Average Depth Diving?

[boomx5]

The only problem is when other people read posts and start thinking it's safe.

I agree with you there Walter. We don't need another disclaimer on why not to do this stuff, but get the proper training if you want to venture down this path.

 

[Uncle Pug]

Robert... if your question is serious... you would want to take a GUE Tech 1 class. But to do that you would first need to take and pass the preparatory DIRfundamentals class.

 

[RTodd]

Where did you guys learn all this stuff? I have yet to be trained on anything beyond tables - though my training is strictly rec.

I'm assuming this is all advanced tech training stuff, but I'm wondering what classes specifically teach these alternate methods.

Very interesting reading, but I think I'll stick with my tables for now.

GUE classes are a good place to start. I am sure there are guys with other agencies that can show you this stuff too, but the noise ratio tends to increase with the larger agencies so it takes local recommendations about who the right people are.

However, in a teaching environment, I believe that even GUE's instructors are (understandably) reluctant to give too much in the way of deco advice. I learned it diving with guys who were willing to actually real world test experimental tables Hamilton and Wienke cut for them because there weren't any other options. Learning the basic concepts from more experienced divers and then putting in the effort to really understand it yourself is how most people that actually understand this stuff learn it.

 

[Uncle Pug]

I agree with you there Walter. We don't need another disclaimer on why not to do this stuff, but get the proper training if you want to venture down this path.

Exactly.

Walter calling me crazy and saying that the way I dive (sans computer) is unsafe is like the old lady sitting on the bench at EUP scolding divers with, "You guys are crazy... that scuba diving is unsafe."

Since she doesn't have the appropriate training it would be unsafe for her. She did get the crazy part right though.

 

[Wijbrandus]

Robert... if your question is serious... you would want to take a GUE Tech 1 class. But to do that you would first need to take and pass the preparatory DIRfundamentals class.

My question was serious.

The only reason I haven't completed the Fundies course is timing issues. I work for a school district, and all the courses that have come to Colorado have been either right before the school year ends, or right after it begins - my busiest times. I'm hoping to possibly go to Florida in the late fall and take the course down there, but that's no farther than the possibility stage.

Thanks for the course name, though. Tech 1 is still rather far out on my projected training list. I'm still quite happy with my tables, but always curious about other methods that are "out there".

 

[H2Andy]

The only problem is when other people read posts and start thinking it's safe.

see, Walter, the thing is i agree with you. this is not safe for a lot of divers.

but that's not the whole story. it is safe if you have the proper experience and
training.

you and i don't, so it's not safe for us.

 

[Charlie99]

Does anybody know what GUE intends to teach for deco in their open water certification course?

Will it be just straight tables with fixed ascent/stop profile, or something more like depth average / deco on the fly?

edit: Or more relevant to today, what does GUE recommend for DIR-F graduates and others that have not yet completed Tech 1?

 

[Uncle Pug]

Does anybody know what GUE intends to teach for deco in their open water certification course?

Will it be just straight tables with fixed ascent/stop profile, or something more like depth average / deco on the fly?

Charlie the best you will probably get in this thread is idle speculation. An email to GUE would be your best bet.

But let me add some idle speculation anyway:
It will probably be tables. It will most certainly not be deco on the fly.

 

[mempilot]

I can accurately tell you my average depth at each level of a dive within less than 5 feet. Your individual hydration during the dive matters more than a 5 foot difference in a in a theoretical deco model. Lamont has given a pretty good basic explanation of this. Until what he says seems completely obvious, no, you should not try using depth averaging because it is an advanced skill and requires a better "feel" and awareness of the dive profile than most divers have. Hence, the reason your OW instructor taught you the most conservative, fool-proof, method of using the maximum depth for tables. (Not a bad practice, just not necessary for more advanced divers. And, completely unpractical for dives at extreme depths.).

Could you be any more condescending? You have no idea my background or training level, as I don't have any idea of yours. Are you talking to me in this post or to the SB masses? I find it interesting that this method is not taught in any technical course I've ever taken, but since it doesn't really work for deeper dives, that's probably why I have never come across it. Don't make the assumption that because I question it means I don't understand what you two are conversing about. My point is that there are no documented materials for a recreational diver to fall back on for reenforcement and understanding, so reading it here on SB may be enticing a risky behavior for those less educated in it's use than yourself. I have no use for it.

 

[lamont]

Where did you guys learn all this stuff? I have yet to be trained on anything beyond tables - though my training is strictly rec.

I'm assuming this is all advanced tech training stuff, but I'm wondering what classes specifically teach these alternate methods.

Very interesting reading, but I think I'll stick with my tables for now.

I've got a background in physics to the point that exponential functions are pretty trivial to me, and i've rolled my own implementation of the ZHL16B model on my computer. Then I've just been paying attention to everything I could read about table design, and paying attention to how my computer behaves when I dive.

I'm not aware of anyone that gives training on these kinds of things.