Uwatec bottom timer as back up? Opinions please.

[Scuba Diva]

As title says. I currently dive with a vyper - can't decide whether I should dive with a second comp or one of these as a back up. As have seen one for a decent price on a bungeed mount for sale. Any opinions on this?

[big_si]

Great! Do it! Cut some tables and bob's your uncle.

[Houseplant]

if you're planning on diving solo by computer, then personally, i would get another vyper. if not, then a bottom timer would be a cheaper option.

[Pasty Man Stan]

I dive with a gekko and use the Bottom Timer as a back up. They're ideal. Unless I go deeper than 330M (or whatever it's rated to), it'll never limit my diving - and it will only go deeper than that if I lend it to a nutter, or drop it off a cruise liner.

Stan.

[Mal Bridgeman]

It's a brilliant back up so much so that I use it as a primary

Point being you really want your back up and your primary to deliver near the same functionailty. If bottom time and max depth means nothing to you, you are probably better off with another computer.

HTH
Mal

[Scuba Diva]

Great! Do it! Cut some tables and bob's your uncle.

Erm . . . how about just some matching chairs and save the tables.

if you're planning on diving solo by computer, then personally, i would get another vyper. if not, then a bottom timer would be a cheaper option.

No solo diving planned - and currently just rec diving with no deco obligations (but you never know on the deco thing)

If bottom time and max depth means nothing to you, you are probably better off with another computer.

HTH
Mal

Well if my comp decides to give up during a dive I would like to be able to know that info and calculate any stops on the way up if they are needed. (Kind of thinking into the future a bit of actually being able to do that )

In any case if my primary failed I would probably call the dive but would like to know depth, bottom time, ascent rate, etc for making a safe ascent.

[Mal Bridgeman]

Well if my comp decides to give up during a dive I would like to be able to know that info and calculate any stops on the way up if they are needed. (Kind of thinking into the future a bit of actually being able to do that )

In any case if my primary failed I would probably call the dive but would like to know depth, bottom time, ascent rate, etc for making a safe ascent.

In which case they can do that admirably .... if you have wetnotes or some form of laminate you can prework out the sort of ascents you'd need to make .... the downside of course is your computer would multi level the dive whereas the bottom timer only works on max depth type square profiles.
HTH
Mal

[Scuba Diva]

In which case they can do that admirably .... if you have wetnotes or some form of laminate you can prework out the sort of ascents you'd need to make .... the downside of course is your computer would multi level the dive whereas the bottom timer only works on max depth type square profiles.
HTH
Mal

I was too busy chatting and missed it ending on fleabay. Oh well gives me a bit more time to find out some more!

[RogerViking]

neither of these will do a gas switch ..
i curently dive a vyper on gauge mode with generated tables and a BT as backup.
works well, now im looking at geting a more fancy puter.

[Captain Calamity]

If you do much deco diving, or plan to do so in the future, a massive advantage of taking a depth timer as a secondary is that you will begin to get a feel for what deco is necessary for a given dive in a way that reading a computer will never give you.

CC