Any Real Divers Here? SUB and SD info wanted

[milspec]

Hi,

I wanna ask those who have real underwater diving experience, if they ever dived with an SD or SUB and what were your results and how deep you went.

thnx

[JJ Irani]

Originally Posted by milspec

Hi,

I wanna ask those who have real underwater diving experience, if they ever dived with an SD or SUB and what were your results and how deep you went.

thnx

The SUB goes down to 1000 feet. I don't think there are too many divers in the world who can go deeper than that.....or even anywhere near that depth.

JJ

[milspec]

Thanks JJ ... what I was more interested in any divers who relied on their SD or SUB for their dives and these were extended dives for long periods ... not scuba stuff or people jumping off cliffs or boats for fun ... and neither do I want expereince of people doing watersports like riding jetskis with their subs or SDs, acting cool .... I want opinions of people who do diving as a serious hobby or a profession, and used their SUB or SD primarily....

In short, people whose goal was to service oil rigs, salvage diving etc ...people who went straight down to the murky depths ....

[JJ Irani]

Originally Posted by milspec

Thanks JJ ... what I was more interested in any divers who relied on their SD or SUB for their dives and these were extended dives for long periods ... not scuba stuff or people jumping off cliffs or boats for fun ... diving as a serious hobby or a profession, and used their SUB or SD primarily....

Well, I know at least two very good friends of mine on this forum, Padi and David (Subfiend) who have used SDs all the time for their dives.

However, I'm pretty sure that they have not relied solely on their SDs only. I'm pretty sure they've had other professional instruments to help them monitor their dive depths, times, etc.

JJ

[Jedi]

These days, a watch is a back up tool to any serious diver. The variables are simply to great, and the demands on a commercial / tech diver to strenous to simply work off of dive pressure tables and depths and bottom times.

I wear my Sub diving about 80% of the time, and while I always set the bezel prior to descending, my Suunto Vyper2 computer is my primary which gives me no-decompression limits, depth, ascent rates etc and of course, bottom time, which is tracked by the Sub as well.

I have the Sub and computer on the same wrist, but with the Sub worn inside of my wrist to prevent damage to the crystal when gearing up and down. It's also easy to glance down and see my bottom time on the Sub in that position....


...ooops, just realised you wanted info from serious hardcore salvage and rig divers, I'm just a recreational plonker who takes pictures...

[Parachrom]

I have been wearing rolex and diving now since I was 16. I am now 53. I am a treasure hunter. I am hard on my gear. MY main tanks are twin 72 cu ft tanks. Yes 30 years old, but still passing hydro and VIP. They are balaced and work very well. My Reg is a Pheonix Aquamaster, a redesign of the Royal with 60 percent better breathing and higher volumes than any single hose plastic wonder can supply. My watches started as a Tudor Oyster Prince, then a Sd, and another SD when the first one got lost. For 18 years the seond Sd worked flawlessly at depths to 140 feet, doing search for treasure . It went in for service In July 08 came back in Sept 08, and it will be good for some more serious diving. This watch has been pinned down, scratched, dropped on steel decks, used as face wipers in a dustup with an ignorati who had a penchant for hitting damsels . He got tuned up via a Sd wrapped around my fist. Left a lasting impression I am sure. the SD and Subs are bullet proof and ten feet tall. You can get more expensive wacthes, but you cannot get tougher more reliable timepeieces when your life depends on it. Oh yeah One time when blasting some coral, my band had broken and the wacth lay trapped inside the coral. Everything went high ordnance, and after the debris and water settled I went back down to look for my Sd. I found it a few yards away from where it was trapped under a layer of coral residue . Still waterproof and ticking. Their only weak spot is the bracelet. Why Rolex uses those cheaped out hollow pins to hold the bracelet together is any wonder. Three weeks after owning my second SD. a hollow pin broke. The on board machinist cross drilled the bracelet and put in a stainless pin, and buffed it all up. The other end broke 17 years later. Expensive to get a bracelet 1200 dollars, at least the quality should be better. Get a Nato Strap if you are serious about using it to dive. I any event. I use mine regularly, this particular Sd has over 7000 hrs underwater on it, and I stopped counting after that. Hope this helps. You never go wrong buying a rolex, or anything where quality and service abound

[haakon59]

I don't think dive professionals today rely on their Submariner or Sea Dweller--not as the primary timer anyway. Mechanical watches are old technology, after all. Did you realize that dives of more than 30 meters down would require you to switch to a helium mixture? Most people who are into the sport for fun would stay above that. Besides, it is really dark down there. The great news of course is that if you are a professional diver, you never have to take your submariner or Sea Dweller off--you can always wear it. I have only known of one military diver who went down more than 300 meters, and he went about 500 meters but had a crew waiting for him on top. I believe he used a diving bell. He was on a rescue mission for a submarine which had sank. And it was very risky and he had a team of doctors waiting for him on the surface. Just because dive watches are rated 300m or more doesn't mean it is easy for human beings to go down that far.

[Parachrom]

Diving 30 meter can be done with different gas mix, but is not a requirement. key is bottom time which is limited to nitrogen saturation of body tissues. While new fangled battery operated computers are de riguer, I rely exclusively on My Sd for timing. My Oceanic computer gives me other data which I assimilate and use, and all this is backed up the old fashioned way by using the no decom limits as set down by the US navy. I do not trust battery operated gadgets, as temp can materially afect their performance. no substitue for good old fashioned proper planning. . As for heliox divers or deep divers and the DIR groups etc. good on them for using the various mixes. Most of my work is done well above the 125 ft mark. The reason it is done above that is because I do not wish to get into exotic gas mixes , regardless of how many computers there are.

Safe is safe, There are old divers and bold divers but no old bold divers. Been doing this since 73, always played conservative with my dive tables, never been bent. Benn stung by Portugese man o war, and sat on fire coral once (my bad), but never bent, and My Sd has always been there with me and has never malfunctioned ever. My first U/W Computer was the Edge (the brick) they were ok, but everything was backed up with no decom tables and the rolex

[Magic Rat]

Hi i dive regularly with my sub date,which is always on my wrist.
I dive a re breather( A P Inspiration YBOD),this has a VR3 computer with 4th cell integrated into the unit.
The watch is a backup to to computer and a timer if i have to bail out to open circuit.I don't bother setting the bezel as most dives are over the hour.

[Jedi]

I've been below 30m on air, some people got narc'ed but I was okay. Depth was 35m for about 4 minutes.

Parachrom, do you use Nitrox even? I mean, not for depth obviously, but for bottom times?

[padi56]

Originally Posted by Jedi

I've been below 30m on air, some people got narc'ed but I was okay. Depth was 35m for about 4 minutes.

Parachrom, do you use Nitrox even? I mean, not for depth obviously, but for bottom times?

If I remember the deepest recorded dive just on scuba gear was in the Red Sea a few years back.By a guy called Nuno Gomes total depth was just over 318m.Now it only took him about 20 minutes to reach that depth.But because of breathing different gasses at that depth and pressure, a little over 12 hours with all the safety stops to finally return to the surface safe, and without any decompression treatment.

Now at these extreme depths,there are several diving related problems to overcome nitrogen decompression sickness, oxygen toxicity,sheer dehydration and the different affects of the gases when changing over tanks containing the different gas mixtures.Now while breathing the high helium mix the gas wants to leave the blood while the nitrogen wants to rush in.Now this dive would have not been possible without a huge back up and very careful planning.

Gomes is in a very small group of guys that have gone over 250m with just scuba gear. Fact there have been more guys to go to the moon,that over 250m underwater just on scuba. But most recreational divers today stick to around 39m- 40m max depth.But when saturation diving thats what the SD was intended for, when divers have finished working in the water. They rest eat do everything and live in a dry pressurised chamber on, or some how connected to a diving support vessel, or say a oil rig.But at the same constant pressure as the main working depth, the whole diving team would be only compressed to the working pressure once.And then decompressed to surface pressure again only once, over the entire work period, of days or weeks or even longer.

Recreational divers can suffer Nitrogen Narcosis at depths from 10m 20m plus, on just using normal air gas. But just go up a meter and it should go if it don't, dive should be terminated and diver plus buddy should return slowly to surface.Most divers today dive with computers with watch as back up.Although dived many time with Sub and SD.My favourite dive watch is the Citizen Aqualand 11 that watch will give far more diving related information than a simple time lapse bezel and always had a set of tables in BC just
encase.Diving is a great hobby as long as you obey all the rules.

[Jedi]

The Sub's bezel is really clear and legible underwater. Beats the Seiko bezel anyday. I'd set it anyway. It's common sense to see whether you've exceeded an hour or not.

[Parachrom]

No sir, dont use Nitorx. I stick to the US navy tables religiously and I am conservative. If any dive requires great deapth, I usualy pass and let the younger fells with their DIR, Nitrox, trimix, hardhats go for it. at 53 the body absorbs nitrogen differently, and I have leanred that by staying conservative, I have longevity. UNless its an emergency, I am above 100 ft of Sea Water. Most of the treasure we seek and bring up are within 60 ft of the surface. The 8 reale pieces I brought up were in ten ft of water off Hollywood beach, and within a stone skip from shore (maybe 100 yds). I am old fashioned, my gear is old fashioned, but it is in excellent condition and in some cases such as my double hose regs, they outbreath just about any single hoswe. All three of them crack at .5 of an inch on the magnehalic. Damn fine tuning for a reg that does not have any venturi assist

[Parachrom]

Ther was a fellow in ISrael went to over 400 feet of sea water on scuba. he was an expreinced INF navy commando. Apparently he never came up, and showed the ROV footage on you tube of him down at 400 feet just lying there with the fish nibling bits and pieced. Deep is deep, and when I was young was a bage of courage and bragadocio. I went to 180 ft of sea water several times, lived to tell and brag about it. Now I look back, and I say clearly and three times It was dumb, dumb, dumb. Your first mistake underwater is usually the last one you ever make, and no one will ever hear you scream. last thing I want is to be revoved from a stupid dive accident and have some schmuck remove my gear and take my SD. Anyway. back to the thread. SD and sub... bullet proof and ten feet tall. Be comfortable with either

[topcat30093]

Good thread.
Found it made for very interesting reading.

[emmagee]

I've been diving since '82 and everytime I've been in the water since '86 I've had my Sub on my wrist; deepest I've been is 187 fsw while diving the San Francisco Maru in Truk Lagoon.

Even though I wear it, I probably haven't looked at my watch underwater, other than glance in years. All computers or a bottom timer and tables for mixed gas.

[rescue7]

I always wear either my Sub or SDDS when I dive, and not the water variety of diving.

On a serious note 60 ft for 60 minutes is good enough for this dude.