Safety Stop Thoughts...

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namerg

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I see a statement that says "ascent slowly, well within your computers ascent rate and make a safety stop at 5 meters/15 feet for three minutes or longer."

So, is this safety stop 5mts below surface ? Or above of my targeted depth while I am ascending.

Thanks for your help,
 
15'-5 meters below the surface. I believe it used to be 10' (3.5 mtrs.), but they change that to avoid boat traffic and/or big surf. There must have been a reason the shallower one was considered better at first. I've also heard 20' is OK as well, and is often necessary if there are a lot of divers all wanting to be on the line (although you could not hold the line and hover at 3 meters, or use a jon line). Then there is the philosophy of doing a one min. "deep" stop--that is 1/2 way from the bottom to the surface, then 2 mins. at 3 meters. So I guess take your pick.
 
Ohh so you are saying (another option) when I start ascending i.e 20' I can stop at 10' how long ? then stop again 3mts below surface for 2min ?
 
I'm pushing more for a 5 min stop than a 3 min one (unless the whole dive is shallow). Wish I could remember where I recently read it, but it seems that with no stop there is a fair bit of silent micro bubbling, with a 3 min stop a small amount of micro bubbling, and with a 5 min stop none - almost none. Of course all this applies to dives within NDL. Then ascend from the SS as slow as you can manage - this is where the biggest volume change occurs.

I'll post the reference if I find it.

---------- Post added November 12th, 2014 at 06:38 PM ----------

Ohh so you are saying (another option) when I start ascending i.e 20' I can stop at 10' how long ? then stop again 3mts below surface for 2min ?

Not what he is saying. Deep stops aren't for shallow dives. Say you are diving at 100'. The deep stop is at 50' for 1 minute, then do your full SS at 15'. Personally I haven't heard that the deep stop reduces the SS, just adds to it.
 
similar thoughts, 15' is kind of arbitrary, but it's deep enough to be relatively easy to maintain buoyancy for new divers, and 15' is deep enough to keep you out of harms way for most boats.

The ascent rate should be more correctly stated as "no more than 30ft/min". The safety stops can also be completed if you are shore diving by meandering around at relatively shallow depths. These are again precautionary stops, not decompression stops, so if you have to blow it you can, though it doesn't hurt to hang out at that depth and play around for a few minutes. Good practice for mandatory deco stops if you get to that point later down the road.

If you are diving less than 30', you really aren't on-gassing enough to really off-gas enough at 15' to warrant the stop, if you're diving like 50+ then you want to make them, and the deep stop thing is starting to come out, but science isn't really behind it, so if you're diving square profiles to 80+ft, it doesn't hurt to ascent to 40', chill out for a minute, then ascent up to 15', and chill out for a few minutes. This is all within NDL's, and it's important during these stops to keep moving. Slow deliberate motions from your arms and legs help. You don't want to be actively moving so much as every once in a while make a stretching motion to keep the muscles moving to promote blood flow.
 
I see a statement that says "ascent slowly, well within your computers ascent rate and make a safety stop at 5 meters/15 feet for three minutes or longer." So, is this safety stop 5mts below surface ? Or above of my targeted depth while I am ascending. Thanks for your help,


This will all be explained to you during your OW course.

BRad
 
Okay Okay i just want to have an idea...because my course is a two day weekend...and i am totally new with this. I have more questions ....oh well ....
 
I'm sure many in this community will applaud your desire to learn about the sport, and there is an abundance of great advice in here. Just remember that any advice you receive in here will never be as good as a formal education from a certified instructor or in-person guidance from a trusted and experienced mentor. So with that in mind, ask away but remember to verify what you have heard with your instructor. Remember, keep learning and keep diving!
 
Yes, all your advices are taken just to get an idea about it so I don't feel lost at the training site.

Read and read some more, but take opinions (just about anything here on SB) with a grain of salt. Good luck and have fun. The more prepared you are the more you will have fun.
 

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