Review Now certified!

[Awkwatic]

If anyone remembers, I made a post back in March about my confined water lessons that went so-so. This past weekend was my open water dives for certification and it went extremely well this go around.

My instructor was fabulous. She was all business, no nonsense, but at the same time encouraging and fun to blow bubbles with. She handled every student excellently and made sure the schedule was adhered to. We covered every skill on the checklist in-depth and I felt confident with myself after both days.

The weather topside was beautiful but mild for a Wisconsin late May day. 64* air temp, 50* water temp at bottom my gauge said, but didn't feel cold at all with a full wetsuit.

The visibility.... Well, that was about as good as you could expect with 6 people trashing around in the silt at 25ft. Went from 10ft to couldn't see my partner right in front of my face real quick. Despite this, I had a riot, especially doing the underwater compass skill. It was like I was in a videogame navigating blind trying to find the dive platform. It was surreal when it game out of nowhere and I bonked my head into it. I guess I could swim a little slower, but I was excited.

Super excited to get into the full swing of this. Starting to order gear now. Today I ordered the DGX DiveRite Transplate singles BPW, and the DGX XTRA reg set. Open to advice for computers. Air integrated or not? I am a novice obviously, but looking to go tech eventually at least for wreck diving.

Thanks to anyone who stops and looks at this and for any feedback or recommendations!

 

[Landau]

My only computer advice, since there is a lot of personal preference involved, is:

If you go for a Shearwater Peregrine, pay the extra to get the TX model as it has a built in compass and you can get a transmitter later for AI if you like.

Also just get a computer. I recommend to all my students that a computer should be their first gear purchase.

 

[pdwh]

My only computer advice, since there is a lot of personal preference involved, is:

If you go for a Shearwater Peregrine, pay the extra to get the TX model as it has a built in compass and you can get a transmitter later for AI if you like.

Also just get a computer. I recommend to all my students that a computer should be their first gear purchase.

I second this. Just bought a Peregrine TX, 20 dives on it so far with 2 transmitters for sidemount. I love it.

 

[Anbaric Cog]

Congratulations. Very exciting. Yes those certification dives in low vis are special!

Great that you are starting with great gear. I have really liked the easy visibility of my shearwater peregrine dive computer . But my eyes are older now so that may not be an issue for you. I also find them logical and very easy to work with. I had used a number of Oceanic computers over the years but none were as intuitive or as easy to read as the Peregrine

Dive, dive, enjoy and repeat !

 

[grantmac]

I'd recommend you save just a bit more for a Perdix AI, the user changeable battery seems to be the most reliable option and you can't go forgetting a charger somewhere.

 

[icechip]

Congratulations and welcome to the world of scuba!

 

[Wheeler925]

I'd recommend you save just a bit more for a Perdix AI, the user changeable battery seems to be the most reliable option and you can't go forgetting a charger somewhere.

While that is a nice feature, the Peregrine is charged wirelessly. Not only does it come with a wireless charger in the case, but it works with any other wireless charger you might already be carrying. And the battery seems to last like a week

 

[Boarderguy]

While that is a nice feature, the Peregrine is charged wirelessly. Not only does it come with a wireless charger in the case, but it works with any other wireless charger you might already be carrying. And the battery seems to last like a week

Standard Qi charging pads? I know my wife's apple watch and my Samsung watch don't work on the opposite charging dock.

I really like my Perdix AI. The Peregrine TX is ~$750 by itself and the Perdix 2 is about ~1200. Use the $400 for a transmitter and if you ever outgrow the Peregrine then you can either sell it or use it as a backup since you're now into the tech diving realm.

 

[Wheeler925]

Standard Qi charging pads? I know my wife's apple watch and my Samsung watch don't work on the opposite charging dock.

I really like my Perdix AI. The Peregrine TX is ~$750 by itself and the Perdix 2 is about ~1200. Use the $400 for a transmitter and if you ever outgrow the Peregrine then you can either sell it or use it as a backup since you're now into the tech diving realm.

Correct, just the standard Qi

 

[Underwater Tourist]

For recreational diving, I would recommend you also consider basic "puck" style computers

I know their screens arent that nice and sexy, and they dont have transmitter capabilities, but the huge upside is that you can by a used one (something like cressi leonardo) for sub 100$ and that thing is indestructible. I used mine for almost 10 years I think, and never had to baby sit it, fix it, or service it at all. (I even did my full cave training using it lol). Plus with it being so cheap, should anything happen to the computer (someone dropping a tank on it for example), I wont really loose my sleep over it

I think pucks arent mentioned often enough when someone asks for recommendations for their first computer, so thats why I am mentioning it. Something for you to consider