Solo Diver and Dive Computer

[Hatul]

yeahh .. I have one of those; I bought it 2 years ago.

You buy it, you clip it to your BCD and you forget about it ......... now that you mentioned it........ I think I forgot where I put the download cable :depressed:

What would that give you if you already wear a computer? I already have enough junk clipped to my BC.

Adam

 

[g1138]

It gives you a diagram of your dive labeling your ascent rate, depth etc etc. It even gives you every point of raw data throughout your dive. Assuming you download it from the unit

If your current computer does all this and is downloadable to a PC then you pretty much already have what the Sensus Ultra gives you.

 

[Hatul]

It gives you a diagram of your dive labeling your ascent rate, depth etc etc. It even gives you every point of raw data throughout your dive. Assuming you download it from the unit

If your current computer does all this and is downloadable to a PC then you pretty much already have what the Sensus Ultra gives you.

I have an old Vyper and of course it does all that. I would assume any PC downloadable computer does as well, otherwise what's it downloading?. That's what puzzled me about DivNav post as we know he's an expert and I'm sure dives with a downloadable computer.

Adam

 

[g1138]

Redundancy maybe. He'll probably have to answer that one for you.
Quite honestly if you already have a downloadable computer, you probably don't need a Sensus unit. This was originally advice for the OP and any other solo divers who don't dive with a computer that has download capability.

The Sensus unit is just a bit bigger than a marshmallow and of the setups I've seen usually have it attached to your BC or reg unit so it's not on the front side of the diver.
Other differences from a comp are:
- Sensus Unit has a way longer battery life (although it's not user changable)
- No deco obligations (not sure of the pros or cons compared to a downloadable computer)

 

[DevonDiver]

It's small and easy to mount in an obscure place. I had to buy one when I enrolled in my sci dive class and have mounted it ever since.

I've gotta ask why?

I don't really see the point of recording dive profiles, without corresponding nitrogen saturation states.

For $200, you could get a very nice downloadable dive computer, that does so much more.

 

[g1138]

I've gotta ask why?

I don't really see the point of recording dive profiles, without corresponding nitrogen saturation states.

For $200, you could get a very nice downloadable dive computer, that does so much more.

Concerning the OP's original purpose, just to provide closure to the family. If you don't have a downloadable computer and don't feel like spending the money for one then the Sensus makes an affordable alternative.
With a dive profile you can at least make a more informative speculation as to what happened.
ie. whether the diver in question made an attempt to surface or not

I don't have a legitimate reason as to why you should choose a Sensus Ultra over a downloadable dive computer for recording dives, other than the cost factor.

 

[rx7diver]

Concerning the OP's original purpose, just to provide closure to the family. If you don't have a downloadable computer and don't feel like spending the money for one then the Sensus makes an affordable alternative.
With a dive profile you can at least make a more informative speculation as to what happened.
ie. whether the diver in question made an attempt to surface or not

I don't have a legitimate reason as to why you should choose a Sensus Ultra over a downloadable dive computer for recording dives, other than the cost factor.

Well, for me (the OP), cost really isn't the main concern. For me it has more to do with the fact that I'm preferring now to do my rec diving the way I used to: using analog gauges and tables and no—or minimal—electronics. However, strapping a simple, yet reliable downloadable "black box" to my gear or preferably to my person when I'm solo rec diving seems prudent. Maybe a downloadable dive computer is a better idea after all (as some of you seem to be suggesting) especially if the computer is air-integrated.

rx7diver

 

[DevonDiver]

Concerning the OP's original purpose, just to provide closure to the family. If you don't have a downloadable computer and don't feel like spending the money for one then the Sensus makes an affordable alternative.

You keep using that word "affordable". So do their adverts.

What's "affordable" about $200?

Add that to the cost of any dive computer you'd consider buying and it'd get you download capacity.

A $150 dive computer is affordable. Because it is a necessity. Either that or a combo of depth gauge and timer, which wouldn't cost you much less....

 

[g1138]

Affordable is however you determine it to be.
For me it was a required buy. Part of my sci dive's policy.

To each his own, however you want to configure you gear.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

All,

A recent thread (http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ac...california-diver-found-trapped-kelp-dies.html) in the A&I forum has me reconsidering the prudence of diving with a dive computer. In that thread we learn that the surviving wife of a deceased free diver became convinced, after looking at her husband's returned dive watch, that his death was due, not to kelp entanglement, but to shallow water blackout. I'm assuming that this "watch" was a wristwatch-style dive computer with a download feature.

I've only ever owned one dive computer, the hose-less air-integrated Cochran Nemesis Nitrox II, which I bought new c. 1995 (for technical diving) and still own. I *used* this computer only briefly, as a few months after purchasing it, I began diving with a Uwatec digital bottom timer and tables. Actually, I continued to tech dive with the computer's tank unit attached, in order to record my dives for later download and playback.

I am a rec diver these days—primarily a solo rec diver—and use analog gauges and recreational tables. But up until a couple of years ago, I used to take the TU along on my solo rec dives, too (to record them). I stopped routinely taking the TU because I wanted to simplify my kit a bit more.

The A&I thread referenced above now has me thinking it might be prudent for me to resume diving with a dive computer—not to *use* per se, but to record my dive in case I should become incapacitated (or worse), to help provide some answers. It makes sense to me that the computer should be strapped to me, rather than to my kit, in case my kit and I should become separated.

Any thoughts? Have you other solo divers considered this?

TIA.

rx7diver

My opinion on this issue is this:

I configure my gear to be as SIMPLE as possible. I will not carry an extra do-dad or gadget that does not contribute to my safety... I would not purchase a computer just to record my profile on my "final dive" so that my family could decide if I had "screwed the pooch" or had died of a heart attack or stroke. In my case, where I dive, the chance of a "recovery" is marginal unless I'm found pretty quickly, we have an efficient natural "cleanup crew (Tiger sharks).

But everyone has a different "take" on this, and maybe I have not given it enough thought over the years.

Having said all that, I find a wrist dive computer to be only slightly bulkier than a dive watch... And I wear both (dive computer in gauge mode, the traditional dive watch as a backup).

Best wishes.