the gauge becomes a backup device for your own mental processes. Computer fails, buddy calls deco...no problem. I do 180 ft trimix dives with one bottom timer with never a problem. Seek a GUE instructor for the details.

 

[RAWalker]

If you're sticking to basic recreational diving, 130' max no additional hazzards then remove the spg and keep it in your reg bag. If you stay close to your buddy thumb the dive on a failure and you can figure a worse case dive profile from your buddy's computer info then switch to the table and SPG from your bag to continue diving.

 

[Gombessa]

Ditch the console, it's an entanglement hazard. Wrist mount your timer/computer, and put a brass & glass spg without boot on a 26" hose bolt snapped off to the left hip d-ring. Then, learn to plan your gas consumption so that the gauge becomes a backup device for your own mental processes. Computer fails, buddy calls deco...no problem. I do 180 ft trimix dives with one bottom timer with never a problem. Seek a GUE instructor for the details.

GUEFundiesDiver?

 

[Cyclops_Diver]

GUEFundiesDiver?

LMAO!!

You beat me to it...Good call!

 

[rjack321]

GUEFundiesDiver?

Good one!


To the OP...
Since you've decided to go the AI route you need to decide how much redundancy you want or need for your dives. The hogarthian approach would have been to clip a single durable spg to your hip. Then you wouldn't need "spare" or "backup" equipment to compensate for losing signal, batteries dying, or other electronics in water reliability questions.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Exactly. An air integreated wireless computer is most definitely non-hog, so asking whether to keep an SPG as a backup is much like asking the pope for advice on whether to use ribbed or non ribbed condoms for birth ccontrol.

If you are doing a technical dive, a wireless air integrated computer is a bad idea for a variety of reasons and it should not be along on the dive. If it is a rec dive, you go up when it quits anyway - no questions asked - so no redundant system is needed. You either have enough gas to surface or you do not, you can't make more so having a backup SPG is pointless.

 

[deepstops]

Exactly. An air integreated wireless computer is most definitely non-hog, so asking whether to keep an SPG as a backup is much like asking the pope for advice on whether to use ribbed or non ribbed condoms for birth ccontrol.

If you are doing a technical dive, a wireless air integrated computer is a bad idea for a variety of reasons and it should not be along on the dive. If it is a rec dive, you go up when it quits anyway - no questions asked - so no redundant system is needed. You either have enough gas to surface or you do not, you can't make more so having a backup SPG is pointless.

Why is this entire thread in the hogarthian section?? Wireless computers? consoles? It's utter blasphemy