T.C., nobody on here is advising the OP NOT to learn to use tables. My only point in chiming in was to emphasize that while it's great to learn tables, it is not NECESSARY. To me, "necessary" does not mean necessary to avoid having to sit out 12 hours or whatever. To me, necessary means necessary in order to enjoy the kind of relaxed vacation diving that many many of us out there do.
It's because of cost and size as well; not solely because of technology. But, here we go with the "everyone should buy more gear" idea. Some divers can't afford two computers. In this case, being taught tables forms an acceptable backup.
Again, my point was only that it's not necessary. The OP may very well agree with you that minimizing bulk and cost are priorities in the type of diving he wishes to practice. Judging from SB posts, some newly minted divers can't wait to spend their dollars. I actually recommend renting gear for a while to see what one likes best, but that's another story.
Ah. Now we have the "What I like and do is best for everyone" argument. Some people DO go on their vacation to dive. They want to do as much as possible. If they can't, it bothers them. Why should they lose out because they weren't trained on a simple backup technique?
This was in reply to me, so I can only assume you misinterpreted what I posted. In no way was my post intended to advise the OP to NOT learn tables.
Sure it is. If the DM is trying to control your profile, let them know they're number 1. You do have a middle finger, right?
I have to believe you know the issues here. On resort and liveaboard dives, you ask the DM how deep and long the next three dives today will be, and he's not even sure yet of what site we're going to visit FIRST. And just what WAS the depth of that last dive? It was likely VERY multi-level, complicating the use of tables. While few of us advocate blindly following the DM, who in their right mind is going to go out of their way to piss off the DM whom we are spending a week with? To the extent the diver deems it safe, we tend to go with the flow, not against it. The DM knows where the good stuff is to see, and a guided dive is part of what we paid for. Bottom line: for vacation-type divers, tables are impractical to rely on, and a mediocre choice as a backup for a failed computer when one considers that a backup computer that should last for years can be purchased for a fraction of the cost of just one vacation.
Again, many divers can't afford two computers. Some can't even justify getting their own gear with the amount they dive. ScubaBoard is not really a good cross-section of the dive community. For those of us obsessed enough to bother electrons to carry our thoughts to other divers, we already own most of our own gear. Some of us own far too much gear.
No disagreement here! But for those divers who can't afford an extra $250 computer, I suggest being careful about booking a $3,000 week-long liveaboard or trip to Cozumel. Again, this doesn't apply to everyone. I have no idea what kind of diving the OP intends to do, and I suspect as a new diver he doesn't either.
But there are many divers out there who only dive once or twice a year when they go somewhere. Spending $50 dollars for an extra computer is hard for them to justify. They shouldn't have two, when they can use tables for an effective backup.
I would think that divers who dive only once or twice a year are the ones who would not be overly concerned about spending money on their vacation. If one dives only once or twice a year on vacation, they should consider renting a backup computer. Just about every dive outfit will rent a computer. Fifty bucks is the cost of a dinner out. Again, it's cheap insurance compared with the cost of the trip itself.
Why drop a small piece of standard equipment?
