I have the V6.0 software update, but if I follow the instructions in the manual I do not see the pool mode icon. How do I activate this feature? In the pool this weekend with a class.
I succeeded to activate it. You have to go to settings and add the Pool Mode to the menu that pops up when holding the light/shut off button down for some seconds. Then just activate Pool mode from that menu. Would be interesting to get your feedback how it works in the pool. Does it not log any dives in Pool mode? Neither in the dive log in the watch nor in the Garmin app?
Go into Settings -> Controls, and from there you should be able to add Pool Mode to the list of shortcuts which appear when you long-press the top-left button. Once added, the icon looks kind of like a ladder.
When using Pool Mode, the Descent Mk1 does not log any dives to the watch or Garmin Connect. It does track tissue loading and oxygen exposure. This feature will turn off at midnight in the event the user forgets to turn it off after their dive.
When using Pool Mode, the Descent Mk1 does not log any dives to the watch or Garmin Connect. It does track tissue loading and oxygen exposure. This feature will turn off at midnight in the event the user forgets to turn it off after their dive.
Garmin-Heath, would be interresting to know. With 6.00, if an activity is alreday started, does it prevent the Mk1 to go into dive mode as it did before?
Yes, if you are in an activity, with the timer running, the Descent Mk1 will stay in that activity instead of going into Dive Mode.
Heath,
I know I have said this before, but this is a major safety issue. If someone leaves it in a mode, say GPS Navigation, and then descends and does not notice it for 10-15 minutes the computer will not give them correct information for the dive. Now if they are at 20-25 feet this will probably not be an issue. But if they descend to 100 feet, it could be a huge problem and risks putting a diver into deco when they did not know it. The Dive Computer mode should override most, if not all, other modes. I know we teach students to check their computer before descending, but in the real world you cannot count on that. I have seen people descend and leave their computer on the boat, jump off a boat with no mask/fins, start to descend with their air off, and with no weights, so you cannot count on a vacation diver to do all the checks we train them to do.
I certainly agree that dive mode should override any other mode but I think safety issue is severely exaggerated.
No diver should ever descend without at least checking their depth as they descend. And they certainly should not be at 30m for 10-15 minutes without knowing their depth. Anyone that does that deserves any problems they might have.
They may not check if the computer is on before they jump in but they certainly should know if it is working as they descend. This is not about checks but about safe diving. You should always know how deep you are at all times. If the computer is not showing their depth as they descend they should abort the dive unless they have a backup computer.
Now I am a "vacation diver" and use my Descent MK1 for everyday use as well as for diving. So for me it was a problem when the watch went into diving mode every time I jumped into the water from by boat for a swim this summer. Now the Pool mode is most welcome. But the watch will still goes into dive mode when i jump in the water just to take a swim. Yes, there is nothing in the log, which is a big improvement. But I still plan to start an activity, like the temperature app, to prevent it to go ito dive mode. And of cause when diving one always have to check that the dive computer is ready...!
As an example, my wife has an Oceanic dive computer. There you can set a "wet mode". It this wet mode is on, the computer will go into dive mode when hitting 1,5 m for 10 sec. If this is of and the watch is in normal watch mode, then it will not go into dive mode. You should then switch the computer to "dive standby" and when it then hits 1,5 m it will start to log the dive... So not all computers out there will automatically start to log dives.
To prevent the watch from going into Dive Mode while jumping into a pool or swimming down to the bottom (without dive mode already activated), there should be a 10 second delay past 1.5m before the auto mode goes into effect.
There is no logical reasoning for the Dive Mode not to start if another activity is running and you start a dive. If this device is really about safety, then they’d make it that the activity would immediately stop and the Dive Activity starts.
