Choosing dive gear as a new diver

[STATDIVER]

Thanks for the various perspectives, y'all. I may just end up going with the puck...found a great deal on them through leisure pro. Haven't made the decision yet, but going with simplicity and familiarity, since that's what I trained with, especially with a deal....that may just be the way to go. We'll see.

I do have one other general question though...when some of you speak of "streamlined" gear, do you mean just reducing hoses? I ask because it seems like a lot of people use the term streamline when talking about wrist computers and wrist compasses. To me though, looking in three different places for three different pieces of info doesn't seem very streamlined...as opposed to a console where everything you need to see is all in one place. Just curious. Thanks again.

 

[fjpatrum]

This very topic is one of the reasons I actually like scubaboard. For me, the bias wars are the best source of information. Yes, it's a hassle to filter through the noise but you definitely get all you need for making an informed decision.

It's how I came to dive a BP/W setup (though I dive a modified horse collar as my wing, primarily) and made some other choices. I still dive split fins (or full foot "snorkel" fins) more than anything else, but that's what informed decisions mean.; making choices that are right for YOU based on all available information.

Thanks DRIS for making such a good starting post to this thread. If I weren't already a customer, I would be now.

 

[Dive Right In Scuba.]

I do have one other general question though...when some of you speak of "streamlined" gear, do you mean just reducing hoses? I ask because it seems like a lot of people use the term streamline when talking about wrist computers and wrist compasses. To me though, looking in three different places for three different pieces of info doesn't seem very streamlined...as opposed to a console where everything you need to see is all in one place. Just curious. Thanks again.

I have everything except my SPG on my wrists. When I am in horizontal trim, my arms are usually folded comfortably in front and below me. If I want any of the information there, I just move my eyes to where they need to go. If I were to use an air integrated computer, everything would be right there. If you are diving in a more vertical posture with your arms down, it would be different.

My spg is on a hip D-ring, at the end of a hose just long enough to get it there and be visible to me when I unclip it and take a glance. The more you dive, the less you need to look at it. You know how long your dive is going to last, and you know you have enough air for that duration, so you just need to go to it from time to time for confirmation that all is going as planned. (I take a lot of gas, so running out is rarely a concern. Newer divers are well advised to check in with their air supplies much more often.) In contrast, I am usually checking my depth and dive time with much more regularity, sometimes almost continually, and with those instruments on my wrists, it is effortless to see them with almost no movement needed.

A console with all the instruments on it is at the end of a longer hose that frequently dangles and gets in the way of things. Instead of just glancing at the wrist for all your dive information, you have to pull the console up to your face regularly, a movement so inconvenient that it is tempting to do it too rarely. Once again, if you are diving in a vertical posture with your arms at your side, then it is no harder than pulling your arm up to take a look, but if you are in horizontal trim, the difference is significant.

 

[KevinNM]

A common thing you see with a new diver is them dragging their console and octopus along the reef or the bottom because they are hanging free. This is bad for multiple pretty obvious reasons. A streamlined diver can be 4 inches off the bottom and not be plowing up the sand or mud with anything. A well trained and experienced streamlined driver can be 4 inches off the bottom and not be stirring up the sand or mud as they swim along.

 

[Buliwyf]

I'm also just getting a wrist mounted Mares puck pro and a simple little SPG. Wrist compass is maybe $40.

By the time I outgrow that and want a computer that computes my remaining air, hopefully such computers will be less than $1500. That's a lot to spend for a $99 board, $99 pressure sensor/transmitter, $50 screen, and some molded plastic and rubber.

 

[Dive Right In Scuba.]

I'm also just getting a wrist mounted Mares puck pro and a simple little SPG. Wrist compass is maybe $40.

By the time I outgrow that and want a computer that computes my remaining air, hopefully such computers will be less than $1500. That's a lot to spend for a $99 board, $99 pressure sensor/transmitter, $50 screen, and some molded plastic and rubber.

You can get air-integrated computers for half that. Some of the most popular technical computers, including the ones used by some of the most serious tech divers in the world, cost half that. If you are thinking about spending $1,500 for a computer, ask yourself what that computer has that you really want. If you go through the features and decide that they are worth the cost, be my guest, but you can get a lot of computer for less than that.

 

[rongoodman]

By the time I outgrow that and want a computer that computes my remaining air, hopefully such computers will be less than $1500.

By the time you outgrow that and want a more powerful computer, wanting it to calculate your remaining air will likely no longer be an issue.

 

[dmaziuk]

By the time I outgrow that and want a computer that computes my remaining air, hopefully such computers will be less than $1500. That's a lot to spend for a $99 board, $99 pressure sensor/transmitter, $50 screen, and some molded plastic and rubber.

That isn't entirely true, though: you need ultrasonic transmitter in the sensor, receiver in the main unit, and a communication protocol that can tell your transmitter(s) from everybody else's etc. etc. By the time you're done developing it all, your R&D costs turn $99 pressure sensor into $300 transmitter.

 

[BDSC]

Just to clear up some misconceptions about console computers because I'm already seeing a lot of mumbo-jumbo. I have been diving a console computer for the past 20 years I guess. It has never drug along the bottom. Why? Because I use a simple retractor to clip it to my bc. (I suspect some of the folks who talk about the perils of using a console use a clipped off octo.) The retractor works great and I think I am on my 3rd retractor in 20 years, replacing them not because they failed but because I just wanted a new one. It's never in the way and doesn't get caught on stuff. It takes me on average about 3 seconds to actually grab it and look at it and read the numbers. Nothing to it. Really really simple process and it's not some sort of inconvenience that would keep you from performing the function.

I think computers on the wrist are fine and if that's what folks want then they should buy them and if folks want a console then buy it, but make an informed decision based on reality and not some BS you read in a thread like this. To me, the only downside of a wrist computer, if it's AI, is the transmitter giving problems. I think it's rare that you will actually have a problem with that but I have been on dive trips where it has happened and I typically lend them my spare Wisdom console.

 

[Doby45]

It is a Coke or Pepsi type thing. I personally go with a wrist mount computer on my right wrist and a compass on my left wrist. The biggest factor for me, other than dangly stuff, was the thought of doing ascents. If you are holding your BCD inflator in your left hand up (because it is on the left side in most BCDs and BP/W setups) and you are needing to monitor your depth and the console is on your left (as most are commonly setup) then there is a slight bit of futzing to make that work. Sure it can be done and has been stated by BDSC "I have been diving a console computer for 20 years". But for me, it is easier while in trim to look at my wrist and upon ascending it is easier holding my inflator in my left hand and looking at my right wrist/forearm. That is just my take, but as I said before it is a Coke or Pepsi thing.