Depth: 95 ft, In Deco, 500 psi, No Buddy

[Iralub]

I think one problem is that people don't read their computer manuals and don't know what the computer is telling them when they go into deco for the first time.

Recently was in a group with a diver who blew off the deco obligation because he didn't know what his computer was showing (fortunately small so the worst that happened was that his computer locked him out). I went 3 minutes into deco on the same dive profile, but I knew that was going to happen when I ran the dive plan on my computer beforehand. Simply cleared the deco, did another 5 min at 5m depth for extra conservatism and that was it. Knowing what my computer was showing was very helpful!

I did have almost half a tank of air left though, so there was no reason to panic

 

[Rhone Man]

I think one problem is that people don't read their computer manuals and don't know what the computer is telling them when they go into deco for the first time.

Recently was in a group with a diver who blew off the deco obligation because he didn't know what his computer was showing (fortunately small so the worst that happened was that his computer locked him out). I went 3 minutes into deco on the same dive profile, but I knew that was going to happen when I ran the dive plan on my computer beforehand. Simply cleared the deco, did another 5 min at 5m depth for extra conservatism and that was it. Knowing what my computer was showing was very helpful!

I did have almost half a tank of air left though, so there was no reason to panic

I remember when I was diving in Truk and one of the divemasters was telling us how in tomorrow's dive we would inevitably go into deco. So, he said, anyone who hasn't ever gone into deco before, set your computer to air for the last dive of the day today and force it into an artificial deco - then you will know what it looks like and you won't freak out when you see it tomorrow.

I am sure it is not the PADI manual anywhere, but that struck me as all pretty sensible, and everyone emerged unscathed from the deep dive the following day.

 

[Freewillow]

This made a lot of sense Rhone man. I suggested already on this forum that divers should go, during their training, to a one minute deco obligation. The idea is that they should be able to understand how their computor reacts. Only to be "fired" or "grilled" by fellow contributors, because I would push people to kill themselves.

As suggested repeatedly, the notion of Deco Limit - obligation- is a very unprecise notion. For a same dive profile, one can build in an "artificial deco obligation by playing around with algorithms, "safety factors", GF's ........ But of course, for most of the guys that said I was crazy, I pushed them in unfamiliar territories.

Too bad.

 

[Motojack]

Dumpster Diver: Thank you for taking the time (and enduring the undeserved abuse) to enlighten us more novice divers with your experience. With around 150 dives I believe this post and others like it are a great benefit to my knowledge base as a diver. Although I am diligent about monitoring, I am now good enough with air consumption and confidence (warranted or not) that I could easily get into the situation you described. I am also at the point of starting to get an inherent feel for my air use during different depths & dive profiles and a feel for how my NDL time will increase as I shallow up at the end of a dive. Your post serves to reinforce my observations and in the event I don't have experience In an unfamiliar of unusual situation such as this, I certainly appreciate having a data point and suggestions from someone who has been there and done that.

For me the whole purpose of this sub forum is to learn from others experience. How I chose to use the information is my choice. I already know not to go into deco at my level, but believe any and all factual data & experience is good to accumulate.

 

[scubadada]

Hi @Motojack

dumpsterDiver will not be receiving your thanks as he was banned from SB in March

 

[Basking Ridge Diver]

Hi @Motojack
dumpsterDiver will not be receiving your thanks as he was banned from SB in March

Lifetime?

 

[scubadada]

Lifetime?

I don't know

 

[wgw04024]

Does it delete his posts as well...out of curiosity?

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I think one problem is that people don't read their computer manuals and don't know what the computer is telling them when they go into deco for the first time.

Recently was in a group with a diver who blew off the deco obligation because he didn't know what his computer was showing (fortunately small so the worst that happened was that his computer locked him out). I went 3 minutes into deco on the same dive profile, but I knew that was going to happen when I ran the dive plan on my computer beforehand. Simply cleared the deco, did another 5 min at 5m depth for extra conservatism and that was it. Knowing what my computer was showing was very helpful!

I did have almost half a tank of air left though, so there was no reason to panic

I've told the story before of the divemaster I was doing a deep wall dive with who suddenly took off up the wall because he thought his computer was telling him to go to 10 feet and wait there for 2 minutes. After an uncomfortably fast ascent from 120 feet he did what he thought his computer wanted him to do ... and then wanted to go back down and continue the dive. I had to explain it to him after we'd completed a rather longer than usual safety stop and ended the dive ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[wgw04024]

I think it's important to have somewhat of a general profile/obligation plan in your head. Blindly following the computer, seems a bit unsettling to me. If you just read the tables, you can see how long at certain depths are allowed before a real deco obligation is warranted.