Shearwater NERD2 Stand alone Hands free dive computer

Features
Rebreather tested, Recreational requested.

The world’s first near eye remote display for scuba divers has been redesigned for enhanced flexibility and reliability. In addition to the DiveCAN and Fischer versions, OC divers can now experience the freedom the NERD 2 has to offer. The universal regulator mount allows divers to secure the NERD 2 to their mouthpiece and dive with the security of knowing their crucial dive information with a glance of the eye.

From the combination of the Micro LCD display and the magnifying lens, the data on the NERD 2 appears as if you were looking at a 25 inch TV 12 feet away

• Rechargeable Battery
• Refined Compact Design
• 2 Button Interface
• 1000 Hour Dive Log

NERD 2 Mount Options
An important and unique feature of the NERD 2 dive computer is that it requires a mount to keep it properly positioned. The NERD 2 is packaged with either a mount option for a closed circuit rebreather or open circuit regulator.


The same 2 hole pattern that was part of the NERD 1 is built into bottom of all NERD 2 dive computers. This will allow compatibility with NERD 1 original mounts. It will also allow for the option of custom made mounts that could be created for masks, helmets, or full face masks. Additional details for this can be found in the NERD 2 manual.
The NERD 2 connects to a charging clip which snaps on the back of the computer. The charge clip is splash proof.
The charging clip connects to any USB cable.
The USB cable can connect to any USB port or the power bank supplied by Shearwater. The power bank can provide 5 full charges to the NERD 2.

OC Recreational
Three gas nitrox computer with features for the serious recreational diving enthusiast. Includes adaptive safety stop and NDL bar graph

OC Technical
5 OC gases Trimix enabled by default

CC/BO
Closed Circuit/Bailout
5 OC/5 CC gases
Trimix enabled
Constant PO2 for closed circuit

External Monitoring
Real time PPO2 monitoring of 1 - 3 O2 sensors
This includes semi-closed rebreathers

Digital Compass
Optional 3 axis, tilt compensated, digital compass
Available in all modes

Gauge
Depth, time, resettable stop watch function
Full dive logging

Simple and Powerful Features
Line-Of-Sight Information
All of the information you need at a glance.

Custom Design
The removal of the brainbox makes the NERD 2 the smallest
Shearwater dive computer to date.

Rechargeable Battery
With a minimum of 18 dive hours on a full charge with medium brightness (recharge time 4 hours).

Two Button Interface
Simple to navigate, state-aware menu structure.

Digital Compass
Optional 3 Axis, tilt compensated, digital compass.
Available in all modes.

AI Functionality
Capable of displaying tank pressure in all modes (transmitter sold separately).

Bluetooth Integration
This enables communication with Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android with lower
power consumption. This allows connection to Shearwater Cloud.

Mount Options
The 2 hole patterns allows for custom mount designs and compatibility with NERD 1 mounts.

Modes
OC Rec 3 gas nitrox recreational computer
OC Tec Multi gas, trimix decompression computer
CC INT Closed circuit fixed
PPO2 CC EXT (Fischer only) Closed circuit real time monitoring of 1 or 3 O2 sensors SCR EXT (Fischer only)
Semi-closed monitoring of PPO2 for 1-3 O2 sensors
Gauge Bottom timer with stop watch and dive logging


Specifications
Number of Transmitters 1 or 2 1 or 2
Optional Add-Ons & Accessories
VPM-B
OC Mount Kits
CC Mount Kits
Specifications NERD 2 SA NERD 2 FISCHER
Screen Resolution 320x240
Display Type QVGA
Battery Type Rechargeable Li-Ion Battery
Battery Life 18 Hours (Medium Brightness)
Battery Replacement 5 Years (or 500 charge cycles)
Number of Gases 5 OC / 5 CC
Rebreather Connectivity n/a Fischer 103, 7-pin
Dive Log 1,000 Hours
DIMENSIONS
Computer
(WxDxH) 33mm x 85.81mm x 44mm
Weight
74g 148g
Ballistic Nylon Case
(WxDxH) 240mm x 240mm x 60mm
Weight 313g




Review

I’m a public safety diver (PSD) in a large police agency on the east coast, I dive in primarily contaminated waters with visibility less than 1 foot. I was looking for an advantage in the water to better see a dive computer while working in near blackout conditions regularly. I received no compensation for this review and freely submit this review anonymously to Shearwater and anyone who will read it. I love being a PSD and hope other PSDs will seriously consider the NERD 2 for their own testing, evaluation and adaptation.

Dive Overview:
11 Dives Feb 16 2019 to Mar 22, 2019
Water Temperatures: 39*F – 48*F
Visibility: 2 foot to black out
(3) Vehicle dives
(2) Body recovery dives
(8) Jack Stay searches for evidence recovery

Land-side familiarization:
Setting up the computer to my eye took a bit of playing to get comfortable but with a little adjusting at the rails that hold the computer and playing with the display options I was able to clear my forward vision of obstruction yet have the computer comfortably displaying in my eye without having to look at it. It was easily monitored with peripheral vision or quick glances. Once set up how I liked it I couldn’t believe how amazingly clear the display in my eye was. I sat with the computer mounted on my mask, projecting into my left eye and ran through all the menus and options (there are a lot) to familiarize myself with the 2-button menu system. It was quick, very reactive to touch and a breeze to fly though and get to what I wanted without a fuss. The NERD 2 was mounted tight to the outside of my mask, physically touching the mask in prep for silt out conditions. The NERD 2 has multiple brightness settings but I put it on HIGH and left it there for the duration of testing. With the display on HIGH and as close to my mask as I could physically get, I was going to see if I could lose the display in complete silt out conditions.

Pool familiarization:
Once I was comfortable with my setup, I took it to the pool for 2 days of water testing. Obviously, this was in clear perfect conditions pools provide but it let me see the computer activate and alter the display to fit my preferences. I kept the NERD 2 in OC Tec diving mode where I could get the most information in a single glance. The screen broke down into 9 squares, 3 across the top of the display, 3 across the middle and 3 across the bottom. I altered the color of the displays to WHITE for more brightness in prep for silt out.

Across the top row was displayed Depth with assent rate in a simple colored arrow indicator. One arrow represented 10 Feet Per Minute (fpm) assent rate. 3 Arrows displayed white and was 30 FPM, 4-5 arrows displayed yellow and was 40-50 FPM respectively, 6 arrows displayed red and was 60+ FMP. Next moving right across the top was Time displayed in minutes, followed by a battery indicator, then Stop representing the depth you must hold for a safety stop and finally Time representing the minutes you must decompress at that Stop depth.

Across the middle row was the fun customization stuff. On the left and right sides you could pick from a lot of options but I ended up picking the ones I thought would be most useful to me at the time. On the left I chose to display temperature and on the right I displayed a 360* mini compass. Center would only display Gas PPO2 by Shearwater and wasn’t able to be changed.

Across the bottom row was my OC Gas, NDL or No Decompression Limit displayed in minutes, and TTS or Time To Surface in minutes which accounts for decompression stops. With a quick tap of the menu button though you could easily move this bottom row and display nearly all information you could think of very quickly however if you weren’t on the main display it would time out and return to display OC Gas, NDL and TTS. One exception was the larger compass display. On the larger compass it wouldn’t time out and I ended up using more than thought I would. With the compass display you could save an azimuth on screen and would display a direction and number of degrees you were off to return to heading. Additionally, saving a azimuth it would also display on my 360* mini compass further helping keep my bearings underwater. Overall, I was able to quickly adapt to the display in the pool, work out any potential issues I could have (there were none) and just get comfortable playing with the system. I couldn’t wait to splash for an operation and really try it out.

Practical Application:

Without getting into the details of our dive operations I can say I got a total of 11 operational dives on the NERD 2. All ranging from water temperatures of 39*F – 48*F, visibility of 2’ at its best and down to complete silt out at its worst which was most common. Dives ranged from vehicle recoveries, body search and recoveries and Jack Stay searches looking for evidence.

While working these various dives seeing everything at a glance in zero visibility has been amazing. In fact, I found myself staring at the screen when working in silt out conditions. Looking at the PSI, compass, depth, and dive time constantly projected into my eye was an extra level of comfort I didn’t expect or was aware I was missing. I could concentrate on my work underwater without having to stop, swim out of the silt to check my gauges which often requiring me to abandon my work site briefly just to look at my gauges. While working different scenes, having a compass clearly visible and available kept me from getting turned around or disorientated.

While on one of my first operational dives it was very shallow of 5-8 foot deep causing a unforeseen issue that was rectified in the settings of the dive computer. NERD 2 times out after a certain preset surface interval shallower than 5 foot. Due to the shallow operation and preset time out the NERD 2 logged numerous dives which didn’t occur, and I didn’t notice until I downloaded the logs to my PC. To correct the issue, I set my surface End Dive Delay to the max of 10 mins. This kept the NERD 2 in dive mode longer and kept the NERD 2 from logging unnecessary dives.

The compass system was great. According to Shearwater the NERD 2 has “tilt compensation algorithms for digital compasses can typically only compensate well for up to ±45° of tilt on the pitch and roll axes. This is fine for roll, but when diving the pitch angle changes 90° as you move from being vertical in the water to being prone in a swimming position. To compensate for this large pitch angle variation, the NERD 2 assumes that your direction heading shifts as you move from the vertical to prone position. When vertical, your direction is taken extending straight out your nose. When prone, your direction is taken as extending out the top of your head. Close to the swichover point, both headings are averaged to prevent a discontinuity.” For me the system just plain works, it worked as I was conducting searches and directional swims in near zero visibility and helped me know where I was and where I need to be when going up or down a down line. The heading mark feature was great to help maintain orientation without having to memorize a heading especially while running jack stay searches or while running up and down the down lines. Using the compass, directly imaged into my eye and tilt compensated, made having wrist mounted or console mounter compasses completely obsolete and kept me hands free to work.

Conclusion:

I firmly believe this is something other PSDs should strongly consider. Perfect your blackout skills then add a NERD 2 to any trained PSD for an unbelievable advantage in the water. It’s an amazing piece of equipment that PSD’s really need to look at and seriously consider. Price point is painful and a lot of tech on the computer is understandably wasted on OC diving of PSDs but having all your information at a glance while hands free is amazing and welcome change. Additionally and most importantly to me, I was never able to completely black out my computer, at worst it only got dim but was never not visible to me. Just the fact of always able to see the NERD 2 at all times is far cry advantage over any other dive computer I’ve experienced and worth the extra safety for divers who can easily become disorientated, losing track of time and direction while blacked out in the silt of work.

Respectfully,
A Public Safety Diver