Is Suunto really that bad

[scubapimp]

I have been wearing a Suunto computer for at least the last 15 years and have nothing but good things to say about these computers from the Stinger that has been on my wrist for 10 years (4 battery changes) to my Cobra, Vyper, Vytec...etc.
For the recreational diver Suunto computers are great. The conservatism keeps people safely off the edge of the NDL's. It dings you for doing less than intelligent things like ascending too quickly, blowing safety stops and surface intervals less than an hour.
Suunto computers are extremely user friendly, easy to operate and quite hardy.

 

[teasels10]

I have been wearing a Suunto computer for at least the last 15 years and have nothing but good things to say about these computers from the Stinger that has been on my wrist for 10 years (4 battery changes) to my Cobra, Vyper, Vytec...etc.
For the recreational diver Suunto computers are great. The conservatism keeps people safely off the edge of the NDL's. It dings you for doing less than intelligent things like ascending too quickly, blowing safety stops and surface intervals less than an hour.
Suunto computers are extremely user friendly, easy to operate and quite hardy.

Totally agree with Scubapimp .. I have always had Suunto's.

Ranging from the Geko, Mosquito, D9, and the Helo2.
The D9 RGBM conservatism can be adjusted from 100% to 50%.

The biggest thing that frustrates me with folk that buy Air intergrated transmitters to wrist computers is that they then remove their Spg. Its a safety issue. If the transmitter or computer dies you have no way to know what your total tank capacity is. I carry a small spg tucked away.

 

[carlislere]

I have a Suunto D6. Love it. Use it for rec diving and as a backup for tec diving.

 

[Rhone Man]

I think those that complain about Suuntos the loudest are people who have them on liveaboards where they are doing 4-5 dives a day for 6 days in a row. By day 3, divers on more aggressive computers are still getting out of the water after a 3 minute safety stop, whereas the Suunto wearers are hanging on the line for 15 minutes before they can get out.

I am fond of my Suunto, but just sayin'.

 

[Supermanwoot]

I don't dive a Suunto, but have dove with people who do. I think the worst thing is the penalty for rapid ascent because I was complaining about how my computer says im ascending too rapidly if I raise my wrist too quickly to look at it, but the Suunto guy said, yeah imagine being penalized for it.

I guess you get used to it over time but I snap my wrist up to look at it even if on the bottom and the ascent rate goes up a little.

Anyway, I would get upset being penalized for things like that until I got more used to it, which could take several dives.

If you were looking at the Veo 3.0, I would check out the Oceanic VT3, I like the interface a lot better and has wireless air integration optional as well, which is really easy to use. Thats the computer I use. It has an option for a conservative setting but is generally pretty liberal , which mainly limits my time to air-time as a recreational diver. Its a nice setup.

edit: looking at the front page of topics is pretty funny. Right now there are at least 4 of them complaining about issues with their Suuntos... just sayin

 

[John_B]

Algorithm apart, that looks like a very handsomely laid out dive computer.

Still no wrist version?

I think those that complain about Suuntos the loudest are people who have them on liveaboards where they are doing 4-5 dives a day for 6 days in a row. By day 3, divers on more aggressive computers are still getting out of the water after a 3 minute safety stop, whereas the Suunto wearers are hanging on the line for 15 minutes before they can get out.

I am fond of my Suunto, but just sayin'.

Yep. 'Zactly. Even if you are staying a shore-based dive resort with good shore dives or drop-off dives, it's nice to manage that myself.

I'd hate to have that decided by some engineer or attorney that may not even be OW certified.

If you were looking at the Veo 3.0, I would check out the Oceanic VT3, I like the interface a lot better and has wireless air integration optional as well, which is really easy to use. Thats the computer I use. It has an option for a conservative setting but is generally pretty liberal , which mainly limits my time to air-time as a recreational diver. Its a nice setup.

Plus there is a DSS bungee mount for the VT3.

 

[mitsuguy]

Still no wrist version?

still?

the computer has been available to the public for less than a month... I would imagine it will be at least a year or more before they bring out a wrist version...

 

[ChrisM]

I dove a Suunto for the las 5 years, it finally broke so going with something else, but did numerous liveaboards, including some heavy deep stuff in Cocos and Galapagos. Frankly, I never noticed having to get out of the water much sooner than I wanted to, or sooner than buddies with oceanics, even with 4-5 dives a day, some fairly deep, and some very square (i.e., Alcyone at Cocos, Yap manta station). I've taken it into deco twice in probably 700 dives on it.

I'd get the occasional stop, but by the time I ascended it had cleared.

 

[KP3S]

The Bühlmann decompression algorithm

In 1959, Hannes Keller became interested in deep diving and developed tables for mixed-gas decompression. Not a diver himself, Bühlmann was intrigued by project and suggested suitable breathing gases. Keller successfully tested his idea in the Lake Zurich where he reached a depth of 400 feet and then lake Maggiore where he reached a depth of 728 feet.

Building off the previous work of John Scott Haldane and Robert Workman, and working off funding from Shell Oil Company, Bühlmann designed studies to establish the longest half-times of nitrogen and helium. These studies were confirmed by the Capshell experiments in the Mediterranean sea in 1966.

The naming convention he used to describe his algorithms, for example, ZH-L16, comes from Zürich (ZH), limits (L) and the number of tissue compartments or M-value sets used (16).

In 1962, Keller set a new world record when he reached a depth of 1000 feet off the coast of California utilizing Bühlmann's algorithm in a study funded by the United States Navy.

Two out of eight Swiss military divers suffered decompression sickness following dives 1800 meters above sea level in Lake Silvaplana. Bühlmann recognized the problems associated with altitude diving, and proposed a method which calculated maximum nitrogen loading in the tissues at a particular ambient pressure. The tables developed were adopted by the Swiss military in 1972. An expedition to Lake Titicaca at 3800 meters above sea level in 1987 revealed no decompression issues while utilizing Bühlmann's ZH-L16 algorithm. In addition to altitude diving, his calculations also include considerations for repetitive dive profiles.

The results of Bühlmann's research that began in 1959, was published in a 1983 German book entitled Decompression-Decompression Sickness. An English version of this book became available in 1984. The book was regarded as the most complete public reference on decompression calculations and was used soon after in dive computer algorithms. Two follow-up books were published in 1992 and 1995.

In 1987 the SAA Bühlmann System was developed. This system used the dive tables and a set of rules so that people could dive safely and stay below their no-decompression limit. The tables are still used today and are very popular, many dive computers still use the ZHL-8 algorithm and many tables are based on the ZHL-16 algorithm.

 

[Rhone Man]

You know, you could just post the link...

Albert A. Bühlmann - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia