Five Rules Shearwater Broke With the Teric

5月 28, 2018

These are five rules we ended up breaking when we brought forth the Teric.

1. The Letter “P”... sort of

There is a tradition for Shearwater wrist worn computers to have their names start with the letter “P”. The Teric breaks this rule... somewhat. Teric is derived from the word Pteric, as in Pterodactyl or Pterosaur. The word Pteric means “of, relating to, or resembling a wing”.

We decided to break this rule and went ahead and removed the silent “P”. In doing this, we hope to avoid countless spitting contests that may have arisen from people misinterpreting the pronunciation of Pteric.

2. Shearwater Computers are NOT to be worn in weddings above the water surface

Many readers will agree with me that a Predator dive computer is a beautiful thing. Unfortunately, society would frown on me if I showed up to my cousin’s wedding in a 3 piece suit and sporting my beloved Predator. The Teric breaks this rule in way most gracious to society. A Shearwater can now be elegant everywhere. I might even get away with wearing it on my right wrist always.

3. You can have any color as long as it's black

Black is cool. Black means business. No futzing around. The best fins are black. The best wings are black. And we’ve heard from a reputable source that black cars look better in the shade¹. Until now, the best dive computers were black. The Teric unceremoniously breaks down this rule. Shearwater now offers the Teric with five optional watch band colors, including Shearwater blue and, more importantly, hot pink.

Furthermore, the Teric was designed with a standard 22mm strap size. This means that a plethora of watch band options are available from third party vendors. Personally, I’m in the process of mounting my Teric on a cobra stitched paracord bracelet for ultimate coolness. If the paracord works out, I might cobra stitch me a bungee cord bracelet.

4. Computers with highly visible displays have to be big

The first Shearwater computers were massive stainless steel boxes. CCR models with heavy cables coming out of them that could be swung around and used as medieval morningstars in case of emergency.

Later on, the box got smaller and the screen got bigger. Currently, many Shearwater users are appreciative of the degree of visibility they can obtain from our computers. Now the Teric is coming to break down the rule that dictates that computers with big numbers have to be in big boxes. The Teric is highly configurable and one of the configurable options is what we call the “Big Layout”. Critical numbers in this layout are maximized, optimizing the usage of the Teric’s compact size for those of us with less than perfect eyesight. Big Layout in the Teric’s vivid AMOLED color screen is not easily missed.

5. Shearwater doesn’t have a freediving mode

Does too! Well, now it does. In the process of breaking this rule we had to break other rules as well. As Shearwater divers we have, from an early age, grown to develop a aversion for annoying beeping alarms that could not be shutdown underwater. On the other hand, we recognize that freedivers find audible alarms genuinely useful. So we included an audible alarm that can be disabled. But wait, there’s more! We also included a haptic (vibratory) alarm that will be less annoying to other sea creatures in the vicinity.

We also increased the sample rates and made these rates configurable. In this way, freedivers can get a better resolution on their divelogs.

Overall, we are very pleased with the Teric. It comes with all the features that divers have come to love in Shearwater computers and then some. We believe it embodies the best qualities of the Shearwater DNA in its next evolution.