Are watches necessary?

[///Kyometaxao]

Hi all

I can understand the requirement for a watch/computer for SCUBA diving but are they that important for Freediving? In other words, is it dangerous to freedive without one?

Regards

 

[Bill McIntyre]

For most of my life dive dive watches didn't exist and I survived without one, but the same could be said for seat belts in automobiles. Now I won't dive or drive without them.

The main benefit of a watch like the Aeris f10 is that you can time your surface interval. Before I got a watch I dove again after I felt that I had recovered from the previous dive. After I got a watch, I found that I usually felt fine after about 45 seconds, and that is not long enough. I think a lot of people, including me, believe that surface interval should be twice the length of your dives. And if I know I'm about to do a deep or challenging dive, perhaps to cut out a fish wrapped in the kelp, then I may use the watch to ensure that I get a much longer surface interval.

I never look at my dive time while under water and use it as a guide to start up, but I look at the dive time after I surface. If its decreasing, then it might remind me to focus more on my breath-up and relaxation.

If I'm in murky water, I might check my depth and ascend a bit sooner than usual if I find that I'm deeper than normal.

To answer your question- diving without a watch may not be dangerous, but its safer to dive with one.

 

[///Kyometaxao]

Thanks for your response Bill - will probably find a use for the old G-Shocks in the bottom of my drawer!

 

[PJB]

Thanks for your response Bill - will probably find a use for the old G-Shocks in the bottom of my drawer!

An excellent reply Bill, I can't agree more. But just to augment a little: I am an instructor with Apnea Academy (for what that's worth!) and on a personal level I believe the 'truth' lies somewhere in-between. At AA the foundational focus is on breathing and relaxations - about how you 'feel' when you dive. Focus on this aspect rather than digital outputs, and you've opened the door to understanding and perception of your own physiology and its interaction with your mental and emotional state - both above and below the surface. But Bill remains correct, particularly with regard to surface intervals (we work on 3:1, minimum) and so the compromise is to decide prior to a dive session what 'kind' of experience you'll be chasing that day. Alternate regularly - with and without the watch - and take note of how you feel. your experience and skillset will be the richer for it. Enjoy!

 

[Kars]

I think it also depends on what you do under water.

If you do things that demand a lot of attention, the attention to depth and time may escape you, and you go deeper then noticed or stay down longer then usual.

For line diving it can help to time equalisation, alert you to reaching the plate, alert you of a 'half-way' time.
For pool it's helpful for all sorts of schedules.

Without watch I would handle a bit bigger safety margin in time and depth. Also I would have to be extra careful sharing my attention with external things.

To new divers a dive computer may encourage competition going beyond what the diver is ready for.

 

[FreeDivingJake]

Hi all

I can understand the requirement for a watch/computer for SCUBA diving but are they that important for Freediving? In other words, is it dangerous to freedive without one?

Regards

Good question. For the way I dive, not having a watch (whether it's just a watch or a dive computer) is probably not smart. When diving in caverns, especially when you're deep, it's important to know how long you've been down. Having a dive watch or a computer isn't going to make your dives longer or anything. My dives will pretty much be around 2 minutes dive watch or not. But I think it's important to know how long you've been on the surface as well. If you feel like looking at your watch is counterproductive when once you're under the surface, then only glance at it once or twice. Even using a cheap Timex to time your surface interval and dive time is fine. You don't have to have a $400 F10 or $650 D4. I just believe it's very important to know how long you've been down. Especially with deeper diving. I lose sense of time when I dive, I only feel the urge to breathe once I start my ascent (which is annoying). So when I'm on the bottom I have contractions, but what makes me start my ascent is when I look at my watch and know how long it takes me to get up from say 70'+ and I should probably start heading up. Anyways, I think it's important from a safety stand point. Sorry if I ramble on a little in my replies, haha.

 

[Mahmoud_Sami]

Defiantly , it is very important , if you have to SCUBA dive with watch to know your no decompression time , its important to free dive with a watch for: 1- know your dive time , as your surface interval has to be at least twice your previous dive time (some organization said it must be at least triple your dive time) . 2- know your limit , say you dive to 20m and at this depth you feel pain in your chest , that's means that your blood shift is weak at this depth and you have to not exceed your limit until your dive mammalian reflex enhance at this depth , after that you only permit to increase your depth with small distance ( say 5m for small and 2m for big depth) and begin to train your new limit.