How important is a depth gauge as part of a reg set?

[Bob DBF]

If you can't handle that kind of excitement for 100 minutes, you don't have to check your air.

Where I dive (wet) the cold will drive me out, especially if I'm planning a second dive.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

On a dive trip to the Philippines, I did a number of dives on the "house reef," a shallow mucky area with loads of little strange creatures. Maximum depth was maybe 30-35 feet, and we pretty much dived until we felt we had been in long enough. It occured to me that if you are diving like that, you really don't need much of anything at all in the way of instrumentation.

A lot of my dives are only in the 30’ to 40’ range, rooting around in the rocks and hunting/gathering. All I need is an SPG, a simple depth gauge, and a compass, emphasis on the compass. I could probably skip the depth gauge but I use it along side my compass to have a better idea of where I am.
No timing device really needed since there would be no way to get into deco on that type of dive.