Considering second/backup dive computer

[KeithG]

I can do dive planning the "old school" way. Lucky me...
Back to class for Divers who lost those skills along the way.

In theory this plan will work well for people who do square profile dives. But it is not a universal solution. It is totally impractical for people who do multilevel dives.

There is no way to translate a typical day of caribbean multi level dives back to tables. In Bonaire my typical dive plan is a multilevel dive to 90 feet for 90 minutes. Multiple times a day. You can not jam this profile back into the tables as a simple square profile. You could start to guess and approximate your time at various depths (how well do you remember each of the dives) and try to reverse engineer the dive into multiple dives that would not violate the tables. But you are now guessing & approximating.

For those who do not do square profiles, using tables as a backup plan is not a good idea. So it is not very practical for divers like me. A backup computer is the only practical solution.

 

[FinnMom]

Originally Posted by PCoetzee I can do dive planning the "old school" way. Lucky me...
Back to class for Divers who lost those skills along the way.

And I can sew by hand but that doesn't mean I don't love owning a sewing machine.

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You need a timing device and depth gauge to use tables. A basic computer (such as the Zoop) offers these for 200 bucks and also gives you temperature, average depth, a vastly wider variety of Nx % settings (variable max PP 02 setting), a logbook function and the option of setting alarms.
I never saw the sense in buying a bottom timer for the same price as a barely used computer, or maybe $50 less than a new computer.

BTW the Zoop does not do gauge mode. That might be one reason for not selecting exactly that model.

 

[rprice54]

I thought I'd go ahead and close the loop. After learning that the Suunto watches had to be shipped off for battery service (for close to $100) I decided against that route. My LDS made me a great offer on a Cobra/compass air integrated console, and converted my zoop to a wrist mount for free. So I have the cobra as my main, the zoop on my wrist or in my BC as my backup. They use the same algorithm, so no issues there. I'm a happy camper.

 

[padudle]

Suunto at 23% oxygen vs regular 'air' on his liberal computer.

I think this is very commonly done with Suunto computers. The least conservative setting on them is still very very conservative. If you dive on air you will tempted to use this technique to be compatible with your group. It seems like a mathematically valid way to get normal conservatism out of your Suunto which are very nice machines otherwise.