Will Air Integration in dive computers replace the SPG?

[stuartv]

my cognitive functions are lessened with depth

That seems like an excellent reason to turn over any possible arithmetic that you can to your computer. Irrespective of the possibility of extending a dive.

It might save you from bad arithmetic that prevents you from thumbing early when you should.

 

[dmoore19]

I use a Datamask, I don't even have to move my arm up to see how much gas I have left. The alarms are turned off. I can't hear them anyway. It doesn't do multiple gasses, or if it does it isn't something I know about.

I don't recall ever checking my pressure and being surprised, I have never even come close to running out of gas. For my recreational diving it works just fine thanks.

 

[The Chairman]

With an SPG on your waist, glancing at your computer is not going to clue you in that you're sucking down your gas faster than planned.

You or your buddy should have noticed a change in your breathing pattern way before you checked your SPG, whether it be digital or analog. I've heard a number of instructors tell students that they can tell when a diver is stressed by seeing too much white in their eyes. That's BS. You're never that close until the caca hits the fan and they bolt for the surface. Listen or look at your buddy's breathing as well as your own. Breathing patterns are like a canary in a mine, only more reliable. You can often tell something's wrong with your buddy way before they realize it.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

While I don't mind cutting a dive short for lots of reasons, I won't extend them on the fly. Limits are limits. Since my cognitive functions are lessened with depth, I stick with the limits I determined on the surface. Plan your dive and dive your plan.

Yeah.. well there is that too.. but the automated gas consumption display calculation can be another tool to allow you to confirm that you are on track with remaining air supply - time - and deco status... I found it useful, especially when spearfishing because your gas consumption rate can vary greatly - with varying activity levels.

 

[Bennno]

You could do the same thing manually, using your mechanical depth gauge and bottom timer and tables that you take with you. The computer provides convenience, increased accuracy, and eliminates the possibility of a possibly-narced human making an arithmetic error.

No, you get way longer rec dives with a computer than what you can plan with tables... the difference is huge.
Cave or deko dives need to be planned out anyways, so you don't need that feature.
I have used AI on at least 300 or 400 dives, after it broke I bought a normal rec computer. I never once used the 'rest air time'. You should know your sac before you do any kind of 'advanced' diving. For very shallow dives you don't need it either because you can just dive untill you hit your turn pressure or back to the boat pressure.
As I said before, if you like AI use it, it's not gonna kill you, but don't tell yourself it's gonna help you.

With an SPG on your waist, glancing at your computer is not going to clue you in that you're sucking down your gas faster than planned.

What? Unless your computer tells you that you have been breathing more you wouldn't notice it? You're the one who's breathing. If this really is the case you need to pay more attention. Don't rely on the computer to do your thinking. There is no excuse for getting distracted for more than a few minutes at a time.
You should always know how much gas you have left and how long it's gonna last you, you just look at you SPG to check whether you are right ot not.

Edit: Technically an SPG is more likely to leak, BUT you lose a very small amout of gas when it leaks, so it's not really an issue. On many dive trips you will see people with leaking SPGs and some don't even notice it or don't care.

 

[CuzzA]

How about looking at it from a teaching standpoint. @NetDoc brought up students. (Btw, I would think excessive exhalation bubbles would be an indication of a problem, not the whites of their eyes. My eyes are always beaming ) I've read countless threads on here about instructors are crap these days, open water and even advanced open water is so watered down many are surprised there aren't more deaths than there are every year.

So, if AI requires that you input a mid tank warning or atleast a reserve warning atleast you have students questioning what those numbers mean and perhaps asking questions or doing research. That was pretty much the case for me. IIRC, neither OW or AOW talked a whole lot about rock bottom calculations, in depth planning for failures etc. Sure they covered turn pressure, reserve gas, but it wasn't until I got my computer that I started really figuring out my sac rate, RBC etc. I imagine most OW students resort to "be back on the boat with 500 psi" since that's what they're told by someone in a position of authority after they get certified.

We all agree it's a bad thing when someone dies scuba diving, Is it not a good thing for a piece of technology to help those who never really got trained properly on gas planning? Especially considering so few ever progress to technical diving.

 

[stuartv]

As I said before, if you like AI use it, it's not gonna kill you, but don't tell yourself it's gonna help you.

Here is how it helps ME when I am IN the water: I get in knowing that with my tank and the depth I'm getting into, I normally stay down right up to my NDL and I get back to the boat with anywhere from 900 to 1200 psi. I descend and commence the fun part of my dive. I check my pressure (on my computer on my wrist) every now and then to confirm that the number is still above 2000. Eventually, my internal clock says that I have now been down long enough that I should check my gas and my NDL and confirm how much NDL I have left and that I am on track to stay down that long and still get out with plenty of gas left. So, I look at my NDL, then I look at my pressure to see that it's still a high number and I look at my ATR to confirm that my computer agrees that I have plenty of air compared to my NDL (by displaying an ATR that is longer than my NDL by at least a few minutes). I don't have to do any arithmetic in my head. I've done it enough times to have a rough feel for it so that if the numbers all jibe I have confidence that they are correct.

Without the AI, I would have to check my SPG and then do some mental arithmetic to satisfy myself that the gas left is more than enough. The typical dive I'm talking about is somewhere around 110'.

I feel better about letting my computer do that arithmetic for me than doing it myself. I think the computer is much more likely to do the arithmetic correctly when I'm at 110fsw. That is how I feel like it helps me.

 

[The Chairman]

I used to think I did righteous safety stops until my Cobra showed all I did was safety pauses. It was a great tool for analysis. I'm way past the Cobra, but I've learned a lot about my diving from my PDC.

 

[lowviz]

I used to think I did righteous safety stops until my Cobra showed all I did was safety pauses. ...

Trying real hard to stay out of this thread but you hit a nerve.

Yeah, going to RGBM beat me into shape for rolling through my stops. IMHO, that alone is the true value of the RGBM algorithm for rec divers. You play by the rules and all is good, goof off and you'll soon be looking for another algorithm that tells you your screw-ups are OK....

 

[agilis]

Blowing through safety stops quickly? Never in this life. As the stops get too shallow to incur a significant decomp obligation there is no reason not to hang out at 15 or 20 feet for at least that many minutes, if you have enough gas, and you certainly should.

It's a good time to think, to plan, to observe the changing surface, the interplay of light and shadow, micro life in the water column, on a rope if it's present, practice buoyancy control, daydream, listen to the sea noises, so many things.

Where has all the time gone. I've been here twice as long as I'd intended. A good thing.