Average Depth Diving?

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mempilot:
True. But I figured they wanted credit for the shallow portion of the dive. To plan a dive to 60' because you plan on hitting 80 for half the time and 40 for the half the time doesn't really make much sense. Planning a dive to 80' and only spending half the time there and the other half at 40 isn't efficient planning. Planning a multilevel dive at 80 and 40 would make sense and be efficient. It would also allow one to know their N2 loading more precisely for repetitive dives. Balancing the depths for use in the charts is not supported.

You are not describing proper depth averaging. Plus, I generally ignore any time spent above 50' on a recreational dive anyway. (Disclaimer for the idiots: there are certain guidelines that have to be followed to do that.)
 
RTodd:
(Disclaimer for the idiots: there are certain guidelines that have to be followed to do that.)
RTodd Profile:
Certification History: Full Cave Diver, Non-Active Instructor
That's good news. :D
 
RTodd:
...............[snip]............................................... (Disclaimer for the idiots: there are certain guidelines that have to be followed to do that.)

Just out of curiosity, Were you an idiot when you were a newbie?? or did you just not know any better??
 
Tavi:
Just out of curiosity, Were you an idiot when you were a newbie?? or did you just not know any better??
I think that by idiots, he means the OW idiots who would read the words "depth averaging" on SB and just run out and start diving that way, without getting what's going on.

Disclaimers are for idiots... smart people know not to do stupid things without having to be told so :wink:
 
Folks... I won't moderate this thread since I am a participant however I will ask you politely to stop with the name calling even if it is omni-directional shotgunning.
 
RTodd:
You are not describing proper depth averaging. Plus, I generally ignore any time spent above 50' on a recreational dive anyway. (Disclaimer for the idiots: there are certain guidelines that have to be followed to do that.)

I'm not trying to describe 'proper' depth averaging. There are tools and computers available to accurately manage a multilevel dive without shooting from the hip. Ignoring time spent above 50' on any dive doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Do you not do a 'safety stop' on your NDL dives? If you use the tables, multi-level or not, you are not ignoring time spent above 50'. Ascent rate, mandatory safety stops, and actual segment time above 50' all contribute to N2 loading and off-gassing. Maybe I'm missing something you are trying to convey?

BTW, be careful who you label idiots and why.
 
mempilot:
Ignoring time spent above 50' on any dive doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Do you not do a 'safety stop' on your NDL dives?


__

RTodd:
ignore any time spent above 50'...<snip>...there are certain guidelines that have to be followed to do that
 
jonnythan:
Disclaimers are for idiots... smart people know not to do stupid things without having to be told so :wink:

There are many smart people out there that may not know something is not adviseable. It may make perfect sense in their head and therefore sensible to go out and do. I wouldn't label them idiots, but rather ill advised or flawed in their logic.

Depth averaging is a method not taught in any course for certification I've ever taken. Therefore, I would argue the potential problems and wouldn't do it. I could be wrong, but I'm not going to go on the premis that it's wise based on something I read on SB. Others may read about it from someone they deem knowledgeable and go out and get hurt because they didn't fully understand it.

Disclaimers aren't for idiots. They are for the untrained in a specific procedure or operation. The untrained may or may not be idiots.
 
mempilot:
Ignoring time spent above 50' on any dive doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Do you not do a 'safety stop' on your NDL dives? If you use the tables, multi-level or not, you are not ignoring time spent above 50'. Ascent rate, mandatory safety stops, and actual segment time above 50' all contribute to N2 loading and off-gassing. Maybe I'm missing something you are trying to convey?

BTW, be careful who you label idiots and why.

Time spent shallow will primarily impact slow compartments which have long NDLs. As long as you're not doing a lot of repetitive multi-day diving (e.g. liveaboards) those will not be controlling compartments. The faster compartments have higher m-values and are already probably loaded up to the partial pressure of that depth. If you just came up from a 100 fsw dive for 30 mins on EAN32, what is happening to your slower tissues at 50 fsw isn't going to start affecting your NDL for awhile, and unless you're taking a nap there, the "bottom time" and "ongassing" time of the dive can be assumed to be over -- you can hang out at 50 fsw and when you start to ascend the real issue is still decompressing those faster compartments which were loaded up at 100 fsw. The stop at 50 fsw made some slower compartments more loaded, and it shifted your controlling compartment slightly slower, but unless you've stayed there so long that you're running up against your NDL at 50 fsw the problem is still those faster compartments. Clearly you're still ongassing into slow compartments, but they aren't going to be important until you start planning your next dive and figuring residual nitrogen in slower tissues left after your SI...
 

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