decompression without training

Im getting my first dive comp in the mail in a couple days and I want to know how often have you/did you go into decompression mode (either accidentally or purposefully) without deco training. How safe is this (im guessing not very)? Please elaborate.

Well it depends on how you define training.

Seems a lot of people in the scuba world demand that your training has to come from an agency. I was doing deco for a year before I took the actual course. I had mentors that guided me and I did more training dives on my own with them and friends than any agency could hope to require in a course......so I was pretty well prepared. Most of my friends up here were doing deco before they took the course.

If you're going into deco without any preparation then you're just asking for trouble. If you know what you're doing then you should be fine. Murphy doesn't give two ****s whether you have a c-card or not......you need to be prepared either way.

what would you think is sufficent in terms of preparation... or what would i need to know

Hi scubasteve0011,

It is not safe to go into deco without training, but it does happen. On my admittedly short number of dives I have not gone into deco, but with task-loading it has happened to friends of mine. The short answer is that, with a computer, you are in pretty good hands because it will give you the correct deco regime for the physiological models with which it was programmed. The longer answer is that a given physiological model may not apply to you, or may apply to you most of that time, but not on that one critical dive. Nitrogen bubble formation is still poorly understood, despite decades of study. The principal reason for this is that human bodies are highly variable form one model (of body) to the next, and from one day to the next. So, try to stay out of deco (unless trained for it). If you go into deco, and your training does not indicate otherwise, trust your computer and (after surfacing) reflect on how to stay out of deco next time.

The most obvious reason for staying out of accidental deco is, by definition, you have not planned for a deco dive. This likely means that you do not have a surface O2 delivery system and have not planned an evac to the nearest hyperbaric chamber. If you do get DCI (and this can happen even with a no deco dive), the most critical factors are 100% O2 at the surface and a speedy transportation to a hyperbaric facility. Hydration also helps.

Do not dive beyond the limits of your training.

You should learn how to use your dive computer, and that includes learning how to interpret "deco mode" data...even though you should not plan to do this.

I highly recommend that you:

• Read up a little bit on decompression theory.
• Learn about the limitations/assumptions of your dive computer (and the algorithm it uses).
• Review gas management principles.

What brand/model did you purchase?

There's a bunch you would need to prepare for/with. Equipment configurations, in-water skills, planning skills, ect ect.

If you're interested in decompression diving then you should hook up with some local divers that are into it already. You'll get a better idea of what it entails. If you have trouble finding any, then look at taking an Intro to Tech course with an instructor. It's fun stuff with a serious twist......just treat it accordingly.

scubasteve0011:

what would you think is sufficent in terms of preparation... or what would i need to know

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When you no longer have to ask these questions on SB, you're on your way. Till then, stick to NDLs.

scubasteve0011:

Im getting my first dive comp in the mail in a couple days and I want to know how often have you/did you go into decompression mode (either accidentally or purposefully) without deco training. How safe is this (im guessing not very)? Please elaborate.

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The short answer; it's not a good idea to go into deco, or execute a staged decompression dive without some kind of advanced training in both procedures and understanding gas management.

That said; With most dive computers, if your computer just hits DECO, most likely you'll be given deco stops at 10'. First it will go 1 minute, then 2, and so on. Some people mistakingly make hurried decisions, and execute poor judgement, in an effort to avoid the deco. For example. You're on a wreck dive, and you're maybe 100 feet from the up line, when you see you only have 1 minute to deco. Do you race back to the line? Make a free ascent? or just Take the 1 to 2 minutes of deco? If you "touch" into deco... End the dive as soon as possible, and begin your ascent... in other words... a short "uh oh" deco obligation is not the end of the world. Don't let your computer going into deco cause you to make OTHER bad decisions.

At the same time, if you're not familiar with deco procedures, and planning decompression dives, you could get yourself into a deco obligation where you don't have enough gas to complete that obligation, and end up bent or worse.

So - again, back to the short answer... Don't do it, but read the manual from your computer, and know what the display screen will look like when you get into the decompression mode, and what it will look like once you've cleared an obligation.

If your dive takes you into deco by "accident" either your dive plan was bad or you did not follow your dive plan.

I purchased an oceanic versa pro 2