What is the appeal of high depth ratings?

Faz · May 24, 2020

Performance is a good seller although 99.9% of people won't exploit their..

- 500w per channel sound system
- 500hp car
- 12000 ft dive watch

And other HiPo toys

....to their full potential. Just fun to know they can achieve high levels of performance. And yes, as someone said...bragging rights!

wagudc · May 24, 2020

tyrantlizardrex
When I decided to get PADI qualified last year, I decided that I wanted to have a watch that was my "Dive Watch". That I could use for every dive I did from the point I started, until the point someday in the future when I can't dive any more.

My criteria were:

1 - Something I liked and would want to look after, that at the same time I could afford, and wouldn't be too upset about if it ended up at the bottom of the ocean and couldn't be retrieved.

2 - Easy to use underwater and on dry land.

3 - Would sustain 30+ years of Scuba diving. Whether I can do the same is a different matter.

I absolutely could have dived with a 50m water resistant casio digital, and there would have been nothing wrong with that.

But I am also a watch nerd. So wanted something cool and interesting (to me), that fulfilled the three desires above.

I picked the CWC Royal Navy Auto MK2 - reasonably affordable, 300m water resistance, and if the armed forces have been using them since 1981, I thought they could probably cope with anything I could throw at them.

These were built to 300m WR, because that's what the MOD specified.

As to why the watch industry makes watches with crazy depths - I guess technological bragging rights.

As to why people buy them, I'd agree with what others have said - personal bragging rights.

Rest assured, that 300m WR sure came in handy, 18m under the surface of the Adriatic. 😁

Looks like a nice choice. A classic cool watch land, or sea. I was in college when I dove, so free was right for my budget. If I had more money, I would have bought a dive computer.

tyrantlizardrex · May 24, 2020

wagudc
Looks like a nice choice. A classic cool watch land, or sea. I was in college when I dove, so free was right for my budget. If I had more money, I would have bought a dive computer.

I looked at buying a dive computer. But had the niggling thought that I might not love Scuba diving. And that if I didn't at least I'd have a cool watch I could wear on dry land. Wearing a dive computer as a daily is probably not a winner. 😁

blufinz52 · May 24, 2020

BlackTalon · May 24, 2020

Faz
Performance is a good seller although 99.9% of people won't exploit their..

- 500w per channel sound system
- 500hp car
- 12000 ft dive watch

And other HiPo toys

....to their full potential. Just fun to know they can achieve high levels of performance. And yes, as someone said...bragging rights!

Not hard to turn a 500w system up to '11'.

And not hard to mash the pedal of a 500 hp down to the floor.

Diving to 12000 ft is a different animal though. Even if you got drunk, fell and hit your head, and tumbled off the boat into the ocean above the Trench chances of you going down 12,000 ft are non-existent. But if it really did happen it would be a fantastic video to post on IG 😁

Dan S · May 24, 2020

Archer
Two things - first "dive" watches are a specific class of watches that require very specific features, and one of those is a minimum depth rating.

Second is the subject of how ratings work, which is a different thing. The thing you are right on is that Googling this information and looking at random sites will tell you this. Unfortunately misinformation abounds on the internet.

Any reputable company will not make you Google some third party chart made up by a watch blog, a watch seller's site, or some other entity to "decode" their depth ratings. In the case of Omega, they explicitly state that the rating on the watch is what the watch can go to in terms of depth:

People will argue left and right that this chart doesn't mean that, and will tell you that some blog sire has a chart that is "more right" than the people who actually make the watches. To say this is twisted logic is an understatement.

Cheers, Al

The "additional devices suitable for underwater usage" must refer to things like screw-down crowns/pushers.

Rman · May 24, 2020

I like a crusty old vintage watch with absolutely zero waterproofness. Makes me slow down and be more mindful.

aprax · May 25, 2020

amcclell
With that said, 200m is the minimum I would consider for a watch, if I was going scuba diving.

Sorry, but this doesn't make sense. Dedicated underwater camera casings for scuba diving are usually rated 42m. Popular dive computer/watches are rated 100m or 150m (for instance Suunto D4 and D6i respectively). The legendary Stinger is rated 80m. Believe me, all of those are perfectly suited for scuba diving. My first divers watch was a Seiko divers quartz rated 150m which I bought around 1980 if I remember correctly (yes, I'm old, I started diving in 1979 😀) - and I used that watch for hundreds and hundreds of dives. Of course, when elecronic dive computers came out I stopped using watches, there is no need for them.

tyrantlizardrex · May 25, 2020

aprax
Of course, when elecronic dive computers came out I stopped using watches, there is no need for them.

I mean, you need something to keep track of time... and it’s always good to have a backup! 😁

aprax · May 25, 2020

tyrantlizardrex
I mean, you need something to keep track of time... and it’s always good to have a backup!

Yeah, that's true, but let's be frank: If your dive computer should suddenly give up the ghost during a dive (which is a stretch) you still would (should) have a buddy, and even if you wouldn't, you would still be able to discontinue the dive and immediately head up for the surface, no harm done 😎

PS: And I think I am able to make a safety stop at 5m even without a depth gauge, by experience alone 😀

Foo2rama · May 25, 2020

aprax
Sorry, but this doesn't make sense. Dedicated underwater camera casings for scuba diving are usually rated 42m. Popular dive computer/watches are rated 100m or 150m (for instance Suunto D4 and D6i respectively). The legendary Stinger is rated 80m. Believe me, all of those are perfectly suited for scuba diving. My first divers watch was a Seiko divers quartz rated 150m which I bought around 1980 if I remember correctly (yes, I'm old, I started diving in 1979 😀) - and I used that watch for hundreds and hundreds of dives. Of course, when elecronic dive computers came out I stopped using watches, there is no need for them.

the difference is those are specificity made for repeated underwater use and immersion. A Speedmaster Pro on the other hand Is not made for the marine environment and can easily loose its WR even though it’s list as 50m. When I say loose WR... through the crown seal, through the pushers if they get knocked the wrong way. If the pusher gets used underwater.

watches marked as dive watches or scuba watches actually have to meet certain international standards. An ISO that defines what is and is not a dive watch. Interestingly Planet Oceans are not certified and don’t say diver or scuba on them. While they would meet all reqs.

aprax · May 25, 2020

Foo2rama
When I say loose WR... through the crown seal, through the pushers if they get knocked the wrong way. If the pusher gets used underwater.

Pushers are a problem, you're right. And you also would need a divers bezel. But I would have confidence in a diver's watch (without gimmicks like pushers and such) rated for 50 or 100 or 150m. But nowadays you would fare much better with a computer/watch. After all, if you used a divers watch alone, you would still need a depth gauge. And then you would still have to determine deco time, which is a difficult proposition if you don't want to squander air by being extremely conservative.

Foo2rama · May 25, 2020

aprax
Pushers are a problem, you're right. And you also would need a divers bezel. But I would have confidence in a diver's watch (without gimmicks like pushers and such) rated for 50 or 100 or 150m. But nowadays you would fare much better with a computer/watch. After all, if you used a divers watch alone, you would still need a depth gauge. And then you would still have to determine deco time, which is a difficult proposition if you don't want to squander air by being extremely conservative.

as a rescue diver and DMIT, wearing a dive watch as a backup is a must for me. Dive computers fail and if they do your done for the day if you don’t have a backup. Max depth should still be known if your computer fails within about 10 feet, if not then your again done diving for the day.

I learned to dive when the first consumer computers started being available. So I learned on the tables and on slide rule. I personally Once I built my own rig always dive with a computer, but I always carry backups for everything. I dive in temperate lower visibility water then most divers and was trained by ex military so I look at diving a bit differently then most.

aprax · May 25, 2020

Foo2rama
I personally Once I built my own rig always dive with a computer, but I always carry backups for everything.

So do you carry a backup dive computer or both a backup watch and depth gauge? And if you're done for the day, as you say, so what. Would you do a repeat dive with your watch?

BlackTalon · May 25, 2020

I suspect if you are a rescue diver being done for the day due to a computer or watch failure is not helpful to those you are trying to rescue.

Foo2rama · May 25, 2020

aprax
So do you carry a backup dive computer or both a backup watch and depth gauge? And if you're done for the day, as you say, so what. Would you do a repeat dive with your watch?

Depends on a few factors. So I dive with a depth gauge backup and a watch in addition to a console mounted computer. I am not backed up on my air pressure and just run wireless with that. I've been diving long enough that if I loose knowledge of air pressure I can ascend from any depth I might be at.

So if I lost a computer what would I do... honestly it would depend on previous dives on the basic chart. I always use the backup (less aggressive) chart and not the wheel. So its possible to be OK on a computer that takes multiple depth data points, vs the chart that assumes all time at max depth. It might also depend on who I am diving with, and make the choice to rely on my partners computer in the absence of my own and always stay a few feet shallower then my partner. If its just beach diving in shallow water and we never pushed past 60 feet on 1 dive.. would I go out again... most likely yes. If I was on a boat and already done 2 dives and was near deco limits with a short surface interval.. I would most likely not do the third dive using a partners, and I would be way off the more conservative chart at that point.

So Cal diving is a little different then most diving, we are pretty cold at depth and believe it or not some people wear dry suits all year round. We deal with lower visibility then most people and have considerations that are not an issue in other places, like kelp. Most experienced divers out here are geared in a way that to a tropics diver you would think we are industrial divers. Dual knifes, dual flash lights, many of us have specialized equipment that we have built to deal with issues that we have come across here. An example of this is a rescue buoy/single tube/dive weenie , or a 6 foot tall inflatable sausage about 4 inches in diameter that you can use as back up flotation and a signaling device. Due to having to come up near boating lanes off the coast I took a dive reel and attached it to the buoy and marked 15 feet and 30 feet of length on the line. This way I can deploy the buoy at depth and have pre marked safety stops while alerting boats to divers below. The reel is also used for a multitude of reasons esp in emergency situations, so I have combined 2 pieces of gear into one to increase safety and made them both more useful. (apparently this is now commonly sold this way... when I started doing it, as far as anyone knew in the SoCal dive community no one had done it before and alot of people started copying me... SWEET!)

We have much heavier BCD's with much more lifting power then you would ever see in the tropics. 44lb lift bags in the BCD's in standard (mines higher) ability to carry up to 55lbs of lead if needed. I run dual regs and not a emergency back up on the inflator arm like most people do now. We worry more about things getting caught on our gear then we do about streamlining. We teach classes in 15 foot vis...

Due to the colder and more difficult conditions we see things a little different then divers used to the tropics where everything is alot easier to do with warm water and good vis.

Foo2rama · May 25, 2020

BlackTalon
I suspect if you are a rescue diver being done for the day due to a computer or watch failure is not helpful to those you are trying to rescue.

Well technically Rescue Diver is just the highest not professional certification you can achieve. Anything higher means you carry responsibility even if you are not diving. So above rescue is Dive Master, then instructor, then course instructor/director (teaches instructors.) Each of these means if you are near diving and something happens you might carry liability.

ClaudeR · May 25, 2020

Foo2rama
Depends on a few factors. So I dive with a depth gauge backup and a watch in addition to a console mounted computer. I am not backed up on my air pressure and just run wireless with that. I've been diving long enough that if I loose knowledge of air pressure I can ascend from any depth I might be at.

So if I lost a computer what would I do... honestly it would depend on previous dives on the basic chart. I always use the backup (less aggressive) chart and not the wheel. So its possible to be OK on a computer that takes multiple depth data points, vs the chart that assumes all time at max depth. It might also depend on who I am diving with, and make the choice to rely on my partners computer in the absence of my own and always stay a few feet shallower then my partner. If its just beach diving in shallow water and we never pushed past 60 feet on 1 dive.. would I go out again... most likely yes. If I was on a boat and already done 2 dives and was near deco limits with a short surface interval.. I would most likely not do the third dive using a partners, and I would be way off the more conservative chart at that point.

So Cal diving is a little different then most diving, we are pretty cold at depth and believe it or not some people wear dry suits all year round. We deal with lower visibility then most people and have considerations that are not an issue in other places, like kelp. Most experienced divers out here are geared in a way that to a tropics diver you would think we are industrial divers. Dual knifes, dual flash lights, many of us have specialized equipment that we have built to deal with issues that we have come across here. An example of this is a rescue buoy/single tube/dive weenie , or a 6 foot tall inflatable sausage about 4 inches in diameter that you can use as back up flotation and a signaling device. Due to having to come up near boating lanes off the coast I took a dive reel and attached it to the buoy and marked 15 feet and 30 feet of length on the line. This way I can deploy the buoy at depth and have pre marked safety stops while alerting boats to divers below. The reel is also used for a multitude of reasons esp in emergency situations, so I have combined 2 pieces of gear into one to increase safety and made them both more useful. (apparently this is now commonly sold this way... when I started doing it, as far as anyone knew in the SoCal dive community no one had done it before and alot of people started copying me... SWEET!)

We have much heavier BCD's with much more lifting power then you would ever see in the tropics. 44lb lift bags in the BCD's in standard (mines higher) ability to carry up to 55lbs of lead if needed. I run dual regs and not a emergency back up on the inflator arm like most people do now. We worry more about things getting caught on our gear then we do about streamlining. We teach classes in 15 foot vis...

Due to the colder and more difficult conditions we see things a little different then divers used to the tropics where everything is alot easier to do with warm water and good vis.

I learned diving in the cold europe lakes, where a full wet suit is summer attire, and most of the year we’d go in drysuits. Visibilities in our country lake are most of the times between 1 and 3 meters (3-10 feet?)
More or less the same considerations that you have, everything is redundant including 2 regs (2 first stages, 2 primary stages, eith seperate shutoff valves), dry suit inflator on seperate stage from bcd, etc. About The only thing not redundant was the tank (although I have dived with dual tanks too), and the tank gauge (like you, I could ascend from pretty much any depth, and we constantly practiced buddy breathing)

It’s all a long time ago now, but funny enough my first instructor had built a buoy rig exactly like yours... probably got the idea from someone who copied you 😁

BTW, I never used a “dive watch”, it was all computers (with depth ratings not much deeper than what we could go to on regular air).

thanks for the memories!

aprax · May 25, 2020

BlackTalon
I suspect if you are a rescue diver being done for the day due to a computer or watch failure is not helpful to those you are trying to rescue.

It is a misconception to think that a watch can substitute for a dive computer, if that is what you are suggesting here. A dive computer i.a. tracks time, your dive profile (i.e. the depth you have been to at any point in time) and provides a concurrent calculation for your nitrogen blood saturation so that it can give you guidance (amongst other things) on whether you should observe decompression time before you surface. If you don't have a computer you can make your own calculations and/or consult decompression tables, but you'll need to tell maximum depth (hence you'll need a depth gauge) and elapsed dive time (here the watch would come in). Those calculations are going to be much more conservative and imprecise, however.

For all intents and purposes you need a computer if you wish to make several consecutive dives on a day.

aprax · May 25, 2020

Foo2rama
So I dive with a depth gauge backup and a watch in addition to a console mounted computer.

Fair enough.

What is the appeal of high depth ratings?

Faz

wagudc

tyrantlizardrex

blufinz52

BlackTalon

Dan S

Rman

aprax

tyrantlizardrex

aprax

Foo2rama

aprax

Foo2rama

aprax

BlackTalon

Foo2rama

Foo2rama

ClaudeR

aprax

aprax

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