These are very different propositions and boil down to a numbers game. By broadcasting locally over (3,600 sq miles / 9,000 sq km), the Lifeline will get you much more immediate help. For most busy diving areas, it is very likely multiple boats will have one or both of DSC or AIS - even if your day boat with just a handheld radio doesn't. The Garmin InReach might be the ultimate safety net in that you can text / speak to someone but, Irrespective of how amazing that is, it's only going to be as good as the local rescue coverage. The contact centre has to trigger a formal process and who knows how long it will take to get that information to a local team and how timely the information will be as you drift with the wind and tide. I suspect the InReach 'feels' better but in practice the Lifeline is probably more practical.
Things I like about the Garmin is that it's two way. You can send and receive messages, which in an emergency can provide great comfort. You know somebody's listening and what's happening. The Nautilus requires someone nearby to have a receiver listening. In some countries I've dived, like Indonesia, I'm not so sure who has a receiver. Most day boats don't so you'd be dependant on commercial shipping or the coast guard.
I like the Inreach Mini. The dive case makes it easy to put a carabiner on too. It gives me a lot of peace of mind as well as being useful for hiking on land and you can do things like mark a dive spot and help a boat get onto a dive spot if their system is playing up. Having to check the subscription and battery is a feature not a bug. You should be inspecting/maintaining your gear. The battery life is really good - and you don't need to switch it on during a dive. The splash proof nature means you should be able to turn it on and use it outside the case even in rough seas (don't drop it!). I also know Garmin's service works because a live aboard went down a year ago and a relatively well known diver used hers to get help.
The Nautilus Lifeline can be programmed with your ship's MMSI (Marine Mobile Service Identifier) code using your mobile phone and a free app. The unit uses the light on the phone to pass data using a strobe function. There is a test function so you can check your ships radio does pick it up. It can transmit on several Worldwide frequencies including: Canada, USA, Europe, International, AIS, DSC (Marine radio) or both, Frequencies are selected in the app so you know you're using the correct one for the area you're diving in. When activated, if an MMSI has been programmed it will transmit to that marine radio only for 30 minutes. If not deactivated it switches to a wide mode transmitting to all vessels and aircraft within range. Commercial aircraft flying overhead even at maximum cruising altitude of 7 miles would get a clear signal and would relay via ATC to the relevant emergency authority. It's waterproof to 130m straight out of the box. No extra sealant is needed or recommended. Batteries last approximately 5 years (I read that as replace after 4). Top Tip: After you've been located and picked up, remember to switch it OFF!! Nautiluslifeline.com
Woow! Would you be able to share this info, on how to get your nautilus lifeline text on your cellphone. This is amazing, Would help a lot too many of us.
And the Garmin to 328 feet. To be honest those differences don't matter much. If you're diving to 300+ feet you'd better have a surface team that knows what they're doing. I'd be more worried about recreational dives up to 130 feet. Those are the people who've been left behind by dive boats.
#askmark besides all the expensive commercial BCD and dry suit shampoos, are there any good homemade options for cleaning your gear? Dish soap, baby shampoo, anything?
Yeah, dish soap is a pretty good all-rounder for cleaning your dive gear. Unless you're diving somewhere particularly nasty then warm, fresh soapy water is good to clean your dive gear. Leave it to soak for a while so the detergent can kill as many of the nasties as possible and then flush it with fresh water.
#askmark Hello Mark, I bought the Aqualung i770r dive computer (used, so unfortunately it's difficult to exchange). He seems to have a problem. On the surface it showed me 33 degrees today, whereas we only had around 22 degrees. In the water, it shows much too warm temperatures for the first 20 minutes, after 20 minutes the temperature display is correct (compared to i330r and suunto eon core). Do you have any idea what could be causing this? Common failure? How can i fix it? Warranty is over. :( The latest firmware is on it. Water type is set correctly. Greetings and thank you for your videos! Simon
I've never found thermometers on dive computers to be accurate and I don't spend much time considering them in the water. It's a common complaint on a range of different models from different manufacturers, that they take a long time to display accurate temperatures and it's usually accounted for the housing around them. Some computers take the temperature reading from the pressure sensor, others a separate sensor inside the computer. There aren't many computers that you can calibrate the temperature and it will probably take some time to send it back to AquaLung for calibration. If it were my computer I'd just live with it knowing that the reading is a bit slow, it doesn't affect my dive profile
@@ScubaDiverMagazine hey, thank you for your opinion and advise. Thats exactly what the seller sais... But i am to nitpicki😅 And cant understand why the cheaper i330r has the faster Temperature refresh rate as the i770r.. And the degrees are ticking down i Single degree steps... Not from 20 to 12 in 2 Minutes. No, every Minute 1 degree till the right Temperature is arrived.. Thats crap☹️ I hope the seller will take it back and refund it.. But we'll see :/ Thanks Mark!