Hose mount vs retractable compass

[Festus]

Dr. Bill, I love you in a non sexual way. If you find your self wanting to dive Bonne Terre mines in Missouri I have a spare room.

 

[Storker]

I prefer the wrist bungee mount. It's out of the way, it can't dangle, it won't take up D-ring or harness real estate (I'm almost always carrying a camera rig, and I prefer anything else not to dangle at all. That is, of course, a personal preference), and as long as I can read my wrist computer, I can read my compass. Also, I like the hand-on-wrist compass reading/navigation pose.

Yes, I've got the old fart's standard near-vision challenges, but since I have to solve those somehow to be able to read my computer, they're not an issue for being able to read the compass. I just have to turn the compass mount so I can take a proper bearing when my forearms are extended to some 45 degrees angle in front of me.

 

[miketsp]

This is why I'm a wreck diver. You never have to worry about navigation:

1.) There's a rope.
2.) There are two boats
3.) Each boat is tied to an end of the rope
4.) If you get lost, follow the rope until you come to a boat
5.) If that boat is on the bottom, turn around and look for a boat on the OTHER end of the rope.
6.) If THAT boat is also on the bottom... navigation is the least of your worries

:d

In my experience of wreck diving #3 is rarely true. The current is far too strong for the boat to tie on.
Most of the wreck diving I've done the boat will pass over the wreck and the DM or an experienced diver will tie on a buoy and a trailing line. Then the boat will steam past and parallel with the trailing line and divers will jump in and swim to the trailing line and then haul themselves down. At the end of the dive the boat will again come parallel, throw out a safety line and the divers will transfer back across.
Also much of the wreck diving I've done is based on a live drop from up current when it's dangerous for the boat to approach the wreck. You line up on the wreck buoy and start to descend as you get close and then grab the buoy line as it rips past. At the end of the dive you come back up the line until you can't hold on any more then release, surface and signal the boat who will pick you up down current.
The main comfort of having a compass while wreck diving comes from knowing that you will know which way to swim to shore if the boat doesn't spot you.
Also whenever I move away from a wreck I automatically check my heading so I know the reverse course to swim if I lose the wreck. It's happened to me more than once that I've gone to investigate something within clear sight of a wreck but a minute or so later I look back and the wreck has disappeared. Vis can change in an instant. Just swimming back a few metres in the direction of the wreck brings it into full sight.
(If I intend to go any significant distance I run a line, even if looks like the vis is sufficient - I've learned my lesson.)

 

[BDSC]

Good point - maybe I don't need to carry a compass?

I haven't carried a compass in years. I had one attached to my console and got involved in a similar conversation as this thread when someone asked me if I like having it on my console better than wrist mounted. That got me to thinking, when was the last time I had used my compass. I honestly couldn't remember when I had used it last so I took it off maybe 10 years ago and have never needed one since.

 

[Storker]

when was the last time I had used my compass. I honestly couldn't remember when I had used it last so I took it off maybe 10 years ago and have never needed one since.

This obviously depends on your diving style.

Unless I'm on a vacation, I never dive with a guide. That means that for all practical purposes, it's just me and my buddy down there, and at least one of us has to have a decent idea of where we are and in what direction we're swimming. On a strongly sloping bottom or a wall, that's usually not a problem, but I've had several dives where I've suddenly thought "heck, which way are we going now?" A typical site for that kind of experience would be when we're harvesting clams, which like sandy, not too steep bottoms. That's when I really appreciate having taken a bearing on the surface, because when I take a look at my compass I might just as well find out that I'm heading in the opposite direction to where I thought I was heading, as that I'm heading in the right direction. You can lose your bearings pretty quickly when you're zig-zagging all over the place to pick up the clams.

I guess it's not as relevant at other types of sites, or if you're following a guide, but my experiences have taught me to always carry a compass. It takes up about 5cm/2" of real estate on my forearm/wrist, and I have that real estate available. It might even come in handy if you lose sight of your guide...

 

[BDSC]

This obviously depends on your diving style.

I agree. Most of my diving is typically places like Bonaire, Cozumel, Little Cayman, etc. You're either wall diving or drift diving so you either don't need to find a boat, it's easy to find the boat, or the boat finds you. Now if you were in the Keys maybe doing more of a flat reef type dive where things can start looking the same, you either need to have a good sense of direction or a compass. I generally have a pretty good sense of direction although I'll admit I have had to pop to the surface to spot the boat but that's rare.