Is my computer / watch at risk?

[scuba5150]

I use the bands that came with my computer and my diving watch to strap them to my wrist (over my wetsuit). In reading and perusing scubaboard I see that some recommend using a bungee holder for the computer and a NATO style band for the watch to prevent them from being lost. I’ve also seen a dive master on a boat using a lanyard connected to his computer’s band to provide extra security. I’ve tried the NATO band with my watch, but it’s a real pain to put on when the boat is pitching and moving (which I have to do several times during each trip when the wetsuit goes on, off, back on, off – you know the drill). Bungee mounts aren’t available for many of the computers. So, are the bands that come with the computer and dive watch really that unreliable and divers lose them frequently enough to put up with the hassle of a NATO watch band and rigging up some kind of lanyard holder for the computer to back up the computer’s band?

 

[Craig66]

It might help if we know which computer you have.

I can only speak for myself with 2 oceanics and never had an issue. It's hard to see a failure point on my current setup although the computer does occasionally slip down my wrist. I am thinking a bungee might have less slippage but aside from that have never had an issue.

One thing I do to prevent myself from jumping off the boat without my computer or to prevent me from misplacing it is to strap it to my ankle when the wet suit is coming on and off and so it is always on my person. Bungee would make it hard to do that.


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[KeithG]

Well my Oceanic Datamax Sport wrist band died after 12 years and my Uwatec Aladin band only lasted 17 years. So yes, they do fail, eventually.

Both bands provided early warning well before they failed.

So I would not panic too soon.

 

[redacted]

Everything in my kit that would be lost by a single failure is connected to me by two devices. I found wrist mounts with straps to be a major PITA. My compass and my computers all use 2 separate bungee bands. They don and doff quite easily.

 

[Steve_C]

Never a problem with Sunnto and Aeris.

Now the wrist strap that comes with cameras. Relying on that has cost me $1,000. But at least it justified getting a new and better flash/camera setup which is now much more firmly attached.

 

[meagicano]

I have the Zeagle N2ition. I have a bungee mount but in four or so years I have yet to get around to setting it up. I use the wrist strap (like a watch band) but also have a bungee knotted on just in case the strap breaks. It's overkill, I know, and it may not actually be that clever but I like the sense of security it gives me.

 

[beanojones]

I have lost many watches because they use pins to attach straps, and one pin failure and you lose the watch. I sometimes go to the trouble of putting them on a velcro band that use both pins, so one failure means the watch gets loose but is not gone. But most watches fail after a battery change anyway, since most watch people don't pressure test, or understand O-ring handling. SO I kind of treat watches as disposable anyway.

While the one pin per side failure point is true for computers, the bigger failure point is the axle of the clasp and tang. It goes, and the computer is gone. I also get to see lots of travelers swearing at their Suunto watch style computers that use a kind of bizarre shaped strap so when it fails, there is nothing to do but buy a new Suunto band.

The bigger thing to think about with a computer is how high the profile off the wrist is. Lower profile means fewer hard yanks at the failure points to a degree. Anything that provides a hard enough yank to test the failure point can also provide enough of a slingshot effect to shoot a bungie mounted computer off the wrist as well.

All that said, I would rather have a bungie mount to the point that I would choose a computer based on whether there is a bungie mount is available for it, all other things being mostly equal.

 

[CT-Rich]

my computer is a puck style that is attached to my SPG. I check all the data at once, time depth and air. the compass I have on my wrist would be a bummer to lose, but it would not significantly increase the risk if it was lost during a dive. worry the most about things that pose a real hazard if lost by a novice diver (mask, regulator O-rings). Everything else is a detail. Computers are nice, but even if you forgot it, if you know your max depth and approximate SAC. You will probably realize that you will run out of air on a dive before you come any where near the NDL. On repetitive dives, you will want to be build in extra margins of error (using an old fashioned dive table).

But as others have noted, failure is unlikely. Eventually you will see a configuration that meshes with you style.

 

[Mr Carcharodon]

I had a compass fall out of a Deep Sea Supply bungie mount and get lost. After that I would not trust one of those mounts with a computer without a few dabs of RTV. There is no perfect mount. The usual compliant about the strap mounts is getting loose with wetsuit compression rather than losing them entirely. That is more of an inconvenience than anything, and if you are diving mostly in Florida you likely have relatively little wetsuit to compress.

 

[miketsp]

All single point attachment bands fail eventually and they'll fail when you're most occupied and don't notice. Like trying to climb a boat ladder when it's heaving up and down.