triton94949:
Between you and me, as two divers sharing drinks at a bar, talking macho and scoping out all the babes that are at the bar scoping out for themselves as well, this risk and reward discussion would also be called "pushing the limits."
Risk and reward is not a macho thing but an everyday occurance in everyone's lives. "Do put some of my hard earned money into risky stocks to get the potential higher return?" "Do I drive 75 mph to get to get to work for that morning meeting because I'm running late, or do I go 65 and possibly not make it on time?"
Smokers, on a daily basis, play this game of risk and reward. Drinkers at the bar you speak of, - risk and reward. These two have life altering consequences as well. Mountain climbers vs. rock climbers, cave divers vs. reef divers, etc...
Is it 'pushing the limits'? Yes it is. But break that down a second. 'Pushing the limits' does not neccessarily mean 'crossing the limits', does it? In my course study for the kind of diving I do, I have never come across empirical data to support the 12/24/48 hour guidelines for dive to fly. I have come across CNS% decay charts, ending M values based on rate of ascent and decompression, and hundreds of other empirical charts based on formulas that in practice are still theory but have been proven enough to have a mathmatical science behind them.
Maybe I have missed the chart with the science behind the "12/24/48 laws", but I know that I can fly within that time with no ill effect because I have. Now, I do not condone just randomly picking a time and jumping in an a/c wet. That is foolish. If there isn't a proven table, then how does one know what the limit is without pushing the guidelines?
A typical dive to fly scenario for me is the following:
180' dive with a run time of 70 minutes
Out of the water by 3:00pm using a 10% concervatism on the GF% HI (I stay in the water a little longer, but lower my ending M values) I go home, hydrate, eat, and pack for the next morning. (note: no physical activity) I get a good nights sleep, and wake at 4:00am, and I'm airborne at 6:30am (commute segment of my day/I typically don't take my aircraft until later that afternoon).
My interval between diving and flying is 15 hours and 30 minutes after doing a decompression dive. If I felt bad after the dive, or in the morning when I wake up, I don't go to the airport. This hasn't happened yet, probably due to the fact that I run a conservative deco schedule, do Pile Stops, and use a slow uniform ascent rate from the first stop up. I stay well hydrated.
That is a single dive, but mandatory deco. It is well outside the 48 hours limit, and absolutely no ill effects. If I was a Joe Diver that blew the NDL on an 80' reef dive and had no idea what was going on, I'd listen to the insurance underwriters also.