Necessity of Dive Computer for new diver

[stuartv]

Thats odd. I did my PADI cert not that long ago, and I was required to know how to use the dive tables, and I was tested on them. This was only a year ago.

It's up to the instructor. The instructor CAN still teach and test on it, if they want to. Or such is my understanding, anyway.

Disclaimer: I have never taken a single PADI course, so this is all based on things I've read here posted by people who I understand to be PADI Pros.

 

[Scott]

Your shop should not be requiring any purchase beyond mask, snorkel and fins. The rest they should rent (or include at least through confined water training, as our shop does), until you're certified.

There should be NO required purchases beyond the ones above to get certified (in addition to training materials, of course).

You would think that and it makes sense to a large number of people and dive facilities. There is a facility in California that is well known for being pushy to get potential students to purchase full packages. There was even a report here on SB about them pushing a student to purchase a rebreather.
They are also notorious for not allowing returns once any piece of equipment hits the pool water.

There is one agency where part of their philosophy is, divers stay diving longer when they have their own "total diving system."
So those facilities that 'buy into' that will push to have students fully kitted for their first pool session.

 

[Steve_C]

Vuk-

For a new basic diver, you can make a list of "xx feet, xx minutes, no decompression". And if you are making just one dive a day, that's all you need to know. No computer needed. My first Casio waterproof $50 wristwatch (they've also dropped in price!) was a backup to my expensive mechanical bottom timer. Same thing either way. You watch your depth, you watch your time, if you're doing a single tank dive you'll probably run out of air before you reach the safe time limit anyway.

If you are doing two dives in the same day, i.e. on a dive boat? It still ain't rocket science. Using "the tables" or using an app on a smartphone or tablet is EASY. You just put in the gas you are using (nitrox or air, etc.), the depth and time from your first dive, the surface interval, and the app will tell you what your limits are for the second dive..

If you come to NC you better bring a buddy with you. I dive with lots of not very experienced dive buddies and I will not dive with you without a computer. Typical dive on the Hyde. We drop to the deck at 60 ft then to the mid deck at 70ft. Then pop over the side and check out stuff in the sand at 80-85 ft, look for a few teeth, then we go up on deck and finish up looking for nudis at 60ft. Up to the boat for a 1 hour SI. Tables give you very little NDL on dive 2.

To make it worse, coming up the anchor line a big shark or other creature comes swimming by. We hang out at 30 ft to watch them for a while. Now you have no NDL left for dive 2.

PS: Yes I see OW divers doing these kinds of dives on practically every dive trip to the Hyde and I do it several times a year.

 

[stuartv]

If you come to NC you better bring a buddy with you. I dive with lots of not very experienced dive buddies and I will not dive with you without a computer. .

I would dive with someone without a computer. As long as they're willing and able to go up the anchor line and get out solo....

 

[dmaziuk]

My question is - as someone brand-spanking-new to diving, how necessary is it to have a dive computer versus a simple stop watch? The difference in cost is huge.

If a couple of hundred on gear is "huge", perhaps you should look at a different hobby. Whether you actually need one now depends on how you're planning to dive after you get certified. If you keep on diving, you will need one.
- If you aren't sure if you're going to dive much or at all, don't buy one yet. If you plan on doing one dive every weekend in the foreseeable future, you don't need one to keep you from getting bent.
- If you plan on going on a tropical dive trip for a week of 3-4 tanks/day, you will need one. You can still rent though, but at some point buying becomes cheaper than renting.

 

[Steve_C]

I would dive with someone without a computer. As long as they're willing and able to go up the anchor line and get out solo....

Done that for divers with a computer but on Air or higher SAC. But I generally avoid that if they seem to have any buoyancy or other issues and it is only done with prior arrangement. In any case they are probably sitting out dive 2 anyway. I also don't like to do that for Newbies on the ledges. That is more like 100 ft. And yes I have seen divers with less than 10 dives on the ledges also. (Note that an AOW may only have 10 or so dives).

On shallower dives like 60 ft I might follow them up to the hang bar, and then drop down for another half hour after they go up to the surface.

 

[flyboy08]

Buy mask, fins and snorkel.....rent the rest! Buy a new item as time goes on and you can afford it.

 

[Marie13]

I just realized the OP is NOT certified.

 

[BoltSnap]

Vuk-
Everyone who was certified before maybe 1995, could not afford a dive computer, even if they existed at the time. And yet, somehow, we survived. The number of decompression sickness incidents remains about the same.
Now, "the tables" have changed slightly over the years, and the "no decompression limits" have become more conservative due to more research, so safety is up some. But the botton line is as simple as this:

For a new basic diver, you can make a list of "xx feet, xx minutes, no decompression". And if you are making just one dive a day, that's all you need to know. No computer needed. My first Casio waterproof $50 wristwatch (they've also dropped in price!) was a backup to my expensive mechanical bottom timer. Same thing either way. You watch your depth, you watch your time, if you're doing a single tank dive you'll probably run out of air before you reach the safe time limit anyway.

If you are doing two dives in the same day, i.e. on a dive boat? It still ain't rocket science. Using "the tables" or using an app on a smartphone or tablet is EASY. You just put in the gas you are using (nitrox or air, etc.), the depth and time from your first dive, the surface interval, and the app will tell you what your limits are for the second dive.

No need to spend $200+++ for a piece of electronics that you now need to learn, and operate, while you're in the middle of everything else.

If you go on to more complicated diving, i.e. a week of twin tank twice a day resort diving? Or high altitudes, or decompression dives? Yeah, sure, there's a good reason that a computer will simplify life.

But for a new diver? Eh, kinda like using a car navigation system to get out of your own driveway.

What the computer will do, is give you the ability to monitor your ascent rate, and that's definitely a good thing. Whether you really need to use it for that, or whether you learn to do that the old fashioned way (without electronics) is a slim, but real, argument.

I'd really love some hard numbers on how many divers have had to throw out their computers in less than five years, because of water leaks and other problems. All I hear from every shop is "Oh, we don't sell that brand, they're crap, they leak." And only the brand names change. (Even in some expensive brands.)

Relying (RELYING) on electronics and o-ring seals and batteries in waterproof housings, under pressure? Nuh-uh, you'll need a backup plan with or without them.

This is a load of rubbish.

 

[blac86]

Good advice in this thread. First you absolutely are able to dive without a computer, many of my first dives were with gauges and tables. Second renting a computer is a fairly standard option and usually comes as part of a gear rental deal. Third the computer will make your diving easier, and giver you significantly better bottom times and account for your actual profile and not theoretical profile. Fourth that computers are arguably the most important piece of gear besides a first stage, and it's worth spending money to get a quality computer.