When to buy the Teric, and Other Dive Computer Questions

[Jack Hammer]

You'll find a lot of GUE trained divers using Shearwater technical computers. Teric should be fine for GUE courses and allows for much more growth than a Pergrine does. I prefer the layout and ease of gas switching on the Teric to my Petrel2. Mine was a newer one and had no battery issues.

 

[CheckedBubbles]

Good afternoon, @stuartv!

Thank you so much for replying. I like how you mention that I may be able to use my Teric as a gauge, but that after training I could use it as a computer. Talking over this reminded me of when I learned to drive last year. There is the DMV world, and then there is the real world. In the DMV world, you need to stop far enough behind the car in front of you so that you can see their wheels, but in the real world, sometimes drivers don't follow that. I feel like it is the same with GUE. In the GUE world, we plan our dives out before we dive and we use our computers in gauge mode, but in the real world, GUE divers use their computers like dive computers.

I would like to clarify that while I and some others run our computers in computer mode, it is more of a sanity check on top of full in-class style dive planning. None of the original corners are cut; the computer is just an additional tool. Your car analogy suggests that we're decreasing safety factor in the name of efficiency and that isn't at all the case.

 

[stuartv]

@CheckedBubbles everything is relative

I've had phantom button presses, but with the sequence required to change gases, I think it's practically impossible to have it switch gases. I've never heard of one before.

Like I said, I know 2 people personally who have had it happen. It happened to one while we were diving from the same boat. He got out of the water and mentioned what had happened. One of the other guys heard him and said "yeah, that happened to me one time, too!"

One of the nice things about the Pxxxx is how easy it is to do a gas switch when you are ready. It's what? 2 button presses? You've had accidental button presses before. How can you think it would be "practically impossible" to have accidental button presses that result in a gas switch, when you DO have accidental presses AND it's so easy to switch on purpose?

I would like to clarify that while I and some others run our computers in computer mode, it is more of a sanity check on top of full in-class style dive planning. None of the original corners are cut; the computer is just an additional tool. Your car analogy suggests that we're decreasing safety factor in the name of efficiency and that isn't at all the case.

I took the TDI Adv Trimix course a few weeks back. My buddy/classmate is a GUE Tech 1/Cave 2 diver. A VERY experienced cave diver who mostly only dives with other GUE divers. He did insist, for example, on doing his planning for all our dives in GUE's Deco Planner. He would have been doing GUE Tech 2, but his work schedule and personal life don't allow him to take enough time off work at one time for the T2 class and his finances don't currently allow him to afford the cost of T2. But, he wanted the training, so he could move on to some deeper dives than what he has been able to do with only T1 training. So, he took the TDI course... I imagine he'll still do the T2 class someday, when he can get enough time off and has the funds. Anyway...

We wrote out our dive plans in our wet notes and carried them in the water. But, he didn't bat an eye at diving with more aggressive Gradient Factors than what the GUE standards are for Deco Planner (20/85 or something like that?) and just flying our computers for the actual dives. We never once hung at a deco stop past when our computers said we were clear because he felt a need to stay as long as what the DecoPlanner plan said.

 

[CheckedBubbles]

We wrote out our dive plans in our wet notes and carried them in the water. But, he didn't bat an eye at diving with more aggressive Gradient Factors than what the GUE standards are for Deco Planner (20/85 or something like that?) and just flying our computers for the actual dives. We never once hung at a deco stop past when our computers said we were clear because he felt a need to stay as long as what the DecoPlanner plan said.

That aligns well with my understanding of responsible computer use. The specific gradient factor definitely isn't important, GUE just has to pick one for the sake of classes. A well-functioning computer will always be more accurate than your DecoPlanner guesses. The point is to be comfortable enough with deco profiles that you can smell-test what your computer is telling you, as well as to ensure (in the planning stage) that you have enough gas-reserves in the case of equipment failure or deco-gas loss.

 

[tbone1004]

@stuartv which gas switch mode were they using?

 

[stuartv]

@stuartv which gas switch mode were they using?

I do not know.

 

[buddhasummer]

I'm a big fan of buying what I know I need and will use now, I've bought with futures in mind that never came.

 

[loosenit2]

I bought a teric about a year ago and am in a similar place as you, taking fundies soon and then tech training shortly after. I have found that using the teric over the last year has been beneficial to building muscle memory of what to do. It took me a dozen dives to make using the computer second nature. There is value in building muscle memory. Just be sure the Teric is really the computer you want; I love the computer but have had some second thoughts that maybe the perdix would have been more suitable.

 

[OctoHelm]

Hello!!

I think I am just going to jump off of the deep end and get a computer that I know works for fundies and T1 now and just get used to that. However, @buddhasummer brings up a very valid point, which is to buy for what I know I need now, and solve for what I need later when I get there. I could just get a zoop novo and deal with the Suunto RGBM algorithm, and as I hear they are very conservative. Conservatism does not necessarily translate to safety in the water as well. I still don't know if I want to take Rec 2, but because I am 16, I could take it this year. If I was to take it this year, then I would only be using the zoop novo for around seven or eight months, and that represents a low return on investment, and especially so if I need to go buy a Shearwater which I could have done from the get go and saved myself the $300.

I'm still really torn between the Teric and Perdix.

From the reading that I have done on the board, it seems like most divers prefer the Perdix to the Teric, with some people saying that the Teric is a "fashion statement". I want my computer to be one where form follows function, and if I was to solely choose a computer on that, it looks like the Perdix would come out on top.

I really like the screen and UI on the Teric, but also hear great things about the Perdix. On the Perdix, I like how the batteries are user replaceable; however, I don't think I would forget to charge the battery on the Teric, but I'm not convinced that it won't happen either. If I was on a LOB, I can't exactly count on having outlets available, and that worries me with regards to the Teric.

On the back burner, I also know that I will be happy with either computer and that I am really splitting hairs here, but it is not a small amount of money, and I want to eliminate the risk of buyers remorse as much as I can. If Shearwater had the Perdix with the AMOLED screen, I'd be all over it.

When I was picking high schools, I made a pros and cons list. I have a feeling I may do a pros and cons list for this too, and then run it over with my instructor. My instructor has a Perdix, but dives with a Suunto D5 as her primary computer. I will be using her Perdix this Sunday in Monterey, so I will see how I like it. I think taking it out to the sea in real conditions would be very helpful in determining what I like and what I do not. I will be in 5mil wet gloves, so it will also be helpful to see how my decreased dexterity has an affect on the usability of the UI. I do not know whether the piezo buttons on the Perdix or the "pressable" buttons would be more efficacious, especially with thick wet gloves or with DUI's Heavy Duty dry gloves, but the real world use will give me some idea as to where we stand on that.

Would it be a bad idea to just get a zoop novo now, and worry about getting a Shearwater later?

Also, if any of you wonderful people have anything to add, please let me know. I want as much feedback as I can get!

Thank you all so much for taking the time out to help me with this.

Respectfully,

OctoHelm

 

[Jack Hammer]

My 1st computer was a Suunto Gekko, the predecessor of the Zoop. It served me well and I still have it, though i havent used it in quite a while. It is a basic dive computer for the recreational market that can also be used as a bottom timer. That is how I last used it. I wouldn't buy a new one due to the limited expandability of using it. That is money that that would be better put toward a used Shearwater. If recreational diving is all you foresee yourself doing for now then a used Zoop for $100 or so would be a decent investment.