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Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
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redfisher

New Member
Oct 2, 2018
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i'm planning to buy a dive computer and it shall be suunto's watch.

to use it for freediving, it seemed that d4f is slightly better than the other two (although it doesn't have compass)
because the official website's comparison chart showed that d4f has "depth alarm" and "dive time alarm" while the other two don't

i would like to know which model does everyone buy?
and is it recommended to choose suunto?
thanks in advance:)
 
hi! I got a d6i because there was a bundle that included the transmitter for an additional 10 euros (the shop sells it for 150 euros without the watch), and at the time of the purchase I was still doing scuba diving. Also, it said it's sapphire glass instead of plastic (d4i) and you can go deeper with it (150m instead of 100m). But... I'll probably never go down to those depths so the d6i is way overkill for me. There's also a new dive computer coming at the end of the month I think. It's called D5, so maybe they're going to discount the other models. It might be worth waiting a couple of weeks if you're not in a hurry to buy the watch. Some friends of mine have a Mares computer which is way cheaper and they're very happy with it.
I hope it helps you. Sorry I don't know anybody who has the d4f.
 
Hi, if you’re only freediving go for the specific model

Suunto has very nice models, I got a Cressi Drake which has same functionality and cheaper

I heard Suunto you need to have a support to change battery and some other watches don’t


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You can change youself if youre a bit handy, but Suunto do pressure tests to see it holds up under pressure.
 
I would be careful buying any of those at the moment. They are going through a class action law suit on their dive watches. I ended up having to send mine in three weeks ago and haven’t got it back yet. It’s been great when I used it but am currently out a dive watch at the moment.
 
I would be careful buying any of those at the moment. They are going through a class action law suit on their dive watches. I ended up having to send mine in three weeks ago and haven’t got it back yet. It’s been great when I used it but am currently out a dive watch at the moment.

Why a class action?


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because the official website's comparison chart showed that d4f has "depth alarm" and "dive time alarm" while the other two don't

:)

I have a D4i which I use for freediving and it has 5 depth alarms and a dive time alarm.


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I have the d4f for one year now after a really long term of search and comparison. I'am really happy with it, I just want this because the dive alert only for freediving, but you can't hear it with a hoody. On the wrist while equalization is ok, but if you need it for deep training, I recommend that you put the watch on you mask stripe. As a second watch while training I use a cheap pyle snorkeling watch.
 
Update: just got my watch back from Suunto and they sent me the d4i to replace my d4f so I am very satisfied with their customer service considering.
 
thanks guys! your replies helped me a lot!
however i felt that suunto's watch a little be expensive therefore i changed my mind to choose either the Mares smart apnea or cressi drake titanium.

anyone uses mares smart apnea or cressi drake is welcomed to share experiences:)
 
thanks guys! your replies helped me a lot!
however i felt that suunto's watch a little be expensive therefore i changed my mind to choose either the Mares smart apnea or cressi drake titanium.

anyone uses mares smart apnea or cressi drake is welcomed to share experiences:)

I’m using Cressi Drake with seems perfect for me, I use it also in the swimming pool with dynamic mode that activates at 0.8 mt


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I am in the market for one of these computers.

I do not care about much except being able to see surface interval, depth and dive time. Whichever one will last the longest, do that and give me the best price, I am in. Best price meaning final cost until it breaks.

It seems the suuntos last a while so that may be the way to go but i was looking at the SEAC Driver and there just is not too much info on how reliable it is.
 
I don't have a diving computer and I'm not sure why I would or should get one. But I like gadgets too, so I did waste some late hours surfibg the net for that magical combo of cheap and reliable. I'm not sure if it exists...

The user manual of the Seac computers state: "Do not operate the buttons under water." Kinda strange for a diving watch, no?
What I want to see is the manual stating that it can double as baby seal club or shark puncher and will still work afterwards. But that's me again, gear that's not as durable as a tank is useless to me.
 
I don't have a diving computer and I'm not sure why I would or should get one. But I like gadgets too, so I did waste some late hours surfibg the net for that magical combo of cheap and reliable. I'm not sure if it exists...

The user manual of the Seac computers state: "Do not operate the buttons under water." Kinda strange for a diving watch, no?
What I want to see is the manual stating that it can double as baby seal club or shark puncher and will still work afterwards. But that's me again, gear that's not as durable as a tank is useless to me.
I dive alone 99% of the time, so it is well worth it to spend two or three hundred on a device that tells me the dive interval. That would be a pretty cheap 200 if it saved my life :)

I think first and foremost they are safety devices, and second maybe they can help you train and understand what you did on days where your bottom time was longer or whatever.

I did not know that about the buttons. Does not sound good. I would really like to get away with buying that seac, but if it is not reliable long term the Cressi Drake and Suunto D4F both seem good.
 
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I dive alone 99% of the time, so it is well worth it to spend two or three hundred on a device that tells me the dive interval. That would be a pretty cheap 200 if it saved my life :)
I think with the 2kg+ octopus I just failed to get barehanded at depth the watch would go ERROR. So many ups and downs. And in the end it snuck off at that one second I was distracted during re-breath-up. I can tell you it was laughing at me. But I'll be back, with my 'weapon' (an olive branch, my fav. for octos).

I wonder about this surface interval. It's one of those rules that are just too generic. 2-3x bottomTime. But as with this octo my bottom times were short. Maybe 15-20 seconds, but with hard work, grabbing stones away from it, trying to grab an arm, wrestling it left and right. My surface times were looong, still the next go was without full recovery. Now I was aware of not being fully recovered yet, so no problem. But with a timer... if you listened to the timer for the past 1000 dives, you listen to it too when wrestling an octopus. I remember a story of a car that ended up in the canal because the TomTom said to go right. Death by pavlov effect.
Now if it could use something like a gyro or heartbeat sensor to detect hightened activity and adapt the surface timer to that... That would be nice.
 
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I think with the 2kg+ octopus I just failed to get barehanded at depth the watch would go ERROR. So many ups and downs. And in the end it snuck off at that one second I was distracted during re-breath-up. I can tell you it was laughing at me. But I'll be back, with my 'weapon' (an olive branch, my fav. for octos).

I wonder about this surface interval. It's one of those rules that are just too generic. 2-3x bottomTime. But as with this octo my bottom times were short. Maybe 15-20 seconds, but with hard work, grabbing stones away from it, trying to grab an arm, wrestling it left and right. My surface times were looong, still the next go was without full recovery. Now I was aware of not being fully recovered yet, so no problem. But with a timer... if you listened to the timer for the past 1000 dives, you listen to it too when wrestling an octopus. I remember a story of a car that ended up in the canal because the TomTom said to go right. Death by pavlov effect.
Now if it could use something like a gyro or heartbeat sensor to detect hightened activity and adapt the surface timer to that... That would be nice.
I have thought about many of the points you bring up. There is basically no real evidence that much of this stuff actually works the way it should. 2x dive time could be harmful, who knows. Stranger things have happened.

I think the world is absolutely insane. There is very important stuff that needs to be known out there, all over the place, about diet for example. Yet the food pyramids we were all taught in school are complete crap. But we will spend millions to sequence the dna of tree mites or build a stealth fighter that never gets used.

Yeah I totally agree. Who came up with this 2x? Was he a doctor? Did he actually gather data?

Maybe i will pass on the dive computer, you have convinced me. It is really easy to convince me not to spend money though so don't be too impressed with yourself :)
 
Hahahaha so no job for me yet as financial advisor.. :D I'm not trying to convince you not to buy one. Do buy one, they're nice toys. Just don't buy it to guard your safety. Use it to provide information, not to make decisions.

I guess the 2(or 3)*bottomTime rule was created by trial and error and then everyone copied it without giving it an extra thought. Like it always goes. 2(or 3)*bottomTime might be enough in most cases. But it's just like Stephan said in another topic where we were talking about safety: there is that one time when it is not enough. Perhaps the waves are rough and you are struggling with water entering the snorkel, or you are fiddling around with your gear.

I don't think a dumb timer is much of a safety tool; a smart timer perhaps, which takes the situation, heartbeat and blood oxygen in account (but even then, modern software is programmed under time restraints, opening the door to bugs big enough to crash airplanes); or even a simple counting of your breaths, like wait until you feel rested, reload your gun, and then add x relaxed slow breaths to it as safety. 10x 3in6out-breaths breaths is 90 seconds of surface time, in which you are forced to be relaxed. If you are fiddling with your equipment you can't do such breaths.

Just nothing beats learning to listen to your body. Training to keep awareness at all times and not to get distracted.

* When talking about nitrogen accumulation on repeated dives, then timers might be a lot more valuable.
 
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