Diving Shearwater with a Suunto buddy

[Scuba Doobie Do]

Hello. Most of this has been said in the post, but I’ll repeat since you ask.

Firstly, with your experience in the range of 0-24 dives, air integration or a $1200+ computer is an unneeded distraction. Great that you can afford it. I started with AI about the same time. Assuming here that you’ve already bought a reg set since it might be a hassle to add your transmitter to a different set of rental gear every day.

Unless you are the exception to normal new divers, time and money would be better spent working on perfecting buoyancy, trim, finning technique and air usage. Pay a friend or a DM to help you, rent some pool time, or just dive a lot more. Most men on AL80’s with your dive count run low on pressure before time; although again, perhaps you are the exception. From your questions, I’m not sure you really understand what "limited by my partner’s algo" means.

And here are the real reasons for my thumbs down (again, already covered by others):
1). You and your wife can easily dive different computers. Adjust the conservatism on one or both so the profiles are roughly the same. Some trial and error involved but what does it matter if there’s a minute or two difference in your no deco times? A new diver pushing deco limits is a really bad idea anyway so you should both ensure plenty of safety margin. And since you are travel diving, you may want to adjust the conservatism on your zoop as well and dive it as a backup. Teric reliability isn’t great, so the chance of needing a backup is not zero.

2). Also, consider that you or your spouse may actually need a more conservative profile, and focus on extending dive time could be risky. Any risk factors around age, physical fitness, ever checked for PFO? Ever ascended at above 30fps even for 10 feet during a dive? Ever have a few drinks the night before diving such that you might be dehydrated the next morning? Not saying any of these will get you bent, but they may add risk.

Just for a reality check; look at what the DMs are using on your dive trips. You’ll rarely see a shearwater outside of the US, and I guarantee they aren’t limiting anyone’s "algo". Don’t get too caught up in the bubble/echo chamber of Scubaboard. I think you are repeating what you hear here and need to learn/dive more and the correct decision will become obvious soon.

happy diving, George

Thank you for elaborating. I really do appreciate this information, and I couldn't agree more with your points. I'm NOT a hyper experienced diver, I'm NOT in great shape, and I really should NOT be pushing my NDLs. I also realize that the additional data mid-dive, or just having a new toy underwater, might be more of a distraction to my diving than a benefit. In fact, I've decided not to bring my underwater camera on my next dive so I can focus more on the dives.

I hope that I haven't given the impression that I wanted a Shearwater for the purpose of extending my dives or pushing my limits. Yes, our Zoops have been the deciding factor, when our SI is keeping the rest of the boat out of water, but that doesn't really bother me.

I would love to upgrade to something with AI and a better screen, but at this point that's my only real reason for an upgrade. I had wanted to upgrade before my upcoming dive trip, but maybe the right answer here is to just forget about it until I've put a few more dives under my belt....this is clearly not a decision I should be rushing into.

 

[Scuba Doobie Do]

People should not get the idea that a Shearwater magically gives them more bottom time than other computers. It doesn't. It is running the Bulmann algorithm that has been around for decades. Buhlmann himself has been dead for nearly 30 years. It is also running that algorithm with gradient facts that allow it to be set to a more conservative level. There are good reasons to use a Shearwater computer, but getting more bottom time is not one of them (except compared to Suunto).

I may have led this conversation astray...It was never my intention to get more bottom time. I just wanted to understand the implications of my wife and I diving with different algos.

 

[Vitesse2l]

Late to the party here but when I trained we were told to go by the shortest ndl and the longest deco/safety stop of whichever computers were being used.

My regular buddy dives a suunto viper while I'm using a Peregrine. The Shearwater is much easier to see and operate, in my opinion.

 

[Bloody Marvelous]

There's nothing wrong with upgrading your gear. And having a transmitter is about as much of a distraction as having an SPG.

Follow the most conservative computer, so you don't lock out your own or your buddy's computer.
I don't think Shearwaters will lock you out of a dive. They'll just inform you of the situation and let you make your own decisions. Other brands may lock you out for 24 hours as a safety measure, so it's important that you or your buddy don't exceed the NDL on those. That will ruin the rest of the diving day for both of you.

If you do get a new dive computer you're not familiar with, keep it on the simplest dive settings, and play around it with it on the surface before you go diving. Make sure you understand what it does, and what the alerts and alarms are trying to tell you. You don't want to be underwater, and receive an alert that you don't understand, only to surface prematurely because the dive computer was telling you it briefly lost its connection with the transmitter.

RTFM. Especially with new and unfamiliar gear. Study it like you're studying for an important exam.

 

[Dan]

I upgraded my dive computer from SUUNTO D4 to Shearwater Teric and used both for awhile to understand the difference between RGBM vs Buhlmann ZHL- 16C algorithms. When I set the Teric to Med 40/85 I saw it was still less conservative than RGBM 100. When I set the D4 to RGBM 50, both dive computers dive profiles were nearly match.

I now just use Teric and keep my D4 as a backup. Just came back from a dive trip where I had to loan my D4 to one of my dive buddies, whose her dive computer was flooded after battery replacement and the liveaboard didn’t have a spare one to loan her.

 

[harvalen]

I second keeping the Suunto as a backup. Diving both at the same time will let you see how the different algorithms work for different profiles and you'll know more what to expect from buddies with Suunto computers.

On a dive trip it's also great to have two computers with tissue information from all dives. In case one of them breaks, is lost, or just loses tissue information, then you can continue to dive with the other computer. With no backup, or a backup that has been on the surface the whole time, you'll have some tougher decisions to make.

As a data nerd you can also load the data from both computers into Subsurface and compare them.

 

[rongoodman]

If you plan on keeping the Suunto as a backup, just be aware that it will lock itself out if you make it sad, rendering it useless. In essence, you’ll be forced to use it as the primary, whether you want to or not.

 

[boulderjohn]

Other brands may lock you out for 24 hours as a safety measure,

Unless it has changed since I owned one, Suuntos lock you out for 48 hours if you tick them off.

I second keeping the Suunto as a backup.

If you plan on keeping the Suunto as a backup, just be aware that it will lock itself out if you make it sad, rendering it useless. In essence, you’ll be forced to use it as the primary, whether you want to or not.

rongoodman is correct.

When I bought my first Shearwater a long time ago, I decided to use my old Suunto Cobra (air integrated) as both a backup computer and an air gauge. I violated it the first day, and so for the rest of the trip the only thing it could tell me was how much gas I had left.

If you have two computers, and one of them is a Suunto, the Suunto will be your primary computer, even if you think it is your backup.

 

[harvalen]

When I set the Teric to Med 40/85 I saw it was still less conservative than RGBM 100. When I set the D4 to RGBM 50, both dive computers dive profiles were nearly match.

When I bought my first Shearwater a long time ago, I decided to use my old Suunto Cobra (air integrated) as both a backup computer and an air gauge. I violated it the first day, and so for the rest of the trip the only thing it could tell me was how much gas I had left.

If you have two computers, and one of them is a Suunto, the Suunto will be your primary computer, even if you think it is your backup.

As Dan said, it is fairly close to GFHigh 85. If your surface intervals are less than 2 hours, then it'll be closer to the 70-75 range for consecutive dives. I use 50/70 so it has always been a less conservative backup for me.

It's not that hard to keep it happy, just don't ascend too quickly and pay attention to if you've triggered a "mandatory" safety stop at the end. He's been diving the Suunto for a while, so shouldn't be hard.

When I have a backup instrument I try to pay attention to both, so that I know that they mostly agree. If you just want to put it in your pocket and forget about it until you might need it, then you probably want something that won't lock you out.

 

[34109411]

My wife and I both dive Suunto zoop novo, as does my other occasional dive buddy. We’re primarily warm weather travel divers (now with Nitrox), though I could see myself interested in tech diving later in life.

I’ve got the itch to upgrade to air integration, because I’m a data nerd and apparently love spending my money. I’m all but ready to buy a Teric, but I realize this could cause compatibility issues with my buddies algos.

What are the real downsides to me upgrading to a Teric while my dive buddies stay with Suunto? Will this matter much during rec dives, as long as I don’t mind diving their profiles?

Is my zoop novo essentially a paper weight or gauge/bottom timer? Is it useless as a backup to a Shearwater?

I’m curious to hear people’s thoughts on this, as I’m starting to wonder if upgrading is a waste of money without also upgrading the wife…I don’t think she’s interested in upgrading enough to let me spend money upgrading her too.

i also own a suunto zoop, i dove this summer with a DM about 10 times he was using a sherwater peregrine honestly for him or me didn't affect any of the dive. Deepest dive was a 70 feet we did it twice. both computer show the same profile (ish).. (so i assume the teric will be the same...)

Anyway if you like to buy a Teric go ahead if you are not sure to buy for the wife just get one anyway and send it to me .

Safe diving