Nerd or Standalone computer

[nadwidny]

What happened for you to come to that conclusion? How do you summarise the pros and cons of each?

It involved ambulances, hospitals, a wrecked drysuit and some friends that I care deeply about that are messed up because of it.

I've become aware that it's not only me that needs to know what's going on in my loop as regards to PO2 but others as well. The NERD, as wonderful of a piece of kit that it is, doesn't do that. A HUD will but at a cost of way less information that a NERD can give.

 

[Wibble]

Sorry to hear that.

Have both a Petrel on my wrist which others can see and 'my' Nerd under my eye.

 

[nadwidny]

Sorry to hear that.

Have both a Petrel on my wrist which others can see and 'my' Nerd under my eye.

Well to be honest, they can't see your Petrels unless they are right over your shoulder. A HUD can be seen and the warnings understood from much farther away.

 

[rjack321]

Well to be honest, they can't see your Petrels unless they are right over your shoulder. A HUD can be seen and the warnings understood from much farther away.

they reflect off the lens of your mask if you are paying attention

ive been known to count blinks of a buddies hud in their mask when I was curious what setpoint they were running on deco

 

[Wibble]

Alas it isn’t good if someone ignores the data clearly displayed in front of them, contravening good practice and what they were taught.

The general principle of CCR is it should not be dived by people who need others to look after and make decisions for them. Novices need a steady build up of experience and complexity before moving on to more challenging conditions. Constant practice in benign conditions is never wasted time.

Every time I dive on my unit I assume it is trying to kill me. The Nerd makes it much easier to monitor how it’s trying to kill me, especially during 'busy' times; ascent, descent.

 

[broncobowsher]

they reflect off the lens of your mask if you are paying attention

ive been known to count blinks of a buddies hud in their mask when I was curious what setpoint they were running on deco

I just blatantly look at there Petrel.

 

[rsingler]

I think we're starting to quibble.
Here's a suggestion:
How about a NERD with a little red LED on the top, just like the warning light on my HUD?
If you're stupid and you don't know it (hypoxic), it might not be bad for your buddy (swimming alongside you and not in the reflective path of your mask lens) to glance over and see the warning.
NERD "HUD warning light"?

We don't always have to defend our side. I have a HUD. I'm trying to imagine fumbling with the buttons in my drysuit switching from Lo to Hi setpoint or B/O. But my JJ buddy @doctormike swears by his NERD, and I have to admit it'd be nice to just glance as I'm moving and see PO2. And the compass advantage is clear. But my HUD provides most of the info, and has a warning light for my dive buddy. And I bought a spare for $300.

 

[Wibble]

It's very much horses for courses. Love my Nerd and I don't expect other divers to look after me -- as in I don't plan for other people to be around should I get myself in a complete mess, so don't mess up!

Nerds are very expensive!

Maybe the answer's to have a HUD on the back of the unit so the flashing can annoy everyone else?

 

[helodriver87]

I use both. In open water, being able to park my right hand on the O2 MAV and left hand on the dump and do the entire zero visual reference ascent using the NERD for PO2, ascent rate, stops, and deco is incredible. In a cave, that advantage is negated and I like the simplicity of the HUD. At altitude, calibrating the HUD is awful, so the NERD wins there. It's nice to have options.

 

[stuartv]

I'm trying to imagine fumbling with the buttons in my drysuit switching from Lo to Hi setpoint or B/O..

With a NERD as a monitor, you don't have to mess with it at all for changing setpoints. You do that on the controller. The NERD just sits there reading your O2 sensor values, calculating your deco, and judging you. Always... silently judging you...

If you go to BO, then yeah, you'd have to do a couple of button presses to tell the NERD that you have switched to BO.

Normally, I only touch my NERD to press the buttons to either display the compass or the O2 and dil cylinder pressures. I definitely don't find those button presses to be even as hard as button presses on my Predator. I never have dry glove rings (or anything else) in the way of pressing the buttons on my NERD...