RobPNW
Contributor
For me this is too expensive. If they run a deal where you buy one and get a free transmitter, I would probably jump on it. The total price with transmitter would be on par with a Teric and you have an everyday watch too.
Garmin Descent MK2
- Thread starter Peter Bomberg
- Start date
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scubaozy
Contributor
I have been using a suunto stinger for 20 years as a daily watch and it has over 2k dives on it. My logic is, if something serves so well for so long and I enjoy it everyday, then price is justified. Modern wearables are designed to expire, I do not expect it to last as long as my stinger but I'd rather buy something I wear everyday. I must admit that I got a good discount on Garmin gear because of my work, which made it easier to decide.
RobPNW
Contributor
On the Garmin, I see one of the selling points is the quick release pins that hold the watch band on. When I hear that, I kneejerk to thinking of a $1500 piece of reef jewelry. I may be over reacting. At least on the Teric for instance, the pins are actually screwed in. Not fool proof but feel better thinking about it. Also, with a Nato type strap, if one of the screwed in pins comes undone, the watch would be hanging by the other one as a failsafe. For anyone with personal experience with the MK2 speak to the pins situation? Is the fact that it is easier to put bands on and off also a reason why it is more likely to be lost?
Also, one of the key selling points on the Garmin is the concept that you have a dive computer that's also an everyday watch. If I person does mostly drysuit diving, is that kind of moot? With a drysuit, I assume one would need a longer band that would be awkward for use everyday. And the band would need to be swapped for every dive. Is that true or am I missing something? If it is true, like any other mechanical device, it seems if I am swapping bands and a regular basis, it makes me feel like those pins would become more likely to fail over time after so many iterations.
If my concerns are correct, I may lean more towards paying a lot less for something like a Perdix with bungie straps solely as a dive computer, and using the money I save to just buy an everyday Garmin watch.
Thanks in advance for any thoughts.
Also, one of the key selling points on the Garmin is the concept that you have a dive computer that's also an everyday watch. If I person does mostly drysuit diving, is that kind of moot? With a drysuit, I assume one would need a longer band that would be awkward for use everyday. And the band would need to be swapped for every dive. Is that true or am I missing something? If it is true, like any other mechanical device, it seems if I am swapping bands and a regular basis, it makes me feel like those pins would become more likely to fail over time after so many iterations.
If my concerns are correct, I may lean more towards paying a lot less for something like a Perdix with bungie straps solely as a dive computer, and using the money I save to just buy an everyday Garmin watch.
Thanks in advance for any thoughts.
I think the Garmin is like the Teric. If you use it with a drysuit, you use the included wrist strap extension. You don’t take the strap off.
Personally, I’d rather have a Teric and a Fenix 6 of some flavor. Especially since I like to have a backup that is just as good as my primary computer (thus having 2 Terics).
Personally, I’d rather have a Teric and a Fenix 6 of some flavor. Especially since I like to have a backup that is just as good as my primary computer (thus having 2 Terics).
Belzelbub
Contributor
You bring up some good points. Without a doubt, bungee straps are more secure If done right. If using two independent loops, they can hang onto your DC in the event of a strap failure or attachment failure. A NATO strap will certainly help with a pin failure, but a strap failure could still result in a lost DC. Though since the strap is usually fabric, you should notice fraying well in advance of failure. I’ve nearly lost a DC when the watch style band broke. I only found it because I happened to be standing on a platform when the strap broke. I didn’t feel it, but noticed when I looked at my wrist.
When the MK1 came out, I was interested. I have used a bunch of Garmin gear in the past, and liked the concept. I wasn’t about to give up AI, though, and they took their sweet time in coming up with an AI version. By that time I already had a new DC.
I was going back and forth a bit between Perdix and Teric. In the end, I went with the Perdix. I generally don’t wear a watch, so that was part of the consideration. Even if I did, I’m not sure I would want to wear an expensive DC as an everyday watch.
Now that the MK2 is out, I don’t regret my purchase at all. Since I went from an Oceanic to the SW, I didn’t need a new transmitter. At $1500 for the computer and $400 for the transmitter, I certainly saved enough to get a smart/fitness watch if I want.
RobPNW
Contributor
Stuart, it comes with a separate longer band:
https://www.divegearexpress.com/pub...962fa80866eeb161ea5/g/m/gm-010-02132-01_2.jpg
Ah. I see. Thanks for the correction.
Either way, I wouldn't have any real concern about swapping the band versus adding an extension. Or about the quick-swap band arrangement, versus screwed-in pins like the Teric. My concern would be about breaking a pin, which is just as much a concern on the Teric. That is why I use NATO straps on my Terics. I have 2 for each - a short one for wetsuit and a long one for drysuit. NATO straps just take a few seconds to swap.
RobPNW
Contributor
Well, it's what I have for now. Last week, I was diving in a 3mm wetsuit and it got to be a little bit annoying. The NATO straps are not stretchy. When I put on my computers, at depth the suit would compress just enough to allow the computers to get a little loose and slide down just a little bit and/or twist around my wrist a little bit. If I put them on tight enough to not do that, then they were uncomfortably tight on the surface.
No wetsuit or a 5mm wetsuit doesn't have this problem. No wetsuit means no compression and loosening at depth. A 5mm wetsuit is thick enough to put them on tight on the surface - but not uncomfortably so - and have them stay put at depth.
What I ended up doing was folding each wetsuit sleeve back about 1 inch. Then donning the computer that it was not on the doubled-over part, but right up against it. The doubled-over part would then keep it from sliding down and becoming loose enough to twist around my wrist.
What would be ideal is a NATO strap with a bit of a stretchy section sewn into it.
I have the Narked@90 bungee adapters for the Teric. I used that on one of them for a while, but I just never really liked the way it worked - especially for going between no wetsuit at all to a wetsuit to a drysuit.
Now that I think about it, using one of the elastic bands that are for a Perdix wrist strap might actually be the thing to try next. Plenty stretchy and would go through the strap pins, so it still wouldn't fall off if a single pin broke. But then I'd have to worry about the plastic buckle breaking or getting accidentally released. Hmmm...
scubaozy
Contributor
Old school way of securing, close the buckle and put your hand into the loop.
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