Switching off Suunto D4?

[Deefstes]

On the Suunto D4, in the Dive mode there are 4 options - Air, Nitrox, Free and Off. Can someone tell me what the purpose of the "Off" option is? When the computer is in dive mode and you're not diving it will default back to Time mode after a while anyway. Is there a good reason why one would want to set the dive mode to "off" first?

Our LDS owner recently told me that it increases the battery life significantly but I'm somewhat dubious of this. Can't find any reference to it in the manual. Could someone confirm this?

 

[ajduplessis]

Correct! It's supposed to increase battery life.

 

[scubamarketing]

The LDS owner is right, it's designed to keep it out of dive mode. Some people wear it while rafting/hiking/etc and don't want it to kick on just when damp. I guess you could also use it simply as a bottom timer that way too.

 

[mattoau]

Also useful for pressure tests after a battery change, the unit won't throw a fit when you bring it from 30m to the surface in 2 seconds.