Rec or Tec?

[inquis]

And mine.

 

[Centrals]

Recreational doesn’t suggest new diver. You can still have deco situations, some dives in Cozumel for example with deeper swim throughs and such. Having a user friendly quality computer doesn’t hurt.

Computer does not make a better diver!
Same as car.
I must have been very lucky all these yrs with a 24yr old dc. My back up is well over 10.

 

[brsnow]

Computer does not make a better diver!
Same as car.
I must have been very lucky all these yrs with a 24yr old dc. My back up is well over 10.

Having a nice car doesn’t make you a worse driver, you just have a nicer car.

 

[formernuke]

Having a nice car doesn’t make you a worse driver, you just have a nicer car.

My experience is the more expensive the car the worst the driver.

 

[brsnow]

My experience is the more expensive the car the worst the driver.

What is your experience?

 

[formernuke]

What is your experience?

Driving and dodging idiots to avoid crashes.

 

[Belzelbub]

Computer does not make a better diver!
Same as car.
I must have been very lucky all these yrs with a 24yr old dc. My back up is well over 10.

Not sure why you quoted that statement with this reply. He said the computer doesn’t hurt. Not that it makes a better diver. Does having a computer hurt?

 

[GF99/99]

Most scuba divers - by far! - dive recreationally. By that, I do not mean they only dive for fun. There are literally hundreds of thousands of dive professionals who, as that term suggests, dive for a living, teaching or guiding others for example. ‘Recreational’ diving, at least for the purpose of this piece, means diving within the limits of entry-level certification (up to and including Advanced Open Water or equivalent). Meaning: maximum depth of 40 m/130 ft and within no-decompression limits (NDL). Anything beyond that I call ‘technical’ diving.

Why is this important? A lot of scuba diving products have been developed for technical diving, but are also used - or at least desired by and suggested to - recreational divers. Even though the latter strictly speaking don’t need tech gear, they/we (for now, I’m a recreational diver myself) want it nonetheless.

The opinion in this piece is nothing more (or less) than my own. It is about trends that extend beyond scuba diving though. I see the same thing happening in other sports that I am an enthusiastic participant in, such as backcountry skiing and offshore sailing.

Facts first
As I said, the vast majority of scuba divers are recreational divers. DEMA estimates that there are 6 million active divers worldwide. In September 2019, the Swiss researcher and dive instructor Jens Meissner (Lucerne University) published his estimation of 160,000 active technical divers (based on the number of advanced and technical certifications that would put them in the ‘technical’ category). That would mean that only 2.7% of all active divers are technical divers.

He also found that most divers venture into the realm of technical diving around nine years after they started diving in the first place. He did identify a group that fast-tracked to technical diver status in five years. With that in mind, we can say that active divers don’t need tech gear for the first five to nine years of their diving career, if ever.

With ‘tech gear’ I refer to functionality that only a technical diver would need, and a recreational diver would not use at all because it has no purpose within the limits of recreational diving. A backplate and wing for buoyancy, a long hose configuration, a nitrox and gas switching functionality on a dive computer - these were all developed for technical diving, but are of equally good use for recreational divers. So strictly speaking, I do not consider them ‘tech gear’.

Once you need gradient factors, trimix, or rebreather functionalities on your dive computer, though, you are well and truly in the realm of technical diving. That is something a recreational diver - by definition - would never need. For that kind of stuff, you need the training and certification that places you outside the limits of recreational diving.

To the point
So why then recommend the Shearwater Perdix AI to a newly certified open water diver that just wants to dive tropical reefs in the Caribbean three weeks a year and do some freshwater quarry diving at home to keep his skills fresh? Don’t get me wrong. The Perdix is the ultimate dive computer at the moment, it is the benchmark to which every other dive computer is measured.

It is, however, also an expensive dive computer that has features that no recreational diver will ever use. I am not talking about the design, build quality, ergonomics, or attention to detail of the thing - that certainly is worth the extra buck. No doubt it looks cool on your wrist as well.

But is it wise to leave a piece of fully customizable gear in untrained hands? You can play around with decompression models, gradient factors, and other stuff that I personally don’t (yet) fully understand. Perhaps that does not pose an increased risk since I will not be diving beyond recreational limits any time soon. But could it be extra risky? Part of that risk might be the mere fact that I am not yet able to definitely say yes or no to that question, because I don’t understand all the possible implications.

If I don’t exactly understand what settings I play around with and how they affect the risk-based feedback the dive computer gives me during my dive - wouldn’t that be risky in itself? At worst, I am putting myself at risk - unknowingly. At best, the Perdix is an expensive overkill of functionality for the type of diving I will be doing in the foreseeable future.

Bottom line
Offering recreational divers options that they don't understand increases risk. Instead, I would encourage them to focus on doing the basics right and building routines. The smooth operation of a dive computer is one such basic skill. Do you want the more elaborate version with integrated air, Bluetooth connectivity, compass, a large color screen? No problem. Those are not things that could get you into trouble if you don’t fully understand the implications of changing settings (as long as you configure your gas tank size and pressure correctly, that is).

So, in suggesting tech gear to recreational divers, be aware of overcomplicating things and thereby increasing risk. The question should not be ‘does the recreational diver need those features?’ The question should be ‘can he handle them?’ Just maybe, for a recreational diver, you don’t want adjustable gradient factors. Maybe you just want them to have a dive computer that converts complicated calculations into clear directive actions and alarms.

In five to nine years' time, if and when they get into technical diving, they can always reconsider. By that time, something new and shiny will have hit the market and is the hottest thing by then. They will probably want something new anyway. By then, all the above questions are still valid. It might just be the case that the answers to those questions will be different.

Sources and recommended watching
Jens Meissner - ‘How big is tech really?’ - X-Ray Magazine, September 2019 issue: How big is tech really?

Great introduction on decompression theory and gradient factors (even interesting for recreational divers):

Reason why so many recreational divers want a Shearwater is the gaining popularity they have on social media, diving forms like this, advertisements, etc. look back be for the Teric was released and 90% of recreational divers had now clue what Shearwater was. Couple years I use to get people asking me all the time what my Petrel (I don't own any regular computers) was the when I occasionally went recreational diving now I never that question everyone just knows its a Shearwater. fast-forward to 2022 the era of everything flashing all over social media and now everyone has a Shearwater or Garmin and probably will never use the computer what it was full intended for but it looks cool and it was marketed as "Tec" so therefor everyone feels they need it. Same as any other industry out there, how many people buy a 4 wheel drive vehicle to drive it on the highway to work and back and pick the kids up from school in suburbia but they HAD to have a 4x4. Its consumerism at is finest.

Its a marketing thing. People are drawn to the fact that tec divers use them and traditional equipment for tec diving is more specialized, more reliable, and offers alot more features so everyone feels like they want that but there is a big difference between want and need. But I get it and am very very guilty of it, I call it man syndrome. If you need to buy a cordless drill for occasional "recreational" work around the house you automatically feel the need to buy a Hilti "contractor" grade tool but in reality the Walmart special Ryobi will probably do the job. But man syndrome takes over and you end up buying the Hilti because you want it. But guess what I like going out in the garage and picking up my way over priced Hilti drill and I really don't care.

 

[formernuke]

Reason why so many recreational divers want a Shearwater is the gaining popularity they have on social media, diving forms like this, advertisements, etc. look back be for the Teric was released and 90% of recreational divers had now clue what Shearwater was. Couple years I use to get people asking me all the time what my Petrel (I don't own any regular computers) was the when I occasionally went recreational diving now I never that question everyone just knows its a Shearwater. fast-forward to 2022 the era of everything flashing all over social media and now everyone has a Shearwater or Garmin and probably will never use the computer what it was full intended for but it looks cool and it was marketed as "Tec" so therefor everyone feels they need it. Same as any other industry out there, how many people buy a 4 wheel drive vehicle to drive it on the highway to work and back and pick the kids up from school in suburbia but they HAD to have a 4x4. Its consumerism at is finest.

Its a marketing thing. People are drawn to the fact that tec divers use them and traditional equipment for tec diving is more specialized, more reliable, and offers alot more features so everyone feels like they want that but there is a big difference between want and need. But I get it and am very very guilty of it, I call it man syndrome. If you need to buy a cordless drill for occasional "recreational" work around the house you automatically feel the need to buy a Hilti "contractor" grade tool but in reality the Walmart special Ryobi will probably do the job. But man syndrome takes over and you end up buying the Hilti because you want it. But guess what I like going out in the garage and picking up my way over priced Hilti drill and I really don't care.

Wrong

 

[GF99/99]

Wrong

Ok can you please educated us why a recreational diver would "need" (key word is need) a decompression CC mixed gas diver computer.

I fully get "wanting" one and I am guilty of this as I am that guy who buy things that are way more than what I need (I own 3 Petrels, and 2 Perdix's) and there is nothing wrong with recreational divers "wanting" and buying them but people want them because its marketed like that. If you don't believe me how many reactional divers new what a Shearwater Predator was when it came out and wanted it? Now with all the advertising and social media how many recreational divers know what a Shearwater Teric is and want one. But like I said nothing wrong with that and I think its good for the industry, helps it grow.

Only explanation I can think of for wanting one is if you have plans to do technical diving. If that is the case then I am 100% for buying something like a Shearwater right off the bat and not screwing around with a basic computer because in the end that will just be a waste of money. I fully support buying a computer once and not having to upgrade later. But if your recreationally diving all you need is depth, time, NDL, gas. Recreationally divers will never need to do Setpoint switches or BO mode (lol unless your like me and your freind want to go for a quick rec dive so you grab you Perdix clipped to your rebreather and never check that its still in CC mode and find out you can not edit the mode once the dive starts so next best thing is to dive in BO mode)