PADI not teaching dive tables anymore?

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ScottyK, there's nothing mandated to replace the tables, except a similar depth exploration of the computer. That is -- the student was taught the mechanics of table use in class, and is now taught the mechanics of computer use. It was quite possible to finish the prior class with no real understanding of decompression beyond the gross idea that nitrogen is absorbed and must be released in a safe fashion, and it is possible to finish the present one the same way. I think both classes have the potential to graduate students who don't have much understanding of decompression theory at all. I certainly didn't, despite achieving an enjoyable facility with the tables (I'm a math type). After my class, I went out on line and collected three binders worth of papers and discussions on decompression theory, because the simple methods of table use fell so far short of satisfying my curiosity.
 
I took my PADI OW course online and of course I had some questions about the dive tables so when I went to the instructor to review all my materials, I was told not to worry about the dive tables and just to skip over those questions on the test because we use computers. No lie.
 
After my class, I went out on line and collected three binders worth of papers and discussions on decompression theory, because the simple methods of table use fell so far short of satisfying my curiosity.

This, unfortunately, is the polar opposite to what most OW students would do. I'm also interested in deco theory, at least in a casual way, and I'm also naturally curious about quantitative relationships and function. But most new divers just want to dive.

So, that leaves the question of, what is the best possible way to train people beginning to dive, who are unlikely to enjoy learning about the table or retain any significant understanding of them? Do you try to give them a better conceptual understanding, or provide them with specific instructions on actions they should take. Certainly it's a mixture, but PADI course material really emphasizes the practical rather than the conceptual. This frustrates those of us that enjoy the conceptual, but maybe better serves the majority of new divers.

I still think the wheel is a very useful tool, but I realize I'm way out in left field with that view. Visually I think it does a good job of demonstrating the continuous increase/decrease in N2 exposure via time/depth, and I think it's actually helpful in planning real-life dive profiles. I carry it on every dive trip, and it's my back up in case of computer failure.

I use a computer just like everyone else, and ultimately we have to accept the fact that 99% of new divers that actually continue diving beyond OW will use a dive computer. So incorporating it's use into the OW class makes sense to me. The problem here is that while most divers would use tables to plan dives, their use of computers is essentially reactive rather than proactive. This could help instill a habit of not planning dives, which to me is a basic problem many new divers have.

I have not read this entire thread, so forgive me if I'm repeating something someone else already said.
 
Thanks again for all of the replies!

TS&M- I'm also a closet math geek, an over-analyzer and my wife wants to kill me over the binders that I have for all of my hobbies. If you add up all of the copy paper and page protectors I've used printing them at work over the years, it probably adds up to a felony....
 
Maybe a thread with a guy asking a serious question about training for his children is not the place for a snarky, smart @ss comment. Does your lack of common sense ever effect your diving experience???

You must be new to the Internet - Welcome!

:d
 
Yet another thread where someone lamenting the teaching of computers over tables conflates tables with decompression theory. This seems to come up not infrequently. Lest this sound patronizing to the OP, I admit I myself didn't appreciate the distinction very well before reading discussions here. I was once an advocate of teaching the tables, but I have since changed my mind (and read up on deco theory). So carry on!

More usefully, where can one find this "GAP" software that has been mentioned? I've long wondered why PADI doesn't provide computer simulations, where feasible, to demonstrate the concept of nitrogen loading. Visually engaging animations, where a student can gain an intuitive feel for how much nitrogen the body absorbs or releases with changes in depth would teach that aspect far better than playing with tables. I believe it's been mentioned above, but you have to play with the tables a LOT before you get a good feel for what is going on under the hood and how it relates to nitrogen in the body, and you tend to spend so much time fussing with the numbers and moving your finger over the table that it's easy to lose sight of the bigger picture.
 
I just finished my OW certification last week, and my instructor did teach us the dive table as well. And we also got a plastic table when we bought the book/kit.
 
Yet another thread where someone lamenting the teaching of computers over tables conflates tables with decompression theory. This seems to come up not infrequently. Lest this sound patronizing to the OP, I admit I myself didn't appreciate the distinction very well before reading discussions here. I was once an advocate of teaching the tables, but I have since changed my mind (and read up on deco theory). So carry on!

I understand the distinction, and at the risk of sounding patronizing to you I did not say they were one and the same. What I said were the tables were the practical application of deco theory for a new diver, and a teaching tool that I feel is valuable.

From "Decompression Theory"....Voets

In modern diving, tables and schedules are common for estimating nodecompression
limits, decompression profiles and saturation levels. Use of
a diving computer during the dive is most common nowadays. Tables and
computers are based on decompression theory, which describes inert gas
uptake and saturation of bodily tissue when breathing compressed air (or
other gas mixtures). The development of this theory was started in 1908
by John Scott Haldane c.s. Haldane, an English physiologist, described the
Nitrogen saturation process by using a body model which comprises several
hypothetical tissue ’compartments’

From Decompression Theory: Robert Workman and Prof A Buhlmann

Bühlmann’s model was also used to generate tables which became the standard diving tables for a number of sports diving associations. Max Hahn used Bühlmann's model to develop tables Deco ’92 Tables which were adopted by the Swiss Underwater Sport Association and the Association of German Sports Divers. In the UK Bob Cole developed a set of tables for the UK’s Sub-Aqua Association. In 1987, working in conjunction with Bühlmann, he developed the SAA Bühlmann System which is made up of the tables themselves together with a set of rules and procedures for using them safely.

The approach to decompression modeling proposed by Haldane was used with minor modifications from 1908 through until the 1960s. These modifications were primarily changes to the number of compartments and half times used. The US Navy tables published in 1937 and based on research by O. D. Yarbrough used only 3 compartments as the two fastest compartments were dropped (5 and 10 mins). Later revisions in the 1950’s restored the fast 5 and 10 minute compartments as well as adding a slower 120 minute compartment for a total of six compartments.
 
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