Our New Gear

[Marek K]

My wife and I just aren't able to afford 2 computers at the current time, hopefully next year once we are out of graduate school we can afford a second one. Anyhow our diving style is a very close proximity diving style and are never more than a few feet apart, hence why we feel comfortable using only 1 cpu. Of course whichever of us has the analog will have a keen eye on their air, not saying the person with the computer won't either.

Yeah *sigh*, just having had to equip two more members of the family, I understand the budget issues and the trade-offs you have to make.

I'll add my voice, though, to those who are very concerned about the two of you sharing one computer.

The problem is that, unlike using dive tables that make you safe-sided several different ways (assuming a square profile, rounding up time and max depth), a computer makes its calculations using your exact dive profile -- depth vs. time. That means a computer gives you much more bottom time for almost any dive.... but the disadvantage is, a computer whittles away that marging of safety you have with tables. Not normally much of a problem, but you're still advised to dive with a computer conservatively and not "push" the time limits.

But if one of you doesn't have their own computer, the thinner margin of safety you have may disappear altogether for the person without the computer -- or worse. And it's so easy to lose track of staying at the same depth; even small differences can be significant.

Again, I understand your position completely. I've had to seriously juggle scuba purchases in the past year, and one of the top priorities was to make sure each of us has his/her own computer. That's meant some short-term compromises... three of us are using basic air-only computers (Oceanic Veo 100 and Aeris Atmos 1, which run a bit over $150 each these days); while my son is is using my 13-year-old Sherwood Sigma II computer... a bit bulky, but still safe and works fine. ("But Dad, why can't I use a cool small computer too?")

Another safer option for you guys might be for both of you to plan and execute your dives using dive tables for now... and just have the computer along so you can get used to how it works, until you can spring for a second one.

Or rent a second computer.

--Marek

 

[Ruminari]

Ok here goes, I'll try to cover everyone here in one post. Again we want to thank everyone for their concerns and replies.

ChrisA - The diver without a computer will have a dive watch. The buddy separation plan is to do what we were taught. If we become separated to scan for 30 seconds then make a safe controlled ascent to the surface. Concerning the regulator I called oceanic and they said that it was normal operation for the reg to work in that manner. That's good to hear that others feel like the dive/predive switch doesn't make too much of a difference.

Larry - That is just what I wanted to hear. I actually called oceanic yesterday, before I read your post, and they said that it was normal operation. While my wife and I were playing around with the reg and causing free flows and seeing what it took to get it to stop we noticed that you didn't even need to touch the reg to stop the free flow. Before your fingers even got all the way up to the reg it would create enough back pressure to stop the free flow. We were both amazed at how easily the regs breathed as compared to the rentals that we have had in the past and the ones we were certified with. Very happy with that.

DiveMe - We looked into the additional computer, however, I think that we are just going to stick with the 2nd person doing dive tables. Nearly all of our dives are shallow water shore dives. Less than 40ft so depth and nitrogen isn't too much of an issue in our past experiences for needing a second dive computer. We can just guage or time based on the tables for the second diver and then use the bells and whistles of the computer for the extra features. Turn around time, ascent rate monitor, etc.....

Marek - One way that we thought to be able to dive with a single computer was to dial up the level of conservatism. That way even if we were off a little bit here and there it wouldn't be an issue due to the extra level of conservatism we added by dialing down the nitrogen load. I do agree that dive computers can take you on the edge of DCS, escpecially the Oceanic computers which are based on the pretty time liberal Haldane/Spencer Algorithm. I think that the first thing that I did when I booted up the computer for the first time was figured out how to dial down the nitrogen loading. I think we might continue to do dive tables. As mentioned in DiveMe's response we almost always only do shallow shore dives so depth and nitrogen are rarely an issue. My wife usually gets cold in the frigid waters of Seattle before our time is up due to air and nitrogen.

 

[Hank49]

So, do you like, lay your gear out on the floor and just look at it? Come on...we all did it, dreaming of taking it in the water for the first time.haha Congrats. It feels really good, no? (never mind the second computer. I did my first 200 dives without one and survived)

 

[mossym]

ChrisA - The diver without a computer will have a dive watch.

and a depth guage..right?

 

[spectrum]

So, do you like, lay your gear out on the floor and just look at it? Come on...we all did it, dreaming of taking it in the water for the first time.haha Congrats. It feels really good, no? (never mind the second computer. I did my first 200 dives without one and survived)

Gee you make me want to go out to the garage and tuck our 2 virgin E7-80s in for the night.

As for the computer I see it as a gadget for us at this point so I'm going to wait a while. I don't see us going beyond conservative shore dives for a while and tables will barely be needed, yes will will do the planning but we'll be soooo far from the NDL it's moot. I would like them for asscent, average depth and temperature. Maybe when my Timex Helix croaks I'll get them (wife and I)

That being said..... If I had visions of a serious dive vacation in my near future I'd hasten the purchase to get proficient with them before hand. Will you too be trading back and forth between tables and computer to build both skill sets?

Pete

 

[Ruminari]

Oh I forgot to mention we got ambitious and made our own soft pack weights last Wednesday. We headed up to Walmart and bought our lead shot and had plenty of extra material sitting around collecting dust. We ended up making 75 lbs of weight for about $50. All in all the project went pretty good other than the dang jamming up of the sewing machine.


Hank49 - Don't you know it of course we laid the gear out and just drooled. Then proceeded to put every piece of equipment on and tinker and play with it. It feels excellent to have all of our own gear.

Mossym - Yep the 2nd person has a depth and pressure guage.

Spectrum - Your right on with trading the computer back and forth. All of our equipment is exactly the same other than the dive computer and analog so we can freely switch back and forth between one another.

 

[jayproth]

So, do you like, lay your gear out on the floor and just look at it? Come on...we all did it, dreaming of taking it in the water for the first time.

OBOY! I know EXACTLY how that feels like! I just got certified 2 weeks ago, and after a really bad experience with rental equipment, went straight to buy new gear!

Invested in:
Scubapro Classic BC
Scubapro MK25/S600
Scubapro Air 2 & miniVIP Gauge
Mares Tropic Wetsuit & boots
Tusa Imprex mask, snorkel and fins
Nondescript blue plastic basket to dump stuff

When I got home, I walked around in full gear for about 10minutes... then sat in the shower inflating and deflating my BC manually for half an hour....

I'm going to take them out for the first time this weekend!

 

[scubatoys]

Do yourself a favor and "rust test" the lead you got. I've seen folks try to make their own soft weights, and the shotgun lead they used had a lot of iron content, so after it got wet, it rusted... and left big rust stains on all their gear... and their boat. So I'd take some of that lead, and soak it in a towel, and see if any of it gets rusty... If it's pure lead... you should be fine. Maybe they say on the package...

 

[Hank49]

OBOY! I know EXACTLY how that feels like! I just got certified 2 weeks ago, and after a really bad experience with rental equipment, went straight to buy new gear!

Invested in:
Scubapro Classic BC
Scubapro MK25/S600
Scubapro Air 2 & miniVIP Gauge
Mares Tropic Wetsuit & boots
Tusa Imprex mask, snorkel and fins
Nondescript blue plastic basket to dump stuff

When I got home, I walked around in full gear for about 10minutes... then sat in the shower inflating and deflating my BC manually for half an hour....

I'm going to take them out for the first time this weekend!

The next thing you have to do is get it wet, kick it aound the dirt a bit and let it bleach in the sun so you don't look so much like a n00b first time you have it out.

 

[Ruminari]

jayproth - that sounds about right. LOL except I didn't do the shower trick. If I would have thought of it man I would have been there. hehehehe.


Larry - thanks for the heads up. I'll have to give it a test go around. It would really suck to have all of our new gear all stained. If I remember correctly my wife, the Chemist, looked at the packaging and noted that the shot was almost completely pure lead. But I'll still give it a wet whirl.


Hank49 - I know your probably referring to jayproth, but I couldn't imagine doing that ot my gear. I'll probably just be sitting under some overhang out of the sun stroking the gear saying, "My Precious." LOL