Convince me to get a bottom timer...

[Elemental]

You're right: DIR divers don't need computers, especially two. My BT is enough for me to plan deco on the fly, in caves or OW.

I'm tempted by the Aladin Tec 2G for its average depth feature which can be reset during the dive, but I can't really justify the $500 upgrade from my current BT.

I'm not terribly impressed by the Uwatec BT though. Luckily my D3 is still going strong.

 

[orange_diver]

Cheetah, you are in somewhat of a catch-22 re using a BT right now because to get the most use out of one (i.e. not with tables, they will punish you for multi-level dives) you really should be using ratio deco or "deco on the fly". catch is, no one is going to teach you that over the internet.

so what i would suggest, as others have, is a dive computer you can run as a computer, and when you have finished Fundies, you can put that puppy into gauge mode and never look back. plus, as others have said, you can download your profiles into your computer.

The Liquivision X1 would be perfect for you. oh wait, i'm projecting.

I've been using a suunto vyper for a couple years now and its fine, but just picked up a Tec2G b/c resetting the avg depth was becoming more important the deeper i go and i also want to start seeing seconds for my deco.

 

[mempilot]

X1 in guage mode. There's a complete waste of money. I'm sure you were joking, so I'm just slagging a bit.

The reason I suggested a computer and a bottom timer is that you have the flexibility to follow the tables or exit on the computer if needed. Ocean dives on wrecks are often multi-level dives, and the dives we've done on the Oriskany and others had blocks of time at 190, 170, 130 and 90. There is now way to plan that in any simple fashion using only tables.

Since computers fail, and so do bottom timers or computer in guage mode, it is obvious good practice to have a backup.

 

[Gombessa]

X1 in guage mode. There's a complete waste of money. I'm sure you were joking, so I'm just slagging a bit.

It's pretty clear that was just a joke. I think you're a still a bit strung up from that ridiculous SMB thread. Just imagine, the DIR forum being a friendlier place than Basic Scuba Discussions? Madness.

 

[mempilot]

It's pretty clear that was just a joke. I think you're a still a bit strung up from that ridiculous SMB thread. Just imagine, the DIR forum being a friendlier place than Basic Scuba Discussions? Madness.

So true.

 

[orange_diver]

X1 in guage mode. There's a complete waste of money. I'm sure you were joking, so I'm just slagging a bit.

The reason I suggested a computer and a bottom timer is that you have the flexibility to follow the tables or exit on the computer if needed. Ocean dives on wrecks are often multi-level dives, and the dives we've done on the Oriskany and others had blocks of time at 190, 170, 130 and 90. There is now way to plan that in any simple fashion using only tables.

Since computers fail, and so do bottom timers or computer in guage mode, it is obvious good practice to have a backup.

It was a total joke. hence the if money was no object, tho, i would rock one in gauge mode who cares those things are sweet.

While you give perfectly valid advice, i'm going to keep my answers relevant to the DIR forum. Hence, no tables and no need for a backup BT or computer. If my BT takes a dump i have someone else on my team to call deco.

in the extremely unlikely event i find myself both alone AND my BT takes a dump (we don't usually plan for 2 failures), i know roughly how much deco i have left to do in my head thanks to ratio deco and frequent gauge checking, and i do that deco counting time in my head while flying an SMB knotted at 10' intervals. count the knots as they go up, thats how deep you are.

oh wait, now we're back to the SMB thread.

in any case, i assume the OP is not doing technical dives since he has yet to even take Fundies so in theory if his BT crapped out he can (slowly) surface from an NDL dive and still walk away. at the very least, he can approximate 10 - 20' under the surface and hang out while counting 180 seconds in his head.

 

[mempilot]

Sounds like good advice to me. Didn't mean to come off crabby. I think the X1 is the Cat's Meow as well. I actually bin'd the VR3 for a Shearwater integration on the Meg. I know the CCR is not DIR, so I don't mean to hijack. Obviously, I used to dive OC tech though, and while my rig was DIR and skill set compatible, I did not take the course. So, I will shut up now, and bow out, since when I first posted, I did not realize what forum this was in. Ooops.

 

[orange_diver]

no worries on my end, i'm lurking about the rebreather threads myself these days...

 

[mempilot]

no worries on my end, i'm lurking about the rebreather threads myself these days...

No need to lurk there! Jump in and ask some questions. RebreatherPro (Jill Heinerth) was my MOD1 instructor. She is an awesome person and great resource. Out in your neck of the woods, Andrew Ainslee is another good source. Over on RBW, we are all about as disfunctional as it gets! I disappeared off of SB and TDS for a couple of years after going CC. I really admire the DIR philosophy. Some things I have a hard time swallowing, but that's the game, isn't it?

 

[Bismark]

It was a total joke. hence the if money was no object, tho, i would rock one in gauge mode who cares those things are sweet.

While you give perfectly valid advice, i'm going to keep my answers relevant to the DIR forum. Hence, no tables and no need for a backup BT or computer. If my BT takes a dump i have someone else on my team to call deco.

in the extremely unlikely event i find myself both alone AND my BT takes a dump (we don't usually plan for 2 failures), i know roughly how much deco i have left to do in my head thanks to ratio deco and frequent gauge checking, and i do that deco counting time in my head while flying an SMB knotted at 10' intervals. count the knots as they go up, thats how deep you are.

oh wait, now we're back to the SMB thread.

in any case, i assume the OP is not doing technical dives since he has yet to even take Fundies so in theory if his BT crapped out he can (slowly) surface from an NDL dive and still walk away. at the very least, he can approximate 10 - 20' under the surface and hang out while counting 180 seconds in his head.

Couple of questions for you:

1) "counting the knots as you go up".......what exactly do you do at 150'? Or are you carrying some huge spool...?

2) Why do you think that DIR divers do not have a back-up bottom timer?
3) What kind of GUE or UTD deco are you doing that asks for 180 seconds between 10-20'?

4) Also, you might want to revisit your knowledge of Ratio Deco............