Posted by seahunt on October 01, 2002 at 13:41:15:
In Reply to: Are computers Really Safe? posted by Captain Tim on October 01, 2002 at 10:34:50:
You mention about differences. I think that there is no doubt that the typical dive
has gotten deeper over the years.
I know from reading that there is a terrific variation between computers and
pretty much everyone has agreed that they are very conservative, but that doesn't
bother me any.
I don't usually like to give opinions much on gear for reasons I have stated before,
what is good for me may not be good for others..., but I have learned a little
from using computers.
For the first 5 years or so that I used them, my ol' Skinny Dipper never failed in
any way. It was fantastic and I never bent. It did the job and gave me at least an
extra tank a day when hunting hard. I did keep track of where I was always
and rarely started a dive that could end up in deco. I've heard that some people
will violate their computer. I don't. Of course, recently, I have heard the Skinny
Dipper disparaged, but I don't really know.
I guess I sorta got spoiled for the dependability of the Skinny Dipper cuz since
I've gotten my new one, I've had to learn about its failure mode. The batteries
often fail. I've had to take a completely different attitude. I figure that on
any dive it may fail. Since I don't rely that heavily on my computer, that is
OK, but it is still a bit annoying. One day, it will cost me a dive.
Ya know, I really liked the Skinny Dipper. It would tell me how I could go
down for at any depth before I went. I wouldn't go until I could make my
whole dive. The Aeris I have now just sorta tells you when you are done,
but not much information in minutes. Well, it is really for one purpose.
Keeping me from bending.
Not much here, just my experience, but it is a lot of dives.
Enjoy the diving, seahunt