PSA: Stop relying on that cheap depth gauge from Harbor Freight

I was working a bridge job in Norfolk last month and my buddy's gauge showed 95 feet when we were actually at 110. That 15 foot difference nearly got him bent on a 30 minute bottom time. Has anyone else tested theirs against a calibrated unit lately?

3 comments

3 Comments

parker_park81mo ago

Test yours against a known good one first.

ellis.hayden1mo ago

Man, that's scary. I had a similar thing happen with mine off Key Largo, it was off by 12 feet and @parker_park8 is right, you gotta check them against a good one first.

reesemiller21d ago

Is it really that serious though? I mean, 12 feet off in open water, who's really gonna notice that unless you're trying to park on a specific wreck or something... Most of the time I figure these things are close enough for what we're doing. People act like a few feet is gonna make them hit a sandbar or something when you're six miles out. I'd probably just run it and not worry unless someone actually showed me it was way off with their own unit.