Starting out, many divers are wary of the complications of adding a dive computer into the mix. Although beneficial in the long run, new technologies and functionalities can often serve to complicate a sport, and with so much going on in diving, the added factors can be intimidating to divers just getting started.
For some, looking at your pressure gauge over and over can become a chore. Is it clipped? Unclip it. Clip it back in. It’s a lot of maintenance.
Whereas, when the pressure is right on your wrist, it’s easy to look at. The computer calculates your air time remaining, so it delivers a lot of info onto a small, convenient bit of real estate.
WHY GO HOSELESS? WHY GO AIR INTEGRATED?
The main benefit of going hoseless, is the streamlining effect it has on your whole kit. Getting away from the burden of having a full dangling console to manage changes diving in a fundamental way.
“Bringing your hand up to your face and not having to fumble through the water for your computer is amazing,” says treasure hunter and Duck Diver Howard Ehrenberg. “You’ll never have it dangling around ever again.”
Your computer itself is performing a ton of calculations while you dive based on what size tank you have. While the dive’s in progress, it’s calculating your breathing rate, thus your average air consumption, thus how much air time you have remaining. All calculated on the fly.
WHY GET A DIVE COMPUTER?
For a newer diver that wants to pay more attention to their gas intake, using a hoseless air-integrated computer makes a lot of sense. It helps you evolve your gas planning and know: How much gas do I need for a certain dive?
Taking it a step further, an understanding of one’s gas intake then allows you to start making decisions in a more sophisticated manner. I want to do this dive, but I’ll need more gas than I can carry in an 80, so I’ll bring a 100, and so forth.
Another amazing feature of air-integrated computing is its positive effects on beginner divers. By calculating breath rate and airtime remaining, a diver is emboldened with additional confidence. For both new and veteran divers, the extra info can increase awareness, confidence—and aid in deliberate breath modulation.
“It helped me be less of an air hog,” says Duck Diver Megan Ehrenberg. That’s really one of the selling features of air integration in general.”
With an air-integrated computer/transmitter, you have access to heaps of dive data that allows you to turn around and run analytics on your own diving. Learn your weaknesses, study your decisions and become a better diver.
Posted on September 11, 2020, Oceanicworldwide.com