IndigoBlue
Contributor
As you teach the classroom portion of deep diving and deco, make sure you point out NAUI's 5 to 7 min stops at 15 ft protocols, for accidental deco. These are shown on all the old USN-based NAUI dive tables.
Unfortunately the newest NAUI RGBM NDL tables do not have anything like that anymore, and so it will become a lost art for NDL divers, if it ever was an art.
I teach all divers to stop at 1/2 their max dive depth for 1 minute, remembering to ascend at the very slow rate of 1 ft every 2 seconds. After 1 min there, I teach them to ascend slowly again to 1/2 of that for the second 1 minute safety stop. Finally, then, after a further slow ascent, I teach that they should stop at 15 ft for 3 mins.
For a 100 ft dive, this gives stops at 50 ft, 25 ft, and 15 ft for a total of 5 mins. I was teaching that way long before NAUI adopted it subsequent to Dr. Weinke's research. It always made sense to me, thanks to Pyle's writings on it.
For a 75 ft dive, the first stop is 40 ft, the second stop is 20 ft, and the final stop is 15 ft.
For a 50 ft dive, the first stop is 25 ft, and the second and final stop is 15 ft.
For a 30 ft dive or less, you proceed directly to 15 ft.
NDL diving, per se, allows you to proceed directly to the surface without a safety stop, as long as your ascent rate is 1 ft every 2 seconds, and as long as you are well hydrated and you did not push the limits of the NDL tables. The limited bottom time and the slow ascent become the major recreational decompression mechanisms.
The safety stops are simply an added measure of safety.
The deep stops evolved into practice as a result of better undertanding the effect of higher gradients during ascents. They are not written in stone, like the 10 Commandments were.
Unfortunately the newest NAUI RGBM NDL tables do not have anything like that anymore, and so it will become a lost art for NDL divers, if it ever was an art.
I teach all divers to stop at 1/2 their max dive depth for 1 minute, remembering to ascend at the very slow rate of 1 ft every 2 seconds. After 1 min there, I teach them to ascend slowly again to 1/2 of that for the second 1 minute safety stop. Finally, then, after a further slow ascent, I teach that they should stop at 15 ft for 3 mins.
For a 100 ft dive, this gives stops at 50 ft, 25 ft, and 15 ft for a total of 5 mins. I was teaching that way long before NAUI adopted it subsequent to Dr. Weinke's research. It always made sense to me, thanks to Pyle's writings on it.
For a 75 ft dive, the first stop is 40 ft, the second stop is 20 ft, and the final stop is 15 ft.
For a 50 ft dive, the first stop is 25 ft, and the second and final stop is 15 ft.
For a 30 ft dive or less, you proceed directly to 15 ft.
NDL diving, per se, allows you to proceed directly to the surface without a safety stop, as long as your ascent rate is 1 ft every 2 seconds, and as long as you are well hydrated and you did not push the limits of the NDL tables. The limited bottom time and the slow ascent become the major recreational decompression mechanisms.
The safety stops are simply an added measure of safety.
The deep stops evolved into practice as a result of better undertanding the effect of higher gradients during ascents. They are not written in stone, like the 10 Commandments were.
