Am I the only one that dives with 2 computers?

[Remy B.]

I dive normally with 2 DC, but follow the most conservative one (Main), my last dives here in Nederland I only used my Suunto D4i (backup) as the other one is back home.

I don't recommend the Suunto D4i as I find out the band max out with a 7mm suit with gloves over it, other bad thing, and maybe I'm wrong but it seems it doesn't have gauge mode, but it have a stop watch so you can used with the tables, it also does't have gas switching mode so it is strictly recreational, for the price of a Suunto you can buy something else more capable or even cheaper that does more than the Suunto D4i.

 

[dmaziuk]

Interesting to know. Thanks. My Suuntos do not let the user switch modes at will. The manual says: "If you dive with the GAUGE mode, it is not possible to change between the modes before the no fly time has counted down."

Really? Like you can't pull out the battery and cold-reset it? Leonardo's manual just says wait 24 hours after mode switch. Or battery change.

 

[muddiver]

Besides "the dive op says so", why won't tables work. My fallback plan is to put myself in PG Z (Padi tables), take a 3 hour SI, and go from there.

And where does your 24 hour requirement come from?

The 24 hour rule comes from either the manual for the computer, or the PADI computer diver specialty manual. Some training programs over simplify to the conservative extremely because they don't know what computer you are going to use, and weather or not you know how to use tables. There are certain courses that have ditched the use of tables for computers solely.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

---------- Post added September 20th, 2015 at 01:46 PM ----------

To the OP. I have been diving with two computers for years. I figure that electronics and sea water do not mix well, and if you computer craps out, it will probably be when you have not been looking. Then, how do you switch to tables if you don't really know you max depth and dive time? I am also not the typical bargain basement scuba diver either.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Lorenzoid]

Really? Like you can't pull out the battery and cold-reset it? Leonardo's manual just says wait 24 hours after mode switch. Or battery change.

In the Suunto Zoop, I could conceivably do that, because the battery is intended to be replaced by the user. In the Suunto D-series computers, however, a battery change is a major operation. In any event, the point is that if I were to do so, I would be circumventing a feature the manufacturer included for the purpose of promoting safety. The manufacturer wants to discourage users from switching modes at will, and I can understand why they take that position. I decided I no longer need that kind of paternalism, which is why I bought a Petrel, but I can see why a risk-averse computer manufacturer discourages the average recreational diver from switching between Gauge Mode and Dive Mode. So long as a diver uses a recreational computer, I wouldn't suggest the diver try to circumvent any of its features that are intended to promote safety. If and when the time comes when a diver acquires the mindset that he's going to think beyond what the computer is going to compute for him, then it's time he uses a tech computer instead (or go back to tables).

 

[Centrals]

In the Suunto Zoop, I could conceivably do that, because the battery is intended to be replaced by the user.

Zoop has gauge mode?

 

[Doby45]

Zoop has gauge mode?

Negative, Zoop =s no gauge mode.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Zoop has gauge mode?

Negative, Zoop =s no gauge mode.

Sorry--I didn't mean to confuse the different issues raised here. No, the Zoop has no Gauge Mode. The D-series does. When I have taken either of my Suuntos along on a dive as a backup, I have had it set in Dive Mode, not Gauge Mode. I suppose I was overly focused on the battery change aspect of dmaziuk's post.

 

[guyharrisonphoto]

When I got my Galileo Sol, I already had an Aladin Tec 2G. So, I just kept wearing that one for a back-up. It runs the same algorithm so no worry about which computer is more conservative. It is very small and easy to carry, I wear it right next to the Sol, but I don't really look at it during the dive. It is only there if my Sol fails, and so it will get me to the surface and let me keep computer diving with no 24 hour sit-out.

 

[rivers]

Negative, Zoop =s no gauge mode.

Unless you bend it like a pretzel

 

[dmaziuk]

I would be circumventing a feature the manufacturer included for the purpose of promoting safety. The manufacturer wants to discourage users from switching modes at will, and I can understand why they take that position.

Well, I prefer the manufacturer who starts their manual with a bunch of legalese that spells you're gonna die! instead of the paternalism. If they don't understand they can't stop me from resetting the device they're not qualified to make the device.

Nor can they stop me from using the computer between my ears. Like if my DC dies during the check-in splash on the first day of my 7-day Bonaire trip I'm not going to wait 24 hours before renting a replacement. Because I have a fair idea of what my residual N2 is at that point.