Diving watches

[Akimbo]

Then, the real question of this thread: is it worth buying a Rolex Submariner, the self called ultimate diver watch?

I got a Rolex Sea Dweller in the mid-70s for work but ended up leaving it in the chamber during lockouts. I paid $328 for it and "Double Reds" sell are selling in the mid-5 digits now. That's the good news. The bad news is I've had to keep in in a safe deposit box since learning what it is worth.

Wear the watch you like on deck and get a larger dive computer that is easy to read in low light and displays more information on the home screen.

 

[M-Cameron]

Because your computer's dive planner will tell you before you hit the water?

im talking about at depth....

you should know what your NDL is before you hit the water, especially considering it takes all of 30 seconds to check a table...

The scenario you refer to: has it happened to you? Has it happened to someone you know? Have you heard of it happening to anyone?

has my computer ever goofed up underwater?....yes....

Tables are fine for people hung up on them. But I think they are going the way of the slide rule with better tools available for recreational divers.
Half my diving experience was with tables. I was glad to give them up. I think there's more chance of error skipping a column or row in a table or not remembering to reset the bezel on your not entirely infallible watch.

im not saying dive only by tables....i am saying you should at least understand how to use them, and understand the science behind them, and use them as a reference for your NDL before you get in the water.....and dont just blindly follow what your computer tells you.


do you people just blindly follow your cars GPS?.....or have you ever had a situation where your GPS has given you wrong info, and youve ignored it because you know better?

 

[Thombalabomba]

because you dont understand even the basics of diving science and are relying on a computer and only a computer to keep you alive.

if your computer wigs out, and gives you bad information, you need to have enough knowledge to:

1) know that information is not correct.
2) know what to do next, knowing the computer cannot be relied upon.

a dive computer should always be a convenience, and not a dependence.


if you are at 100' and your computer is telling you that you have 130 minutes of NDL....are you going to just blindly follow that advice? well if you are dependent on that computer, and youve never even bothered to understand dive tables, why would you have any reason to doubt it?

Do you also dive with a mechanical depth gauge? I agree with your need for a grasp of diving science but tbh i dissagree on the need for a dive watch, especially for rec divers. On a computer fail you abort the dive, i've never heard of one from that's actuallt shocking incorrect data though, only of the unit failing completely, usually due to faulty battery replacement etc.

My guess would be <1% of rec divers dive with a backup, most tec dive with a backup computer. Tbh i have infinitely more faith in the data my computer provides than the depth of a mechanical depth gauge.

 

[Foch]

I'm a Tek Diver. 600+ dives over 20+ years. I'm 56. I am a watch person. I always wear a watch and usually its a dive watch. They are the sturdiest watches made to the strictest standards. So really it is more, I don't take my watch off to dive. There is great arguments as to the need of a watch diving...weak arguments as to why not. I use a programmable dive computer & carry a back up in a pocket most dives. I have never had my DiveRite TriTek fail, and only on the most Tek type dives & depths is it a concern. But the argument is mute. These days people have phones or smart watches and won't be convinced of the need of anything else. Why bother, I stay in my own lane most of the time. But my watch doesn't have batteries and Never fails me.

 

[yle]

Also check for a 'screw-down crown', push-in crowns aren't waterproof.

Any watch rated to 100m IS NOT WATERPROOF but only water resistant!

Everything on Earth, all watches included, is only "water resistant"; nothing is "waterproof". Given enough time, water will infiltrate everything. Google "grand canyon".

 

[yle]

And how are you going to correlate the multi-level calculations of the dive computer to a square dive table? What if in the middle of the dive?

Three easy steps:

1. Note the most recent NDL reading from the failed computer. If diver is in the habit of checking computer regularly, diver should have a pretty good estimate of that value.

2. Set rotating bezel on watch to that value, so watch acts as a countdown timer.

3. Stay shallower than the depth diver was at which correlated to the last NDL value from the failed computer.

Now you might ask "what if the diver wasn't paying any attention to their computer and has no idea what their recent NDL was?" Then yeah... I can't help that diver. But if that's the case, they have a bigger problem than a failed computer.

 

[BoltSnap]

You are confusing issues here and mixing things up, let's take it one step at the time:

because you dont understand even the basics of diving science and are relying on a computer and only a computer to keep you alive.

First, knowing dive tables doesn't mean understanding deco theory or understand what the various terms and phrases mean and their implications on a diver's body. You can do dive tables yet do not comprehend their implications or the ramifications of violating dive table rules. The most important concept to know and understand is deco theory not dive tables.

if your computer wigs out, and gives you bad information, you need to have enough knowledge to:

1) know that information is not correct.
2) know what to do next, knowing the computer cannot be relied upon.

This means that one has to understand how to use their dive computers and comprehend the information it is giving him, nothing to do with dive tables. One has to understand deco theory and understand the implications and meaning of the various dive computer terminology, e.g., NDL, Scrolling, Deco stop, safety stop, etc. You do NOT need to know or understand how to use dive tables for this at all.

a dive computer should always be a convenience, and not a dependence.

A dive computer is a tool that provides accurate information to enhance safety and make the proper decisions during our dive. One needs to know how to read the information the DC is giving and its implications to be able to utilize the dive computer properly and safely.

if you are at 100' and your computer is telling you that you have 130 minutes of NDL....are you going to just blindly follow that advice? well if you are dependent on that computer, and youve never even bothered to understand dive tables, why would you have any reason to doubt it?

This has NOTHING to do with understanding dive tables at all, this has to do, again, with understanding deco theory and the various terms and their ramifications. The term "NDL" isn't peculiar to dive tables, not at all. "NDL" has to do with decompression and understanding what it means and the limits it sets isn't exclusive to knowing how to use dive tables.

There is at least one international diver training agency that doesn't require teaching dive tables to their entry level students, they require teaching the use of dive computers and teaching and understanding decompression with the associated terms.


One other important factor here is that dive computes work on real time calculations of multi-level diving where dive tables are static square profile tables. They don't correlate to each other much.

 

[BoltSnap]

Three easy steps:

1. Note the most recent NDL reading from the failed computer. If diver is in the habit of checking computer regularly, diver should have a pretty good estimate of that value.

2. Set rotating bezel on watch to that value, so watch acts as a countdown timer.

3. Stay shallower than the depth diver was at which correlated to the last NDL value from the failed computer.

Now you might ask "what if the diver wasn't paying any attention to their computer and has no idea what their recent NDL was?" Then yeah... I can't help that diver. But if that's the case, they have a bigger problem than a failed computer.

Nonsense, there is no correlation and no chance to extrapolate and counting on the extrapolation to be right. If your computer goes down while diving, the only thing to do if you don't have a back up DC, you go up as slow as you can and do a precautionary stop for as long as you can and reasonable at what you can guess is 5 meters.

The dive is OVER if your dive computer fails and you don't have a back on you, NO WAY should you continue the dive at all. The only proper action in case DC fails u/w, is make an ascent trying to go up slow and make a precautionary stop.

 

[scubadada]

Nonsense, there is no correlation and no chance to extrapolate and counting on the extrapolation to be right. If your computer goes down while diving, the only thing to do if you don't have a back up DC, you go up as slow as you can and do a precautionary stop for as long as you can and reasonable at what you can guess is 5 meters.

The dive is OVER if your dive computer fails and you don't have a back on you, NO WAY should you continue the dive at all. The only proper action in case DC fails u/w, is make an ascent trying to go up slow and make a precautionary stop.

@yle suggestion is perfectly reasonable. Go no deeper, cut off a few minutes to be conservative. I have no problem with that. I always know what my NDL is within a few minutes.

Of course, I have a backup computer and an SPG for my AI

 

[BoltSnap]

@yle suggestion is perfectly reasonable. Go no deeper, cut off a few minutes to be conservative. I have no problem with that. I always know what my NDL is within a few minutes.

Of course, I have a backup computer and an SPG for my AI

Per dive computer mfg's, diver training agencies (all of them), DAN, etc., if your computer craps out, dive is over and go up ending the dive if you don't have a back computer.