Decisions on a Dive Computer

[BoltSnap]

I told him he just needed to chose the right setting: gauge mode. I told him all Suuntos offer this option, and if he chooses this option the computer will "allow" him to stay under as long as he likes.

So your fix for Suunto's bazaar handling of violations, locking divers out of the water for 24 hours and extremely conservative algorithm is to use the gauge mode??? Am I reading this right?

 

[BoltSnap]

My DC does not "allow" me to do anything.

It does lock you out of the water for hours if you hurt its feelings.

 

[Wibble]

Suunto reliability…

I bought the Suunto D9tx a few days before travelling to Spain for a holiday. Lovely watch that said 'diver'. When I arrived and unpacked, I couldn’t wait to jump into the pool and play with it. I think I selected freediver mode and jumped in. It was very shortly after that I discovered that this locks out diving mode for 48 hours. The next day I foolishly tried to use the expensive technical dive computer in gauge mode…. Then discovered it reset the 48h dry timer.

What utter complete pollock designed that!!!

I also discovered that this 48h dry period is triggered if you skip or truncate a "mandatory stop" — given it is ridiculously conservative, this isn’t dangerous.

As a backup computer — to a Perdix— later in my dive career, I had to use the most aggressive "attitude" setting and still discovered it would want 10 minutes more than the Perdix running GF 50:80 (45mins BT at 60m/200' on trimix). Pathetic useless thing.

The battery lasts for between 6 and 12 months and it dies without warning. Always, it appears, when you’ve just started a week's diving away somewhere.

 

[Cdncoldwater]

Tec following has nothing to do with recreation diving. I also dive tec but only relied on pre dive plan and 2 bottom timers. Served me well over last 20 yrs.
Suunto is still head and shoulder above Shearwater in recreational market.
It is this brand that many new/beginner divers came across from the instructor/dive operator/rental initially. How many of them know anything about RGBM/Buhlmann etc? The cost is also another consideration.

That's because Shearwater computers, until the release of the Peregrine were aimed at Tec and the price matched the role and capabilities for Tec, multiple gases, OC or CCR etc. I own a Suunto, a Mares and now a Shearwater; so I'm selling my Mares and the Shearwater will be my primary and the Suunto a back up for solo diving as a rec diver.

 

[yle]

It does lock you out of the water for hours if you hurt its feelings.

No, it really doesn't. This is a grave misconception about dive computers. My dive computer gives me advice.

If my dive computer determines that I incurred a deco obligation and failed to clear it, my dive computer would advise me to stay out of the water for 24 or 48 hours. But it wouldn't "lock me out" of the water. That's absurd. If I want to go back in the water, there is nothing my DC could do to stop me. In fact, it wouldn't even know. I could just go right in to the water and leave my DC behind.

Maybe I'm unusual, maybe everyone else really does allow their DC's to make life decisions for them. I've always thought the role of my DC was to provide me with advice which I could choose whether or not to follow.

 

[yle]

So your fix for Suunto's bazaar handling of violations, locking divers out of the water for 24 hours and extremely conservative algorithm is to use the gauge mode??? Am I reading this right?

You're totally missing the point.

People complain that Suunto's do not "allow" them to stay under long enough. My point was that dive computers do not "allow" or "disallow" anything. They simply provide advice.

The idea that a dive computer says "your time is up!" and you must obey it is ridiculous. We are free to make our own decisions. So if you use a Suunto (or any dive computer) in "dive mode", it will give you its best advice of when you should end your dive. If you want to ignore that advice, you can stay longer. And if you want to ignore your computer's advice, you may as well put it in "gauge mode" so it won't bother you.

I apologize if the point I was making with the original "gauge mode" post was too subtle.

 

[yle]

Suunto reliability…

I bought the Suunto D9tx a few days before travelling to Spain for a holiday. Lovely watch that said 'diver'. When I arrived and unpacked, I couldn’t wait to jump into the pool and play with it. I think I selected freediver mode and jumped in. It was very shortly after that I discovered that this locks out diving mode for 48 hours. The next day I foolishly tried to use the expensive technical dive computer in gauge mode…. Then discovered it reset the 48h dry timer.

Must have been frustrating, especially because this wasn't explained in the manual... apparently.

Beginning OW students are taught the most important thing about using a DC is to read the manual so they know how it works. This is good advice for experienced divers also.

Oh, and I'm still willing to buy that D9 from you, if it's just sitting in a box. It's very similar to my D6, an I've already read the manual. So I won't have the same problems with it that you've encountered.

 

[KenGordon]

Comparing dive computers to cars isn’t realistically a good comparison. Comparing car radios might be better. Ostensibly they’re all the same. Just that you’ll find some brands will be a lot easier to use than others.

Anyway, this is a moot point. Suunto sold the D9tx as a technical dive computer, marketing it squarely at novice divers with a dream. I, and a lot of others, fell for it.

Roll forwards a few years and with hundreds of hours of decompression diving and now owning the Apple of dive computers, a Shearwater Perdix, it’s clear that the Suunto falls desperately short in comparison.

Thus I’m trying to tell others, especially the novices with a dream, don’t buy high-end Suunto. There’s far better computers around that work reliably, use standard algorithms, are a lot easier to use, and a a LOT cheaper to run (Suunto batteries are crazy expensive to replace).

I am pretty sure the D9tx is similar to the HelO2 I had until a student lost it. I really liked that computer and the batteries cost a couple of quid in Tesco, maybe 5 quid with an o ring off eBay, maybe 12 for a Suunto branded kit and £25 for a shop to do it.

I used it for all the OC Trimix I did and then as the backup to my JJ for a couple of years. It was fine vs 50/80 plans and I even did the Markgraf in a three with one buddy with two Helo2s and another on a Petrel and a gauge, we were all clear with 5 minutes of one another.

 

[Patrick Star]

But it wouldn't "lock me out" of the water. That's absurd. If I want to go back in the water, there is nothing my DC could do to stop me. In fact, it wouldn't even know. I could just go right in to the water and leave my DC behind.

 

[Wibble]

I am pretty sure the D9tx is similar to the HelO2 I had until a student lost it. I really liked that computer and the batteries cost a couple of quid in Tesco, maybe 5 quid with an o ring off eBay, maybe 12 for a Suunto branded kit and £25 for a shop to do it.

I used it for all the OC Trimix I did and then as the backup to my JJ for a couple of years. It was fine vs 50/80 plans and I even did the Markgraf in a three with one buddy with two Helo2s and another on a Petrel and a gauge, we were all clear with 5 minutes of one another.

Try £50/€60/$70 in a dive shop!!!

The battery is pretty standard for £5 off Amazon etc. Need the screwdriver