Diving Watch

[tomcat]

I've been thinking about getting a diving watch and as usual, I'm pretty undecided about the cost benefit analysis.

On the one hand, there are the top of the line Seiko 033's and Citizen Promasters with depth meters + self timers and all. On the other extreme there are the $30 Timex and Casios with stop watches and backlighting that do the job just as well.

I already have a dive computer and wear it throughout dive trips so the dive watch is more of a back up and look cool thing for me.

What do you guys have and what would you recommend?

tomcat

 

[Warhammer]

I have a $30 Timex, well actually it's not even a Timex, but it cost me around $30 so that should count. It also doubles as the watch I wear everyday, so it sees lots of abuse. Personally I see no reason to buy an expensive watch when you already have an expensive computer. Course you could always use it as a backup like you said, but what's the real benefit vs cost there?

 

[tomcat]

ah, nothing like a cool head to help think things through.

I guess what we're talking about here is dependability. Next to my pressure and depth gauges, the next most important piece of measuring equipment on my list would be a timing device. I just have this nasty feeling that one day, my 'puter is gonna conk and i'm not gonna be able to remember how long i've been down. that's not so bad cos i can always abort the dive and go on up (although tt may mess up the recording of my dive profile and planning for subsequent dives). the important thing here i would say, is timing for the safety stop. i know 3-5 mins is not a long time but somehow when i'm underwater, time flows differently and i have difficulty estimating it :Þ.

Having been on several dives where my buddies look kinda lost, i wouldn't bet on depending on them to be able to understand that i need to look at their watch and time a safety stop! heheh.

in conclusion, i guess you are right Warhammer. There really isn't a good reason why an expensive diving watch is necessary, unless it has some very specific features that can justify the cost (e.g. the dive modes on the Citizen Promasters)

 

[Dee]

One of my first purchases after certification was a Citizen Hyper-Aqualand dive watch. Being newly certified, it was a cool must have...the dive shop said so!

In the last 5 years I have come to depend on it. I use it to log my dives as it gives me everything I need whereas my computer only gives the same info when downloaded. The light on it really sucks but is sufficient for night dives. Besides, I always have a light.

After hundreds of dives in alkaline water, one of the buttons became sticky so I sent it in for repair. With a 5 year warranty, Citizen sent back a brand new watch. I had never had to have the battery changed.

Do I need it? No. Do I depend on it? Yes. Has it been worth the price? To me it has. It's dependable, keeps excellent time, and I know if I ever need a timing device if my computer craps out, I have one.

Just my .02

 

[Tavi]

Tomcat,
If your timing device craps out on you , Count to 500.
This will put you between 3 and 5 minutes, depending on how fast your counting.
Try it and time yourself BEFORE you need it. Besides counting gives you something to do while your just hanging there.
I'm usually just under 5 minutes.
Tavi

 

[Warhammer]

The old counting trick...1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi, 3 scuba divers, 4 scuba divers...Wait a sec, where was I? " The hell with it, if my computer goes south, I'll go north, drain my tank, and dive another day.

 

[tomcat]

Heheh, I agree with warhammer. counting has never been one of my strengths. besides, i'm always not quite sure what comes after three hundred and forty one.

going north is most definitely the option but would be such a waste if the rest of the dives are screwed up because I didn't have that $30 timex or $300 aqualand.

 

[Tavi]

I agree too! but I would have to ascend from the dive I'm on. Counting is one way to perform a safetey stop with a dead watch.
Tavi

 

[Warhammer]

I see the benefits of having a watch and I always wear mine. But you'd have to keep up with your max depth, time, and have a set of tables with you (unless you can resight them from memory, I can't) in order for the it to do you much good. And the YMCA tables are always in my BC's pocket, I check the time before descending and am aware of my max depth. So I could continue the dive, but since my Cobra is air-intergrated and I don't have backup gauges, if it fails I'm done. Also if it was say dive 3 of the day, how would you even know how much time you have left when you've been relying on the computer to figure your NDLs on the fly? In my opinion, if redundancy is what you seek, seek it through another computer instead of a watch. Well some watches are computers, so those would work.

 

[tomcat]

Good point Warhammer. It had slipped my mind about repetitive dives. Now I'm wondering what the optimal set up is, given my limited resources.

On the one hand, there is no way that I can afford or will bother to wear 2 dive coms, on the other hand, having a regular watch won't save the dives for the rest of the day either. Hmmm...stick with tables and regular watches?

tomcat