-
Welcome to the DeeperBlue.com Forums, the largest online community dedicated to Freediving, Scuba Diving and Spearfishing. To gain full access to the DeeperBlue.com Forums you must register for a free account. As a registered member you will be able to:
- Join over 44,280+ fellow diving enthusiasts from around the world on this forum
- Participate in and browse from over 516,210+ posts.
- Communicate privately with other divers from around the world.
- Post your own photos or view from 7,441+ user submitted images.
- All this and much more...
You can gain access to all this absolutely free when you register for an account, so sign up today!
The best freedive watch?
- Thread starterCasi
- Start date
Thread Status: Hello
, There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.
good question!
i too am looking for a freedive watch/computer. i have seen the Suunto D3 and it is very nice but... i have also heard the alarms are inaudiable with as little as a 3mm hood on and computer uploads are difficult. what about the Mares Apneist how loud are the alarms and how well does it upload? i am aware that the Suunto is much smaller and more "hydrodynamic" but the efficiency is lost if you are forced to bring your head and arms out of diving position just know your depth/time as you near your desired limits. i also have the bad habit of never looking at my bottom timer whilst hunting and i think some nice loud alarms would add some safety to my dives the only thing that has kept me from just buying a newer digital bottom timer with alarms is the dream of uploading for my training profiles.
i too am looking for a freedive watch/computer. i have seen the Suunto D3 and it is very nice but... i have also heard the alarms are inaudiable with as little as a 3mm hood on and computer uploads are difficult. what about the Mares Apneist how loud are the alarms and how well does it upload? i am aware that the Suunto is much smaller and more "hydrodynamic" but the efficiency is lost if you are forced to bring your head and arms out of diving position just know your depth/time as you near your desired limits. i also have the bad habit of never looking at my bottom timer whilst hunting and i think some nice loud alarms would add some safety to my dives the only thing that has kept me from just buying a newer digital bottom timer with alarms is the dream of uploading for my training profiles.
Casi,
I don’t think many people would say the Casio is better than the Suunto. Its just that the Suunto costs close to $300 and you can get a Casio, as in the “Casio Watch with Dept Gauge” post for about $100.
The Suunto models you would want to look at for freediving are the D3, which is mostly a freediving watch, and the Mosquito which is a scuba computer with a freediving mode.
Personally, the way I lose and break things, I have a hard time trusting myself with a $300 watch. If I could get one and know that it was going to give 8 plus years service, before I lost or broke it I would buy the Suunto, but in my case I’m probably better off with the Casio. I have enough things to worry about and care for!
Don
I don’t think many people would say the Casio is better than the Suunto. Its just that the Suunto costs close to $300 and you can get a Casio, as in the “Casio Watch with Dept Gauge” post for about $100.
The Suunto models you would want to look at for freediving are the D3, which is mostly a freediving watch, and the Mosquito which is a scuba computer with a freediving mode.
Personally, the way I lose and break things, I have a hard time trusting myself with a $300 watch. If I could get one and know that it was going to give 8 plus years service, before I lost or broke it I would buy the Suunto, but in my case I’m probably better off with the Casio. I have enough things to worry about and care for!
Don
Mares Apneist a dissapointment
Gitano, I have used the Mares Apneist for two seasons now and I am quite dissapointed with it. First of all, it is very large, compared to my friends mosquito (hope to own one). Secondly, the alarms are hardly audible in the water with a hood on (maybe off too). Third, and most bothersome to me, is that there is no surface interval timer. I must use the "time of day" with no seconds, so I must watch when the next minute changes, otherwise I'll think I breathed up for a minute more than I really did. Oh, and another thing,...you must remain at depth for a few seconds in order for it to log that deepest depth. The sampling rate is not as fast as the mosquito (hope to own one). At times I have seen a depth on my wrist, but it didn't log it as max. Almost appears the display intervals are at one foot incriments (if English is selected), but the logging intervals are a couple of feet apart.
The apneist is the only freediving computer I've owned, but have seen better ones. Take your time and make this an informed purchase.
Jim
Gitano, I have used the Mares Apneist for two seasons now and I am quite dissapointed with it. First of all, it is very large, compared to my friends mosquito (hope to own one). Secondly, the alarms are hardly audible in the water with a hood on (maybe off too). Third, and most bothersome to me, is that there is no surface interval timer. I must use the "time of day" with no seconds, so I must watch when the next minute changes, otherwise I'll think I breathed up for a minute more than I really did. Oh, and another thing,...you must remain at depth for a few seconds in order for it to log that deepest depth. The sampling rate is not as fast as the mosquito (hope to own one). At times I have seen a depth on my wrist, but it didn't log it as max. Almost appears the display intervals are at one foot incriments (if English is selected), but the logging intervals are a couple of feet apart.
The apneist is the only freediving computer I've owned, but have seen better ones. Take your time and make this an informed purchase.
Jim
well what has an audiable alarm???
that is a huge disappointment(the inaudiability)! this seems to be a common theme for the freediving watch market. both my tech scuba computers have the loudest alarms for gas switching and many other functions, so loud that they are anoying. i prefer to dive safe and the alarms are important to me while freediving.
please tell me more about the mosquito and its functions!
p.s. i oten wear a 7mm hood in this cold water here.
that is a huge disappointment(the inaudiability)! this seems to be a common theme for the freediving watch market. both my tech scuba computers have the loudest alarms for gas switching and many other functions, so loud that they are anoying. i prefer to dive safe and the alarms are important to me while freediving.
please tell me more about the mosquito and its functions!
p.s. i oten wear a 7mm hood in this cold water here.
There is only one watch with an audible alarm, the citizen aqualand duplex. Not only is the alarm loud, but you can program the number of beeps: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
So, you could wear 5 citizen aqualand duplex watches, and have one of them beep once at 10m, another beeps twice at 20m, and so on.
It measures digital depth to .1m down to 80m, but the digital display is small. It records 4 dives but it is scuba style, so you would need to reset it after each freedive if you want to record individual dives. It malfunctions in water 6C or less, like all citizen and casio watches. Only the suunto watches work in icewater.
Size-wise, it is tiny, much smaller than a suunto watch or apneist.
Eric Fattah
BC, Canada
So, you could wear 5 citizen aqualand duplex watches, and have one of them beep once at 10m, another beeps twice at 20m, and so on.
It measures digital depth to .1m down to 80m, but the digital display is small. It records 4 dives but it is scuba style, so you would need to reset it after each freedive if you want to record individual dives. It malfunctions in water 6C or less, like all citizen and casio watches. Only the suunto watches work in icewater.
Size-wise, it is tiny, much smaller than a suunto watch or apneist.
Eric Fattah
BC, Canada
what a conflict
:head Eric this is causing me to go mad. As you may or may not know I dive very near your area(Washington,Oregon, Alaska,BC,salt and fresh both) and 6c temps or near happen enough that it makes me hesitate on a Citizen purchase.
Five watches isn't that a bit much(not at your level but i think for me, well...)? Not to mention the price, ouch! I know the old adage, "Safety never has too high a price". What about the new Uwatec bottom timmers or something of the sort for alarm purposes and the D3 for data sampling used in tandem. For the time being I have been using my tech computers and setting multi gas switch alarms based on depth or simply use the gauge modes, but the alarms are dificult to disarm and the reaction time is sometimes too slow for freediving!
Thanks for the advice. I would like to meet you one day, you have my utmost respect going to the depths that you do in these waters!! I have so many questions for you it would probably make your head spin but I'll refrain.
:head Eric this is causing me to go mad. As you may or may not know I dive very near your area(Washington,Oregon, Alaska,BC,salt and fresh both) and 6c temps or near happen enough that it makes me hesitate on a Citizen purchase. Five watches isn't that a bit much(not at your level but i think for me, well...)? Not to mention the price, ouch! I know the old adage, "Safety never has too high a price". What about the new Uwatec bottom timmers or something of the sort for alarm purposes and the D3 for data sampling used in tandem. For the time being I have been using my tech computers and setting multi gas switch alarms based on depth or simply use the gauge modes, but the alarms are dificult to disarm and the reaction time is sometimes too slow for freediving!
Thanks for the advice. I would like to meet you one day, you have my utmost respect going to the depths that you do in these waters!! I have so many questions for you it would probably make your head spin but I'll refrain.
Ha ha ha, now I understand why I never heard my deeph alarm on my aqualand duplex, and why I should read those things call manuals.
Mathias Ahlen
Mathias Ahlen
Last edited:
another thread
there is an other thread under the general freedive cat. the thread is called "Logging feedives and Training performance"
Eric if you could respond to some of my input on that thread both computer related and sinus/equalizing I would be very greatfull.
This is the best resource for freediving info on the internet thanks to everyone for making it so strong! It looks as if the world of freediving might be one of the fastest growing water sports does anyone have some stats on that. Yet again maybe this is a new thread.
there is an other thread under the general freedive cat. the thread is called "Logging feedives and Training performance"
Eric if you could respond to some of my input on that thread both computer related and sinus/equalizing I would be very greatfull.
This is the best resource for freediving info on the internet thanks to everyone for making it so strong! It looks as if the world of freediving might be one of the fastest growing water sports does anyone have some stats on that. Yet again maybe this is a new thread.
S
Stalker
Guest
I like the D3
No, the alarm on the D3 isn't very loud, but try it (borrow a feriend's D3 or Mosquito) before you decide against it. It is audible
I don't understand why there should be any problems downloading data from the D3? I have downloaded 500+ dives so far (not all very long or deep, but still), and have had no problems. It's not soopah doopah fast, but it works perfectly. And the D3 stores all dives ("lifetime memory, Suunto says), so you don't have to "empty the memory" or anything.
The 1 sec sampling interval is very useful. The difference upt to the 2 second interval on the Mosquito is worth considering. Go for the smooooth graphs
I have a Suunto Vector too, and Suunto have replaced it twice due to malfunctioning (backlight died, altitude was way off). This could either be good because they stand by their products, or bad because they don't last forever
No, the alarm on the D3 isn't very loud, but try it (borrow a feriend's D3 or Mosquito) before you decide against it. It is audible
I don't understand why there should be any problems downloading data from the D3? I have downloaded 500+ dives so far (not all very long or deep, but still), and have had no problems. It's not soopah doopah fast, but it works perfectly. And the D3 stores all dives ("lifetime memory, Suunto says), so you don't have to "empty the memory" or anything.
The 1 sec sampling interval is very useful. The difference upt to the 2 second interval on the Mosquito is worth considering. Go for the smooooth graphs
I have a Suunto Vector too, and Suunto have replaced it twice due to malfunctioning (backlight died, altitude was way off). This could either be good because they stand by their products, or bad because they don't last forever
big thanks again
O.K. I can only guess that the audiability is a very subjective thing. Maybe it depends on our ears and how well we equalize or how much damage we have inflicted on our ears. I'll give it a try, better still tomorrow one of my dive buddies will be wearing his new D3 if I can hear it while he is wearing it I am sold!
I'm doubtful however that I will hear a thing my hearing is awful, ask my wife ....
O.K. I can only guess that the audiability is a very subjective thing. Maybe it depends on our ears and how well we equalize or how much damage we have inflicted on our ears. I'll give it a try, better still tomorrow one of my dive buddies will be wearing his new D3 if I can hear it while he is wearing it I am sold!I'm doubtful however that I will hear a thing my hearing is awful, ask my wife
....
Last edited:
Hey all
Just one you have not mentioned but it is basically the same as the Mosquito, is the Stinger. I am very happy with this watch and find it very easy to use. The alarms are audible, has surface intervals, the only minor problem is the sampling time which the shortest time is 2 secs so you sometimes need to hang at your depth for the 2secs in order to get an accurate reading but if yuo turn and go immediately then you might be slightly out but by miniscule points. We also use the D3's quite a lot for all of our National events and they are also really great, they have a sampling time every second so tend to be slightly more accurate than Stinger or Mosquito.
Suunto is the way to go. Have a Citizen Hyperaqualand as well, but not suitable for freediving.
Cheers all.
Just one you have not mentioned but it is basically the same as the Mosquito, is the Stinger. I am very happy with this watch and find it very easy to use. The alarms are audible, has surface intervals, the only minor problem is the sampling time which the shortest time is 2 secs so you sometimes need to hang at your depth for the 2secs in order to get an accurate reading but if yuo turn and go immediately then you might be slightly out but by miniscule points. We also use the D3's quite a lot for all of our National events and they are also really great, they have a sampling time every second so tend to be slightly more accurate than Stinger or Mosquito.
Suunto is the way to go. Have a Citizen Hyperaqualand as well, but not suitable for freediving.
Cheers all.
Hi dolphin girl
Yes i woud have to agree with you that the worlds best dive watch is the suunto stinger. Not only is it reliable and you get the first battery change free but it also has chunky stylish looks.
The alarm is audible if you dont wear a hood, and the two second sampling is no big downer really.
Its major drawback compared to the mozzie to me is that surface intervals count up in minutes only. Ie if you surface you only know your surface times every minute on the minute. The mozzie counts up in seconds. Much better for grooving that two minute breathup routine before the next dive. The mozzie however is plastic and dog ugly in comparison.
I actually wear my suunto stinger daily and if i had a mozzie it would be diving only as it looks like a rave toy out of the water.
yup
As with most things ... I usually find that the 500 bucks more that you didnt spend results in a 1000 buck waste of money.
Dont doubt it . just do it ..
Suunto stinger
It'l change your life..
Suunto..
Replacing luck
yea.
Skin.
Yes i woud have to agree with you that the worlds best dive watch is the suunto stinger. Not only is it reliable and you get the first battery change free but it also has chunky stylish looks.
The alarm is audible if you dont wear a hood, and the two second sampling is no big downer really.
Its major drawback compared to the mozzie to me is that surface intervals count up in minutes only. Ie if you surface you only know your surface times every minute on the minute. The mozzie counts up in seconds. Much better for grooving that two minute breathup routine before the next dive. The mozzie however is plastic and dog ugly in comparison.
I actually wear my suunto stinger daily and if i had a mozzie it would be diving only as it looks like a rave toy out of the water.
yup
As with most things ... I usually find that the 500 bucks more that you didnt spend results in a 1000 buck waste of money.
Dont doubt it . just do it ..
Suunto stinger
It'l change your life..
Suunto..
Replacing luck
yea.
Skin.
The Stinger gets my vote too.
Great watch for all the abovementioned reasons.
My biggest complaint is that the watch reckons you've finished for the day if you're surface interval exceeds 3 or 4 minutes. It's not a big deal except that your max results (that alternate with the current display) read 0.
If you're careful, you can find them at reasonable prices too.
Al
Great watch for all the abovementioned reasons.
My biggest complaint is that the watch reckons you've finished for the day if you're surface interval exceeds 3 or 4 minutes. It's not a big deal except that your max results (that alternate with the current display) read 0.
If you're careful, you can find them at reasonable prices too.
Al
THE STINGER wins by a mile. Had mine about years and love it to bits. Ace for freediving, ace for scuba plus when I wear it as a watch it gets me chatted up all the time ("are you a diver? wow.....")
Sam :t
Sam :t
I find that wearing my fins is the best way of starting a conversation in a bar / disco.
D3 vs Stinger
To the friends that voted for Stinger, I remind that the thread is asking for the best FREEDIVE watch. I have used the Stinger extensively and it is one of the best instruments I have ever owned. However, for performance freediving I have to give my vote to D3 for the already mentioned advantages
1sec sampling rate
surface time in minutes AND seconds
does not reset to time mode for 20min at surface
The D3 will never look half as cool as the Stinger but objectively it does a better job for freedivers. And there is a simple reason for that: it is designed to be primarily a FREEDIVE watch. Besides, why would I need all that air and nitrox software if all I wanted is to freedive?
Hydro
To the friends that voted for Stinger, I remind that the thread is asking for the best FREEDIVE watch. I have used the Stinger extensively and it is one of the best instruments I have ever owned. However, for performance freediving I have to give my vote to D3 for the already mentioned advantages
1sec sampling rate
surface time in minutes AND seconds
does not reset to time mode for 20min at surface
The D3 will never look half as cool as the Stinger but objectively it does a better job for freedivers. And there is a simple reason for that: it is designed to be primarily a FREEDIVE watch. Besides, why would I need all that air and nitrox software if all I wanted is to freedive?
Hydro
The suunto D3 is what I like most.
Especially the 1 second update interval.
Another cool thing I will start using soon,
is the Suunto X6HR wrist watch.
Its designed for cross-country events,
but what I am after is that its got a heart rate monitor,
and its waterproof up to 100m.
As with the D3, you can print out graphs of your dive (D3), or heart rate (X6HR), through the duration of a dive, or a static, or a whole training session.
It can keep logs of your heart rate every 2 seconds for more than 2 hours.
Especially the 1 second update interval.
Another cool thing I will start using soon,
is the Suunto X6HR wrist watch.
Its designed for cross-country events,
but what I am after is that its got a heart rate monitor,
and its waterproof up to 100m.
As with the D3, you can print out graphs of your dive (D3), or heart rate (X6HR), through the duration of a dive, or a static, or a whole training session.
It can keep logs of your heart rate every 2 seconds for more than 2 hours.
