Uncle Pug once bubbled...
You should plan using your highest SAC. Forget trying score a better average dude.
Well, that may be true, but I've had SACs at nearly 1.5... In a 6 knot current and while working like a madman.
Does that mean that I should plan my dives around a SAC of 1.5?
Your average SAC will have a whole range of values above that number and if you use it to plan your gas consumption you will continue to do things like this.
Well, I *didn't* "continue to do things like this." I did not have an OOA on this dive. In fact, I've never had an OOA, although I practice it regularly, and have needed to donate during someone else's OOA. This particular dive is the closest I've come to having an OOA myself... Hitting the surface at 200 psi... And that was because I obligated myself to a whopping extra
twelve minutes of dive time. I think my gas planning is in fairly good shape when I'm able to handle "accidentally" doubling my dive time. Of course, the cause of the "accident," the fact that I did not stick to my original plan (or did not properly dive my computer, depending on how you look at it) is much more of an issue.
I typically plan for a SAC rate of about .625, or a halfway point between .50 and .75. It's easier to do in my head that way.
And so yes, I understand your point. I got it from the beginning. I'm telling you that my SAC rate is good, and may improve more. My planning relative to my SAC rate is not my current weak point, and was not the issue on this dive.
