Have you ever gotten in the water, all suited up and forgotten something? Something so important that you just can't continue your dive without it? Most will probably say yes, and would be referring to their mask, snorkel, weight belt, etc. Not me, I am referring to my Mares Apneist. Why would it be so important that I would swim back into shore just to dig it out of my dive bag? I'll tell you why!

I bought this on ebay for $50 (yes $50) It was scratched up but still functioned. I was just getting into freediving and spearfishing and figured "what the hay, at least I'll look cool". Well, I learned to rely on this so much that I absolutely consider a neccessity on dive day.

The computer is called the apneist because it was designed for apnea, or breathold diving. While most companies were trying to get every bell and whistle out for scuba divers, Mares took a step back and targeted those of us that go "sans tanks". It registers the depth I dive to, the times spent underwater, the temp, and keeps track of the time (for those before work dives). Pretty simple, huh? The value comes in my progressing to higher levels of freediving depths. Right now, I know if I am at 1 minute and 30 seconds, and start feeling "really good" underwater, that I should head up, to avoid Shallow Water Blackout (SWB). "Well why do you need a computer to tell you that, just go up when you start feeling like your out of air." Simple enough, but often times, my dives are at the 100 foot mark and it can take almost 30 seconds to surface. Have you ever been out of air but needed another 30 seconds? Scary!

It's simplicity, ease of use, large display, and overall safety features have sold me on freedive computers. The other good thing is it stores over 100 dives which you can easily hit on a day of spearfishing in Hawaii! Most dive computers/watches only store 20, maybe 50.

The downside is that it is a bit bulky. It sticks up about a inch and 3/4, is about 4 inches long, and 2 and half inches wide. I wear it on the underside of my forearm and it really isn't a problem, although the strap can catch on your floatline if you're spearfishing.

If you are looking for a great computer, this is it. Like I said it is simple and you can find it for fairly cheap on various websites. Highly recommended in my book and I dive at least 4 or 5 times a week. I never dive without it. And the ease of battery changes (AAA, cheap as opposed to most dive computer batteries) is great as well.

Recommended: Yes