RDP Tables - Surface Interval Questions

[namerg]

Deco ? Decompression Limit.....!

And ......those things are RDP tables ?

 

[DiveNav]

Sure are. I've seen a crap loaf of them. .....

I know of a lot GOOD instructors teaching how to properly use a dive computer and using them to discuss with their sutendents decompression theory and the differences between table & square profile versus dive computers & multilevel profiles

 

[Jim Lapenta]

So do I. But my average student is not looking to spend money on a computer right off the bat. Especially when I tell them they really don't need one. The recommended max depth for an OW diver is 60 ft. We have very few places here that get that deep.

For the student who plans on traveling I do not recommend places like Cozumel or Grand Cayman. I recommend the Keys, Bonaire, Puerto Rico. Sites where you have hard bottoms above that recommended limit with good diving.

Starting out I advise them to try and dive square profiles in the 30ft - 40ft range where there are generous NDL's and use tables. When they have their buoyancy down really tight, know how to tell DM's and Guides that may want them to do something that is not advised to piss off, and are ready to experience deeper sites and enjoy them, they can look at buying a computer.
One that they want. Not necessarily what I or another shop wants to sell them.
One that is supported by Dive Nav and has the class on line. Then they can buy a computer.

 

[Dnaber]

I was taught and tested on tables with both my OW (NAUI) and my Nitrox (SSI). My instructors never discussed computers during the training ( I take that back..... my OW instructor said I sucked at tables and I should invest in a computer ). But there again I had some old school instructors. I don't think it was time wasted.

 

[demed]

... my average student is not looking to spend money on a computer right off the bat. Especially when I tell them they really don't need one.

...

Starting out I advise them to try and dive square profiles in the 30ft - 40ft range where there are generous NDL's and use tables.

...

what about the horse collar and the j-valve? have they been serviced recently?

 

[redacted]

what about the horse collar and the j-valve? have they been serviced recently?

The nice thing is they don't need to be serviced nearly as much as most of the more modern crap. And they are still perfectly adequate for a lot of recreational diving. But don't tell your students or they may spend less on fancy, new gear and more on diving.

 

[scjoe]

It's always puzzled me how OW classes spend tons of time on tables and DCS, and little or no time on gas planning . . .

I suspect it is because the agencies supply the instructors with the tables and DCS materials, but to teach gas planning the instructors have to work up a lesson plan on their own.

 

[boulderjohn]

Learned from whom?
Are you saying that there are instructors teaching their students to "just follow the dive computer"?

The computer version of the PADI course has extensive instruction on the proper use of computers. The original course had a book on tht topic added to the course materials, and students were to do the last two knowledge reviews from that book. The new course has it built into the manual. There is an online simulator that does an excellent job of taking the student through different scenarios, showing how the body on-gases and off-gases, and how the computer measures it. It teaches the student the critical computer functions students need to know how to use when they get a specific model of computer. A full 20% of the final exam is on computer usage.

I have heard rumors that some instructors created their own computer version of the course by just telling students to skip the tables learning and follow the computer. If any instructor did this, they would be in violation of standards.

I suspect it is because the agencies supply the instructors with the tables and DCS materials, but to teach gas planning the instructors have to work up a lesson plan on their own.

There was some gas planning in the course before this year, but not nearly enough. There is more gas planning in the new course. We are just getting the new manuals now, so I have not seen how extensive it is. I do know there is more about calculating turn pressures.