Shearwater Petrel Dive Computer Review
Shearwater Petrel Dive Computer is the Rolls Royce and Aston Martin of the dive watch community. Yes they are a little more expensive than your average dive watch but with a higher price tag they give you everything that you could ever think of. I am not saying that the price is the cost of those cars but in relative function and they are affordable but in terms of quality and function, that is what you are getting. This will be a technical Review of the Shearwater Petrel Dive Computer.
I will explain the differences between the Shearwater and the Suunto and the Oceanic and differences that may pose different questions. Hopefully this will help clear things up and I did have to look more into certain aspects as it is beyond me some of the math but once you look deeper into it, it is pretty amazing that a small watch can do all of these functions and features. Thinking back to say even 20-25 years ago you needed a whole room to support one computer and now you can fit all of this on your wrist and more while you dive…. It really is amazing.
First a little background knowledge as this watch is a little more technical and if you are an advanced diver this is probably old news but just as a refresher this article talks about OC (open Circuit and CC (closed circuit) breathing systems for the watch in which it is a lot more technical than most. Having an open circuit for breathing means that you exhale into the regulator and expelling the gas into the water. Having a closed circuit or semi closed circuit rebreather allows you to recycle the exhaled gas and the volume of gas is reduced.
What the Watch Offers
So this may take a while… I will also sum it all up in a graph later for easy yes and no’s to compare to.
First of all there are multiple diving modes including:
OC Recreational Mode: This is perfect for the individual who loves the aspects beyond the fish and coral and doesn’t have to think. The mode provides a three gas nitrox computer that shows your time, depth, temperature, real time, shows bottom time and then indicates safety stops. Most watches offer this but it also has a NDL (no decompression limit) meaning that it is the amount of bottom time you have left at your current depth based on your dive. So as it tracks your dive it gives you a decompression stop very specifically and it takes the guess work out of it.
OC Technical: This is your Open Circuit technical meaning there are 5 OC gases Trimix enabled by default. To get a little more in depth the Trimix is a breathing gas consisting of oxygen, helium and nitrogen primarily for commercial diving and advanced recreational diving. This limits the toxicity in your blood as you dive deeper. This function also shows all of your recreational mode functions as well.
CC INT: The Closed Circuit interval shows your 5 OC and 5 CC gases. The Trimix enabled and a constant PO2 for closed circuit.
Gauge: This is your standard depth, time, watch functions including stop watch and full dive logging.
All of this information is great and dandy but a big problem a lot of people have with dive watches or even gauges is being able to see it clearly day or night and especially in the sunshine when you are done your actual dive. The screen on the Shearwater Petrel Dive Computer is nothing short of being small. The color screen is 2.4” has a nice feature in which you can actually set to black and white as well to save battery life. Speaking of battery life, AA batteries is all you need. I recommend buying a good set of rechargeable batteries and do not get cheap ones from the dollar store because they just won’t last. You will be able to tell on the computer in a the shape of a battery as it slowly goes down when you use it, like any electronic device battery symbol. Very easy to change as well.
Speaking of size, yes it is quite large and at first glance you may be second guessing yourself in why you purchased such a large dive watch but think about your dive equipment… not small either. There are two Velcro straps with buckles and I do admit the first time you put this on it can be a little off putting because it is just one more thing to the list that is big and bulky while you are diving but after a dive or two and playing around with the functions and features it is quite amazing how small it actually is. What is nice about this unit is that it is quite durable as well. I do not recommend dropping it on purpose just to see how durable it actually is but I have dropped it, knocked it during a wreck dive and dropped my whole bag and it has lasted quite well.
Well you may have thought that was everything but has bluetooth capability which makes life easy so you don’t have to connect with extra wires. It syncs with all devices, comes with a built in 3 axis compass which is really easy to use with dive planning, the Buhlmann GF algorithm and an optional VPM-B algorithm and a 1000 hour dive log. There really isn’t anything this dive computer cannot do.
Final Thoughts
Now you can see why I spoke as though this watch is like a Rolls Royce or Aston Martin. It really has all the features and functions that you could ever need and is very durable. If you dive a lot recreational or commercial this is the watch for you!