how important are watches?

[cherinere]

I have been cert. for a few years, not much time down under.
I have been watching my husbands dive videos and everyone is always looking at their watches. We never learned with watches. If you are using a dive computer which is telling you how much, how long, and when your done. How important is wearing a watch and why would you?

 

[Rick Murchison]

I for one was raised to use the sweep (analog) hands of a watch to manage time, and I find the image of the sweeping second and minute hands much easier and quicker to interpret than reading digits.
Therefore, I dive with a watch and I use it more than the computer for time management.
Rick

 

[Aegir]

I use a watch/computer (for example citizem hyper aqualand or suunto mosquito) on my wrist as a backup to my cobra computer. Also it is a little easier to keep looking at your wrist than your air intergrated computer on a hose. Like Rick i use my wrist watch for timing my dive.You may ask why i dont use the wrist computer which is air intergrated and hoseless. The answer is that i will need a backup anyway so why not have one with a hose. Also i dont have enough confidence in the remote technology used to send a signal from the first stage to the wrist computer.

 

[Green_Manelishi]

If you are doing non-deco dives and stay well within
NDLs a watch is nice but un-necessary.

For timing stops etc I find a 'stop-watch' capability on
a digital display to be useful. The watch (on my left
arm) is a backup to the timer/depth-gauge on my right.
If i feel i need ANOTHER depth-gauge I have a spare that I can carry but ideally that is why my buddy is close: redundancy.

 

[LesleyDSO]

Your dive computer asks for stops at a particular depth for ease of use. The stop is actually at a pressure differential. For instance, on a Uwatec computer, if you are required to stop for 3 minutes at 3 metres(10 feet), what it actually means is IF you are at 3 metres, you will clear in 3 minutes. If you do the stop at, say, 6 metres (20 feet), then the computer will take about 1 minute 40seconds to clock over each minute, because the diver is deeper (or at a greater pressure) than the computer specifies, and the stop is recalculated. I've had divers come and tell me that their computer's clock is faulty because their deco stop did not agree with their watch. But in anything but very calm conditions it can be very difficult to maintain precisely the depth, and therefore the precise time. When using a watch only to time stops, you need to take that into account.

 

[The Chairman]

Hey All,

No, my computer has never taken a crap in the drink. Still I set my watch and time my dive JUST IN CASE it does. I also have a secondary analog depth guage, and I use a pony bottle too. I never want to have to "guess" as to what my deco status is. Redunduncy is cool. Redundancy is cool.

Pete from Orlando...
Pete from Orlando...

 

[egg007]

Use a computer however watch is a back up timing device if compouter fails

 

[Mario S Caner]

If you didn't learn with a watch, then you must have been trained with a computer. The watch at this point is mearly a backup. I like using my watch because it displays depth info as well as time in minutes and seconds. This simplifies my deco stops for me considerably. With the watch on my left wrist, I can easy maintain control of an ascent line while glancing at it without having to look for or handle an addition piece of gear.



Sea you in the Deep Sea!

 

[joewr]

Cherinere,

We learned how to dive with tables and that meant your watch was VERY important. Now I just look at it habitually and as a backup should the computer decide to head south.

Also, it is more convinient for keeping track of SI than refering to my computer on board the boat.

Barbara's watch is an interesting story. It is a "vanilla" Swatch purchased at KMart or Long's Drug Store or ... for about $25.00 and she wore it by mistake on a dive about a year and a half ago. It survived and kept right on tickin'. Up 'til now she has used it on about 100 dives and it still works fine! So much for $400.00+ diving watches!

But I still like my rotating bezel--very macho!

Joewr

 

[greg somers]

These new divers of today don't know what it is like to go into the deep unknown with your brain as the dive computer and the watch and tables and depth guage as your tools.That was only a while ago.I got certified in 1985 and the only digital thing around then was a bottom timer.I had one and my depth guage had an analogue max depth arm.That was hitech for then.I carry a watch every dive.It's good for when you are diving in a location where you DON'T have access to rental regs with computers.I like the idea of knowing the old methods.I think it makes me a safer and better all around diver.The more skills the better I say.
Cheers All ears,
The Gasman.