Is Suunto really that bad

[Bubbletrubble]

Recommended safety stop are what they are, recommended.
Don't get me wrong I ALWAYS do them, but when the occasion arises, very strong current, boat going crazy overhead etc. etc. and I need to skip it, I don't want my computer to landlock me because it's a dumb machine.

@Seraphimx: My Suunto computers don't "landlock" me (or lock me out) if I choose to omit a recommended safety stop.

The manuals for my Suunto computers have been very clear on this point.
There is a clear distinction between a recommended safety stop and a mandatory safety stop. This is Suunto's jargon, not mine.

If I exceed a depth of 30 ft. on a dive, then the Suunto computer will indicate a recommended safety stop as I ascend to safety stop depth. There is no penalty for omitting it.

During a dive, if my ascent rate exceeds 40 ft./min. momentarily or 33 ft./min. continuously, the microbubble build-up using the Suunto RGBM algorithm is such that a mandatory safety stop is required. The duration of the mandatory safety stop is determined by the seriousness of the ascent rate violation.
If the mandatory safety stop is violated, then available NDLs for subsequent dives will be shortened.

I have spoken with several newer divers who mistook the Suunto mandatory safety stop for a "deco" stop. They have been very unhappy when they believe that the Suunto put them into "deco" on a relatively short dive with a max depth of 60 fsw. The problem is that, due to poor buoyancy control or ignorance of recommended ascent rates, the novice inadvertently ascended too quickly (as determined by the Suunto computer), and the computer had indicated a request for the diver to perform a mandatory safety stop. To compound the issue, some of those divers chose to surface after doing only 3 min. at safety stop depth but not fulfilling the entire mandatory stop obligation -- presumably because a dive buddy using a different brand computer had already cleared his safety stop. Understandably, with an omitted mandatory stop, the Suunto computer ended up reducing NDLs on subsequent dives...further reinforcing in the diver's mind that Suunto computers are "too conservative."

Yes, it is certainly true that the Suunto RGBM algorithm is one of the more conservative deco algorithms being used by dive computers on the market. I'm not disputing that at all. I'm just saying that there are a number of people out there who have made this particular mistake (mandatory safety stop vs. deco obligation) when interpreting the display on a Suunto computer.

I usually dive with a Suunto dive computer. Some of my dive buddies use different brands -- one had a Sherwood Wisdom for years. We always have plenty of bottom time. On boat dives, we are generally the first divers into the water...and the last ones out. I've taken my Suunto computers on several repetitive, multi-day dive vacations. I've never felt like the Suunto algorithm was too restrictive. Heck, I'd almost certainly be diving identical profiles even if I had a different brand computer with a more permissive algorithm. That's just how I roll. YMMV.

 

[vladimir]

The manuals for my Suunto computers have been very clear on this point.
There is a clear distinction between a recommended safety stop and a mandatory safety stop. This is Suunto's jargon, not mine.

If I exceed a depth of 30 ft. on a dive, then the Suunto computer will indicate a recommended safety stop as I ascend to safety stop depth. There is no penalty for omitting it.

Yes, this seems to be a point of confusion for many. From my D9 manual:

The Recommended Safety Stop, as the name implies, is recommended. If it is ignored, there is no penalty applied to the following surface intervals and dives.

 

[Seraphimx]

I understand what you say and I seriously doubt this has happened to me since I'm always the slowest at ascending.
I always kept the Suunto Ascent Rate at 50% in the Yellow zone, my computer never beeped because I ascended too fast.
Furthermore, I have never come close to a DECO needed situation, I prefer to stay above the 80-70ft range, and I run out of air before I go into DECO.

And in any case I have not enough dive experience to say Suunto is a bad computer, on the contrary I rather liked it.

I had a dive were the ''Recommended Safety Stop'' was skipped and it seriously cut my bottom time, yes I do take notice now that the dive computer I was comparing to was an Aeris Atmos Console.

But my main point was, your are not a SAFER diver because you dive a more conservative computer.
It's not BLACK or WHITE
SUUNTO = YOU LIVE
OTHERS = DCS

Looks to me as some people want to follow what the computer says like it's ''the word of god'', while it is just a tool and should be used as such. (That was the point of my post)

If you find a Suunto cheap buy a Suunto, if you find a Oceanic cheap buy a Oceanic. But don't denigrate other computers as a DCS PRONE GADGET, it's a foolish.

You need a BRAIN to dive safe, not a Suunto computer.

 

[Hatul]

There are a couple of arguments for diving a conservative computer, especially for someone older or not as fit as a Navy Seal. There was a study some time ago that found spinal cord lesions in divers who never had clinical bends. This suggests there may be subtle damage that we're not aware of.

Secondly there are reports of divers with DCS who followed their computers. This to me suggests that the margin of safety built into the algorithm was not sufficient for them on those particular dives.

In the paradigm that every deep dive is a deco dive, a conservative computer just requires a slower overall rate of ascent.

Adam

 

[Seraphimx]

I know that Uwatec had some problems with their algorithm around 10 years ago and had to replace all their computers.
They had dead diver's families suing them because of the faulty algorithm, if I remember correctly. I heard of the lawsuit when I started diving in 2006.
I'm pretty sure they change their algorithm since then.