decompression the big experiment

[waterpirate]

A lot of recent threads have brought out some good disscussion of deco theory. I am curious what everyone started with and how they arrived at that decision, and what they do now 100+ dives into the deco experiment. Also how you adjusted your deco up or down. Dialed it up due to niggles, dialed down till you got niggles, stuck with what you chose with no niggles.
I started with navy air tables, I was young and felt great. I now use v-planner Buhlman plus three and dive helium. I am old now and I feel great. It works for me and since I am not planning on ever doing extended range and do not mind time on the hang I am happy.
All of the theories being used are math/algorhythm just different interpretations and applications of the math. Ratio deco and for the math gifted /profabinacci? sp/ numbers it is all just a grand experiment.
Eric

So what is your choice and why?

 

[Lee Taylor]

whats a niggle?

 

[gcs118]

What are niggles?

EDIT: You beat me to it.

 

[wedivebc]

niggles are sub-clinical DCS usually unexplained minor aches, pains, itches, etc following a period of diving

 

[waterpirate]

Now that that is cleared up, does no one want to share?
Eric

 

[rongoodman]

V-Planner uses VPM-B or VPM-B/E, not Buhlmann. I've been running V-Planner because when I got my Liquivision X1, that's what was available for it, and there was a version for the Mac too. No problems yet. Times at +2 are similar to Buhlmann 30/85.

 

[Blackwood]

My initial decompression training was based on Ratio Deco. That's mostly what I use aside from the odd long shallowish dive that's outside the RD envelope.

 

[down4fun]

V-Planner at +3 for my planning and back up tables, SW running 25/85. Never had a niggle at these setting so I see no need to screw with it.

 

[obsession600]

"Deco For Divers" is the best text I have found about this subject. It did a wonderful job of showing me deficiencies and errors in what I thought I knew and it also did a great job of revealing to me how theoretical decompression theory truly is.
With that being said, at this point in my diving I am not trained for decompression so everything I do is within the NDLs of my conservative Suunto Mosquito (modified RGBM).

 

[TSandM]

I was taught DecoPlanner plus kludges and Ratio Deco. Ratio Deco seemed to be very similar to DecoPlanner plus kludges, except I could do it in my head.

I knew from the get-go that I wasn't going deep without helium, because at 100 feet on Nitrox, I'm farm animal stupid. That decision hasn't changed.

I haven't done 100 staged decompression dives, but I've done about 20 or so now, most to about 150 feet. The strategy I'm using has gotten me out of the water feeling energetic and without niggles, so I'm sticking with it.