ScubaSteve
Wow.....what a DB
This is a good point and yet another reason why the education is critical to doing it safely. My computer (a Suunto Cobra) is capable of telling me what my deco requirements are if I exceed my NDL.....however that does not mean I should go out and try to extend my bottom time beyond NDL without proper training. I think the term "casual deco divers" to me implies that there is no planning involved. With this thread, we are hopefully giving the reader that wants to extend their bottom time, the ways to safely PLAN a shallow deco dive (this in the form of which courses to take).
The other thing that "casual deco" divers usually lack awareness of is the need for redundancy. It is pretty easy to go to 100 feet for 25 minutes and conduct short deco on a single 80 cu ft tank for anyone with a half decent SAC rate. But if your SPG blows or you get a sudden free flow, and you don't have the necessary gas redundancy, you can easily find yourself travelling up a certain creek with a shortage of paddles...