Is a Computer essential kit?

[Wibble]

Or about $100 for a second hand Suunto

 

[jale]

Do you watch movies on Betamax tapes, or streaming on the net?

You mean you don't use a paper and a pen anymore?

 

[Centrals]

Thanks for all the replies and feedback.
As funds are limited and I need to buy my first setup I am opting to purchase a digital spg/depth gauge console that includes a dive timer (Cressi Digi 2) whilst saving for a dive computer.
This setup is a good fit between quality/accuracy/affordability and will get me in the water.

If fund is limited then you should consider the purchase even more carefully.

Cressi Digi2 Digital Console - Shop the Online Store - JettyDive

The Cressi Digi2 Digital Console is a great basic pressure and depth gauge. Excellent for a digital gauge, or as a backup to your dive computer!

jettydive.com.au

A$299.00(~US$220.00)

Have fun.

 

[Hoag]

Thanks for all the replies and feedback.
As funds are limited and I need to buy my first setup I am opting to purchase a digital spg/depth gauge console that includes a dive timer (Cressi Digi 2) whilst saving for a dive computer.
This setup is a good fit between quality/accuracy/affordability and will get me in the water.

A while back (last year maybe???) @The Chairman posted a thread along the lines of Dive and Let Dive. In this thread, the premise was (and I am paraphrasing) that there is often no single answer that works for everyone, and what works for some might not be ideal for others, so we should just let people do what works for them.

You have made your decision, now, it is a matter of Dive and Let Dive.

Have fun, stay safe & enjoy every minute you get underwater.

 

[Centrals]

Jacket bc vs BP/W, AI or not, diving algorithm, GF, nitrox vs air, lifting capacity of bc, thickness of wet suit, materials for dry suit, diaphragm vs. piston etc etc.

 

[boulderjohn]

Multi-level dives can be planned and done on the fly by using some specific tables or procedures.
These tables are even legal requirement in some countries in Europe.

Examples?

The only procedures I know that have been used with standard tables are not approved by the people who made the tables and other decompression experts.

 

[Wibble]

For goodness sake; the Suunto's are dirt cheap and work well enough for someone starting on their scuba journeys.

Had a nose around ebay.com.au and there's a couple of second hand ones there. (Just realised there's a couple in the UK...)

Cheap. If it's beaten around a bit then it's like patina: shows it's been used. Scratches don't matter underwater -- and you can get covers for them.

Forget consoles; forget the pseudo tech computers. A simple nitrox 'puter is all that's needed.

 

[Cheizz]

A while back (last year maybe???) @The Chairman posted a thread along the lines of Dive and Let Dive. In this thread, the premise was (and I am paraphrasing) that there is often no single answer that works for everyone, and what works for some might not be ideal for others, so we should just let people do what work for them.

You have made your decision, now, it is a matter of Dive and Let Dive.

Have fun, stay safe & enjoy every minute you get underwater.

I agree with you; on the last sentence that is. One thought though... If the answer to all these (kinds of) questions is 'whatever YOU prefer', then why ask questions at all?

I think that in a case such as this one, the comments about really cheap computers (the price of which will probably even be lower than the separate components of the alternative) might inspire the OP to look for a cheap basic computer and take advantage of the added safety. No one suggests the Shearwater Perdix AI here, but a basic Suunto Zoop or Mares Puck Pro or Cressi something. A console that has a bottom timer, or a waterproof Casio watch might be more expensive, to begin with. And that's not even considering all the brainpower, dive table user mistakes, and what have you.

 

[AfterDark]

Some advances like SPGs in any form are largely universal in use by divers and can be considered to be essential equipment unless the diver has a J valve and/or knows their air consumption VERY well.

Advances like nitrox for example are not as universal. Nitrox use has been increasing over time and someday after CCRs are ready for primetime and in common use Nitrox will be the universal breathing gas among divers.

When I started diving 54 years ago a large knife was considered essential equipment. Today those knifes are very hard to find.
I still have my BFK and use it when I go harvest Quahogs or metal detecting, it makes a great digger, small hammer and pry bar in one tool and always at the ready.

BCDs or more to the point LP inflators can be considered essential equipment especially in view of the swimming skills required of new divers. Even when I started diving, I used an inflatable life vest I could inflate orally. or with 2 CO2 cartridges.

The PDC has enough going for it in the way of safety and convenience to someday be considered essential equipment, IMO.

 

[AfterDark]

Examples?

The only procedures I know that have been used with standard tables are not approved by the people who made the tables and other decompression experts.

But they do work well, don't they? Maybe they missed something?