Affordable freediving computer?

[daniel1948]

I am a recreational freediver, just as I am a recreational diver: I don't go deep and I'm mostly just interested in looking at the corals and the pretty fishes. Freediving is cool because I like swimming with wild dolphins, and they like it if you dive down.

My reason for posting this is that I think it would be nice to have a computer that would tell me my depth and time for each dive. I'm seriously considering getting an Aladin Tec 2G for scuba diving, and it has a gauge mode, but I'm concerned that my ascent rate for freediving might cause it to go into You-Can't-Dive-Anymore mode if I use it for some morning freediving and then want to scuba dive in the afternoon.

I saw an ad for a really cool freediving computer, but when I found a seller, it turned out to be well over a thousand dollars. I can just use an analog depth gauge and a wristwatch, but if there was an affordable computer for freediving, it would be nice.

Any suggestions?

 

[SangP]

There are quite a number of comps that have free dive mode but a regular digital depth gauge like the uwatec 330 should do the trick. The nice thing about the tec 2g is that it functions as a watch too.

However, both the 330 and tec 2g are rather large, bout the size of a hockey puck and if you are looking for a watch sized comp then you can check out suunto's range but they depth mode isn't as good as uwatec.

SangP

 

[fdog]

The Uwatec 330 & Tec 2g both are not well suited for freediving. They are dive computers, or bottom timers, and don't offer the features you'll need.

The items you'll want in a freediving computer:

High sample rate - about 0.5 seconds.
A display which switches between surface mode and diving mode automatically.

While in depth mode, it displays:

• Depth
• Dive time (in minutes & seconds)

While in surface mode, it displays:

• Time since surfacing in minutes & seconds - this tells you if you've breathed up enough since your last dive.
• Last dive in depth & minutes/seconds

Right now my first choice would be the Suunto D4. It's been very reliable as a freediving computer, very easy to use, and you can scroll back through the memory to see what your best dive was. If you don't want to spend so much, the Aeris Manta is cheaper and does about the same as the D4, with a more difficult interface.

The Aeris F.10 is a dedicated freediving computer, and uses the same chassis as the Manta. This might be a problem.

I went through 4 (four) Mantas, all with pressure sensor & battery problems, before I gave up and got a D4, which has been flawless. I shied away from the F.10 simply because it shares so much with the Manta and my poor experience with it.

Hope this helps!


All the best, James

 

[Liquivision]

freediving computers:
Suunto Mosquito
Suunto Stinger
Suunto D6, D9, D4
Mares Nemo (+Nemo Wide)
Oceanic Geo
Aeris F10
Galileo Sol w/apnea software

The most popular are the D4, F10, and Geo. The obsolete Suunto D3 was the defacto standard for a while, and cheap, but had a 75% failure rate.


Eric Fattah
Liquivision Products

 

[daniel1948]

Thanks for all the suggestions and advice. I'm going to check out those computers.

Daniel

 

[pcheney]

i use a Suunto D4 - as a freedive computer, it's hard to beat.....updates your depth every second, shows dive time, and automatically logs every dive... also works for air and nitrox scuba.....had mine for a year, and I like it.....