Stand alone depth gauge and compass

[tbone1004]

a much better solution to all of this nonsense that would make you much happier is the following. Basic, cheap standard land based compass, super glue to a piece of plexiglass that has been sanded down to be able to write on. Small piece of bungee looped over at the top to hold a golf pencil, and the hole at the bottom would normally have a bolt snap zip tied in to clip off. This makes an infinitely more accurate navigation tool than the wrist or retractor mount compasses, and also acts as your normal dive slate. The map drawn on there below is of Fantasy Lake Scuba Park in NC and is what is used by the NCSU scuba program, so that way you have your map up top, compass right below. Int he open space you can write all of your dive limits for depth/time/pressure, and below that write all of your waypoints if you are practicing navigation. On the back side you have a pretty good sized slate to write whatever you want. The bolt snap gets held by the right hand to allow free access to the inflator, and the left side of the slate bisects the diver so you are going in a straight line instead of crabbing sideways. Whole setup for less than $20 with half of that going to the bolt snap, other half to the compass. Best spot to clip this is the back D-ring on a crotch strap, but hip D-rings work fine as well.
Do standard brass/glass SPG on a shorter hose, and if you want to hang onto an analog depth gauge which I do for open water diving when I don't have a spare computer with me is to just throw it in a pocket of some sort. Either waist or thigh.

 

[fire_diver]

Those are great if you doing mapping dives. For 99% of dives that would be just so much junk getting in the way.

 

[tbone1004]

That is only applicable if you don't dive with a flat slate, if you do dive with a flat slate, then it is less in the way than the retractors, but the real advantage is you get an infinitely more accurate compass than the normal scuba ones, don't have to deal with retractables, have all of your dive information in front if you if you are actually having to compass nav somewhere, and it's less than half the price of a compass on a retractor plus a slate to write on. You could make that as simple as making the plexiglass 3 or 4 inches wider than the compass, which would allow you to easily and accurately navigate. A compass like that is the only way to accurately navigate in blue water over long distances. With that slate I have gone 300yds in blue water in full buddy contact at 10ft and was within 5 feet of my target. That is simply not possible with a wrist compass, a retractable compass, or any of the compasses they market for underwater use because they are not accurate enough.

I would have a huge argument against 99% of dives, in cave diving it's nice to have a basic map of the cave system so you can reorient yourself, in quarries and lakes, it's hugely advantageous to have the map sitting right in front of you. The only time it isn't useful is for most of ocean diving where you are generally not kicking anywhere and are around wrecks were compasses don't do anything. The slate doesn't have to be that big and the one I use for cave diving is much smaller than that, but it keeps everything organized and easy to access. It rides on my tail d-ring so is out of the way of everything, and it never hurts to have something like that with you.

 

[g1138]

tbone1004, you can accomplish long transects off a wrist compass just fine. It's all a difference of technique and how well practiced you are.
Sometimes what type of compass you use (direct or indirect) will have a personal difference.

 

[bc214]

Thanks guys. I ordered the spg and hose. Can someone link me to the page that has the directions for tying in the snap block? I've seen it here before but couldn't find it on a search. I know it's just a knot, but I would like to do it correctly.

 

[tbone1004]

How to tie the perfect bolt snap | Wreck and Cave

https://www.divegearexpress.com/library/boltsnap.shtml

 

[bc214]

How to tie the perfect bolt snap | Wreck and Cave

https://www.divegearexpress.com/library/boltsnap.shtml

Thanks. Bookmarked for future reference.

 

[TN-Steve]

FWIW, I noticed how the owner of our LDS rigged his gear this weekend, He has the compass on left arm, on the 'top' part of his wrist (back of hand side). He has a depth gauge mounted next to it on his wrist, but rotated so that it's on the inside (thumb) side of his arm. His reason is that when he puts his left arm out to navigate, he can look at the reading on the side of the compass and also see his depth in the same view.

Works for him.

Steve

 

[Peter_C]

FWIW, I noticed how the owner of our LDS rigged his gear this weekend, He has the compass on left arm, on the 'top' part of his wrist (back of hand side). He has a depth gauge mounted next to it on his wrist, but rotated so that it's on the inside (thumb) side of his arm. His reason is that when he puts his left arm out to navigate, he can look at the reading on the side of the compass and also see his depth in the same view.

Works for him.

Steve

How does he see his depth gauge when his hand is on his butt dump? If the depth gauge is on the right hand it can be seen while ascending and descending.

 

[g1138]

I bet he uses his inflator hose and ascends vertical. Or maybe his right shoulder dump on the stock BC, which is the best dump to use on stock BC during horizontal ascent. Or his butt dump is on the right side.
It's another method that works.