How to determine depth

[Roatan joao]

I was wondering if there was a way to determine depth without a very expensive gadget/watch, aside from a marked line. We freedive all over the place and are not in one area for very long. There has to be some kind of old school way. Here in Honduras we dont have access to all the latest greatest.

Dive Free!

Joao

[Marwan]

i Guess with experience you can pick things up, like for example, you get more equalization problems when it hits 30m or it gets darker at 50, i dont know i could be talking rubbish, whats wrong with the marked line?

[rbsub]

What about a line with marks? ;-)

[sanso]

No need to have the latest and greatest - those old-school depth gauges have been the same for about a hundred years. They don't cost a fortune, don't break, don't need batteries and still work well enough. - And You need less lead on Your belt.

[trux]

Originally Posted by Roatan joao

I was wondering if there was a way to determine depth without a very expensive gadget/watch...

Try looking at this threads:
http://forums.deeperblue.net/goods-w...pth-gauge.html
http://forums.deeperblue.net/freediv...ht=cheap+gauge
http://forums.deeperblue.net/spearo-...ht=cheap+gauge

and there are more such threads here on DB - just use the search function and browse through them.

The cheapest capillary gauges are below 20€. You can also build one alone - I did also; in the old times when I lived behind the Iron Curtain and had no possibility to buy diving equipment. All you need is about 15cm of a hard transparent plastic tube with inner diameter of 1mm or less. You close one end, put it on some support (i.e. round plastic, metal, or even wood with a wrist band) and calibrate it in depth with the help of marked line. Cost - several cents; time - about half a day including searching the material and calibration. You can also use a glass capillary, but then you either have to let it stright, or form it into a circle with a gas burner.

[jome]

With an experienced diver counting kick cycles or equalizations can be surprisingly accurate...Or in CW diving, dive time is also pretty good indicator.

For recreational diving of course these methods do not apply really well...

[trux]

... ah, and I forgot to mention - on Roatan, there are dozens of diving centers, and I bet that in many of them there are some old used mechanical gauges from scuba consoles laying around. Ask the owners - maybe some will be willing to sell you one for couple of bucks.

[Roatan joao]

Thats a great idea, I know most of the people that run the dive shops. I agree that its hard if you are not just diving for depth.

Thanks!

Joao

[Roatan joao]

Thanks for the tips on the treads, I am new to the site. Its amazing the knowledge on here!