I'm not concerned. . .but should I be?

[CosmoKramerOfTheDeep]

Quick follow up . . . . rash has subsided quite a bit, it scabbed up just a little bit but now I can see new skin growing around the outside. Of course as soon as I bought a tube of hydrocortisonze cream it stopped itching altoghether.

Thanks again for the help on this one!

 

[jupitermermaid]

Glad to hear it, Cosmo! Keep diving, keep safe, (and wear gloves)

 

[DandyDon]

Yeah, seems to take about a month for me...

 

[knight diver]

Dumpsterdiver; You state that two divers can easily share one dive computer... I guess my next question would have to be, what certifying agency teaches this practice? I personally can not think of one. My understanding of dive tables (square profiles-time and depth-) and dive computers(math based pressure and time related variable profile) is that they do not mix,due to safety concerns involving no decompression limits. If your computer should malfunction you should call the dive. Not swim to your buddy and use their safety instrument which has been calculating his or her dive up to that point, not yours, and signal now I'm just going to stay exactly where you are for the rest of the dive!!! Both you and I know thats not going to happen. To many factors come into place, buoyancy, assent rate, distractions and heaven forbid other equipment failures are just a few... lets face it we shouldn't mix dive tables and computers because we need to dive safely Do you as a instructor want to go home after the dive buddy you have allowed to share your computer takes a hit and say well... I didn't see any thing wrong with it at the time.... and we were having so much fun!! Food for thought..... Not only do I teach my classes under the premise that you should never share a dive computer, I also strongly advise if they have already are into their dive and the computer craps out they should call the dive and refrain from diving for the rest of the day. Safety first. Fun second!
Chris SSI instructor

 

[dsdiving]

Just to restate what has already been said:Get a good knowledge of Dive Tables and use them. Even if you always plan on diving with a computer knowing your tables can save your life if something goes wrong.
Always check your gear the best you can (get your buddy to help) after you hit the water. That's where alot of problems can start especially for new divers.
Take your time - learn lots and be safe.

 

[CosmoKramerOfTheDeep]

Dumpsterdiver; You state that two divers can easily share one dive computer... I guess my next question would have to be, what certifying agency teaches this practice?

Not to come to anyone else's defense here, but in my PADI open water class computers were prohibited from being used . . . to be perfectly honest they weren't really discussed much aside from the introductory . . ."yes these things do exist and are continuously updating your No-Deco profile based on depth and elapsed time, as opposed to the finite all your time was spent at your max depth philosopy of the charts" . . . that being said, I guess it wasn't taught in training class that 2 people can share a computer, but it definitely doesn't teach not to either. . .

I'm not saying that I plan on doing something like this, but I wouldn't call someone crazy who was going to plan a dive where the plan included 2 people using one computer ASSUMING that the one not wearing a computer have a secondary depth guage and at least watch. . . dive plan includes, if we get separated, time to ascend . . . use redundant depth gauge for your safety stop (I'm assuming we can all count to 3 minutes with some accuracy?). I'm looking for a bad case scenario where this could be a problem, can't really think of anything. . . I mean I guess if you were coming up on a limit and then became separated, I suppose you could go over a limit en route to your safety stop, but seems like the chances of any hit due to something like that would be marginal at best.

Just a newbie theorizing, I'm sure I'm wrong. . . tell me why.

P.S. . . Rash is ALL but gone now, which is good so I don't look any more like shark bait to the Lemons in Jupiter this weekend

 

[lamont]

Decompression is nowhere near that precise of a science.

I've done dives without a depth gauge at all just fine (including one skills dives at night where I shot a bag and used my buddies depth gauge as a secondary indication of depth).

If my gauge craps out on a recreational dive there's generally not going to be any need to ascend right now immediately. That kind of call would probably only be made on a technical dive (since being down one gauge leaves the team without redundancy for doing stops and shaping the curve -- on a recreation dive a slow ascent and a hang somewhere between 10-30 feet is all you need).

After having a gauge fail, there's also no reason to not continue for another dive. If you're paying attention to your buddies gauge every 5-10 minutes you should have a pretty good idea of what your profile was actually like.

I think this thread needs Rick's quote about decompression being like measuring with a micrometer and cutting with an axe...

Dumpsterdiver; You state that two divers can easily share one dive computer... I guess my next question would have to be, what certifying agency teaches this practice? I personally can not think of one. My understanding of dive tables (square profiles-time and depth-) and dive computers(math based pressure and time related variable profile) is that they do not mix,due to safety concerns involving no decompression limits. If your computer should malfunction you should call the dive. Not swim to your buddy and use their safety instrument which has been calculating his or her dive up to that point, not yours, and signal now I'm just going to stay exactly where you are for the rest of the dive!!! Both you and I know thats not going to happen. To many factors come into place, buoyancy, assent rate, distractions and heaven forbid other equipment failures are just a few... lets face it we shouldn't mix dive tables and computers because we need to dive safely Do you as a instructor want to go home after the dive buddy you have allowed to share your computer takes a hit and say well... I didn't see any thing wrong with it at the time.... and we were having so much fun!! Food for thought..... Not only do I teach my classes under the premise that you should never share a dive computer, I also strongly advise if they have already are into their dive and the computer craps out they should call the dive and refrain from diving for the rest of the day. Safety first. Fun second!
Chris SSI instructor

 

[CosmoKramerOfTheDeep]

Yeah, seems to take about a month for me...

Don, do these type of burns/rashes usually leave any type of scar tissue or should it heal completely? Seems like it's healing very well, just curious.

Thanks

 

[DandyDon]

Don, do these type of burns/rashes usually leave any type of scar tissue or should it heal completely? Seems like it's healing very well, just curious.

Thanks

That probly depends more on the person's skin type. I'm 6th generation mixed breed Texan, dark complexion & hybrid vigor and hardly scar at all. My personal experiences have been that they don't tho.

I did a high stride form a NC boat without my beanie once, hitting a stinging jelly with my forehead and I am sure it hurt me more than him. That's more tender skin and I had a pretty good scab for dive conversation with the landlocked locals for over a month, but if there was any residual after 2 months - I just didn't notice.

 

[knight diver]

Many of you have jumped on the band wagon in defense of diving practices that are contrary to safe teaching. I thought we were suppose to use this site to help or coach new divers in good and safe ways to enjoy our underwater world and come back safely.
Can you make dives without being fully geared, sure,not fully trained, absolutely, woefully unprepared, happens all the time, but does this make it right?
Cosmo is a inexperienced diver looking for help. In my opinion aren't we obligated to give the best advice possible? When we start expanding on how to push the envelope and getting away with it, what message are we sending? Training agency's are put in place to teach good practices that should provide the basic core of all our future dives. These agency's are constantly changing their standards to meet new innovations and safe practices in order to give us the best education and skills.They don't make these changes "Willy nilly" but only after careful consideration of how it will effect the diving community. We as experienced divers must be careful not to give advice that may end up in some getting injured.
We all know this is a potentially dangerous sport (just try to get life insurance) and anyone who has been diving actively for a few years has a plethora of story's to tell that will raise the hair on the back of a newbies neck....Why up the odds?
New divers are exactly that new. They don't know good advice from bad and as such experienced divers story's may be misconstrued as being the norm and not the exception.
Divers who bend the rules some times bend themselves.....
Chris