Disturbing trend in diving?

[dmaziuk]

Dive computer is useful not only for determining how deep you are, but perhaps more important for tracking your ascension rate and managing your 15' safety stop.

In case you haven't been, they typically park the boat in 5-6 msw and follow the reef up to the anchor. It's not like coming straight up from 30 msw in open blue water, you don't really need ascent rate alarm. And you "manage" your SS by hanging around the anchor looking for small stuff.

We've been doing Bonaire-Curacao-type diving for a decade now and I can promise you're not going to bend a computer by exactly following the DM for 2 dives/day for 5 days there. Well, maybe if you buy a birdix and set its GF to 20/40 or something.

 

[Allen-1]

In case you haven't been, they typically park the boat in 5-6 msw and follow the reef up to the anchor. It's not like coming straight up from 30 msw in open blue water, you don't really need ascent rate alarm. And you "manage" your SS by hanging around the anchor looking for small stuff.

We've been doing Bonaire-Curacao-type diving for a decade now and I can promise you're not going to bend a computer by exactly following the DM for 2 dives/day for 5 days there. Well, maybe if you buy a birdix and set its GF to 20/40 or something.

You're correct, I haven't been there. My comment was more generic in nature - but given your statement of conditions above - yeah - dive computer not necessary. I'd wear one, but that's choice/habit.

 

[pauldw]

The best thing you could do is park your DH.

The DSV leaked badly, the cage valve must have been stuck, the intake hose flooded and shot water down my larynx causing me to have a laryngeal spasm, this at about 110 feet, switched to crappy pancake secondary, then, let's see, my computer quit just as I saw it went into deco since I could not go up, I could not inhale or exhale so I blacked out, I came back to at some point and somehow managed to inhale/exhale occasionally, made an ascent, dropped my spool, caught it after it unwound, nearly lost my camera but finally got it locked away, made it back to the surface, boat picked me up, bleeding from my mouth, told them I bit my tongue, had pneumonia for two months and three courses of antibiotics. More or less that is it. Quit diving DH regulators, that is my advice, for serious diving of any sort beyond fiddling about in a shallow swimming pool. That way it will not happen to you. I have had enough split hoses, leaky valves, water sputtering down my throat, after decades of DH, enough is now enough, time to move on.

So other than that, it was a good dive?

 

[TerriB]

So, lately I've seen some things posted that have me raising my eyebrows a bit.
There have been a few stories posted about people relying completely on the divemasters or guides for their bottom times, NDL status, basic dive profiles. This seems to be in Mexico from what I gather but it might include some other locations.
The trend seems to be that these divers in question don't have computers or depth gauges/any kind of timing device and rely 100% on the divemasters to take care of them and keep them safe.
Is this a thing?

It’s a concern of mine, as well. And a subject included in every dive class I teach.

 

[Nemrod]

So other than that, it was a good dive?

It was a blast . And I only touched on some of the highlights . And a big bull shark kept me company on drift while I waited to get picked up. He was a jovial fellow and I appreciated his keeping me company.

Oh, I kept diving. A little pneumonia and blood running out of my mouth should not keep a dedicated diver out of the water.

On topic, I got two SW Peregrines. And a new G260/Mark 17 Evo. And I even read the OMs for the computers. Because two is one and one is none. I did several upgrades and changes as a result of the misadventure.

 

[Pressurehead]

On topic, I got two SW Peregrines. And a new G260/Mark 17 Evo

Nice.
I do not feel disturbed by this trend.

 

[christ0phe]

So, lately I've seen some things posted that have me raising my eyebrows a bit.
There have been a few stories posted about people relying completely on the divemasters or guides for their bottom times, NDL status, basic dive profiles. This seems to be in Mexico from what I gather but it might include some other locations.
The trend seems to be that these divers in question don't have computers or depth gauges/any kind of timing device and rely 100% on the divemasters to take care of them and keep them safe.
Is this a thing?

I noticed this a lot last weekend in Cozumel. I would feel really uncomfortable relying on a dive master (aka I would never lol), but I guess it makes sense that a lot of vacation divers wouldn’t have a computer or aren’t even aware of NDL limits.

 

[dmaziuk]

... I guess it makes sense that a lot of vacation divers wouldn’t have a computer or aren’t even aware of NDL limits.

How'd you arrive at that equivalence?

 

[rx7diver]

The best thing you could do is park your DH.

The DSV leaked badly, the cage valve must have been stuck, the intake hose flooded and shot water down my larynx causing me to have a laryngeal spasm, this at about 110 feet, switched to crappy pancake secondary, then, let's see, my computer quit just as I saw it went into deco since I could not go up, I could not inhale or exhale so I blacked out, I came back to at some point and somehow managed to inhale/exhale occasionally, made an ascent, dropped my spool, caught it after it unwound, nearly lost my camera but finally got it locked away, made it back to the surface, boat picked me up, bleeding from my mouth, told them I bit my tongue, had pneumonia for two months and three courses of antibiotics. More or less that is it. Quit diving DH regulators, that is my advice, for serious diving of any sort beyond fiddling about in a shallow swimming pool. That way it will not happen to you. I have had enough split hoses, leaky valves, water sputtering down my throat, after decades of DH, enough is now enough, time to move on.

OK. DSV problem. I'll start taking more notice on maintenance and pre-dive. Thanks.

Or, don't install a DSV on your DH. Also, I have a SP BA attached (to my DA AM upgraded with a 1st gen Phoenix Nozzle) as a secondary, which continues to perform very well even ~38 years after I purchased the BA new (in 1987).

And I don't dive my DH deeper than ~30 ffw (though this is primarily because I prefer having two complete regs when I'm solo rec diving deeper than this).

I continue to enjoy diving my DH. (Have been diving it ever since I purchased it used c. 2016, IIRC.)

rx7diver

 

[Nemrod]

Or, don't install a DSV on your DH. Also, I have a SP BA attached (to my DA AM upgraded with a 1st gen Phoenix Nozzle) as a secondary, which continues to perform very well even ~38 years after I purchased the BA new (in 1987).

And I don't dive my DH deeper than ~30 ffw (though this is primarily because I prefer having two complete regs when I'm solo rec diving deeper than this).

I continue to enjoy diving my DH. (Have been diving it ever since I purchased it used c. 2016, IIRC.)

rx7diver

I am not going to go back through all of this. I am moving on.