C8X
Contributor
When I first bought my own gear I got a suunto spg + gekko in a 2-pc combo console, and then bought a simple suunto wrist compass. It works okay but it's not that nice to use, it doesn't have headings printed on the bezel so the current heading isn't at the top of the bezel where I expect it to be, it feels unnatural, I'm not too bad at land nav and am used to the bezel showing the current heading up front.
Anyway, I went to my LDS and bought an "Aquanaut" compass, a big beefy thing that resembles the Suunto SK7 closely, I figured it would be as good and I think the wrist strapped Suunto SK7 compass they had there looked too expensive and was too bulky.
As I wasn't leading many dives at all I rarely used the compass for a period but then in anticipation of my AOW I started using it more and found it very unpleasant, there was just something about it reacting slowly or sometimes seeming to point in the wrong direction. Eventually during the NAV course I got sick of it and went back to the basic Suunto.
Recently while shopping for other bits and pieces I saw this product from Dive Rite and couldn't believe it was the exact same crap compass I'm trying to get rid of. Dive Rite Compass reviews and discounts, Dive Rite Nothing against Scubatoys at all, I just expected higher standards from a name like Dive Rite, I wonder if anyone tested the product. I felt better after reading the reviews and seeing that other agreed!
I bought mine in Australia and it was branded Aquanaut, but the back just says Made In Taiwan. I don't think I have the packaging anymore but I could only hope it's balanced for Australia. It doesn't seem to get stuck or tilt at all so I think it is balanced for Zone 5, it's just hella slow like the needle card has way too much weight and not nearly enough magnetic pull.
I've seen it get stuck backwards - like N pointing S and it teeters on the brink for a few seconds before starting to rotate back around, and when it gets around to N it overshoots by more than 30 degrees, like a pendulum, comes back to N, overshoots a few degrees, then settles on N. It's like a flywheel where you really don't want to have one.
This is the most poor excuse for a navigation tool I've seen, I'm sorry I spent money on it, I'll bring it in to the LDS even though it's over a year old and at least try to convince them not to sell this type anymore. The fact is I'm not that comfortable with my u/w navigation, this thing certainly hasn't been helping me, and I have definitely had it steer me wrong when I looked down too quickly, the needle card was stopped but it was in one of its 30 deg overswings and i didn't watch it long enough to see it start swinging back to north.
Rant over, watch this video and count it -- 10 seconds to resolve a heading when the needle start at 180 , compared to the Suunto's 4 seconds. That's a lot of time to sit still and look at your arm u/w, (and while trying to fight currents and communicate with a buddy)
YouTube - scuba compass comparison
Sorry, but that's a Dive Wrong compass. Don't buy one. I've got a DSS SK7 boot/bungee on the way.
Anyway, I went to my LDS and bought an "Aquanaut" compass, a big beefy thing that resembles the Suunto SK7 closely, I figured it would be as good and I think the wrist strapped Suunto SK7 compass they had there looked too expensive and was too bulky.
As I wasn't leading many dives at all I rarely used the compass for a period but then in anticipation of my AOW I started using it more and found it very unpleasant, there was just something about it reacting slowly or sometimes seeming to point in the wrong direction. Eventually during the NAV course I got sick of it and went back to the basic Suunto.
Recently while shopping for other bits and pieces I saw this product from Dive Rite and couldn't believe it was the exact same crap compass I'm trying to get rid of. Dive Rite Compass reviews and discounts, Dive Rite Nothing against Scubatoys at all, I just expected higher standards from a name like Dive Rite, I wonder if anyone tested the product. I felt better after reading the reviews and seeing that other agreed!
I bought mine in Australia and it was branded Aquanaut, but the back just says Made In Taiwan. I don't think I have the packaging anymore but I could only hope it's balanced for Australia. It doesn't seem to get stuck or tilt at all so I think it is balanced for Zone 5, it's just hella slow like the needle card has way too much weight and not nearly enough magnetic pull.
I've seen it get stuck backwards - like N pointing S and it teeters on the brink for a few seconds before starting to rotate back around, and when it gets around to N it overshoots by more than 30 degrees, like a pendulum, comes back to N, overshoots a few degrees, then settles on N. It's like a flywheel where you really don't want to have one.
This is the most poor excuse for a navigation tool I've seen, I'm sorry I spent money on it, I'll bring it in to the LDS even though it's over a year old and at least try to convince them not to sell this type anymore. The fact is I'm not that comfortable with my u/w navigation, this thing certainly hasn't been helping me, and I have definitely had it steer me wrong when I looked down too quickly, the needle card was stopped but it was in one of its 30 deg overswings and i didn't watch it long enough to see it start swinging back to north.
Rant over, watch this video and count it -- 10 seconds to resolve a heading when the needle start at 180 , compared to the Suunto's 4 seconds. That's a lot of time to sit still and look at your arm u/w, (and while trying to fight currents and communicate with a buddy)
YouTube - scuba compass comparison
Sorry, but that's a Dive Wrong compass. Don't buy one. I've got a DSS SK7 boot/bungee on the way.
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