Got certified.Some SMALL questions

[kittles]

I learn how to use the diving table,the one that you can use to figure out multiple dives and how long you can stay in the water and such..As far as decomp,I dont think we even covered it to well if we did...Wow,shows how much some instructors care.

They don't teach decompression stops in OW because they are considered an emergency situation in the majority of recreational diving.. You shouldn't be planning to dive to depths/times that require them.

As a OW diver and most CERTAINLY as a newly certified diver, you should be staying well on the safe side of all your NDLs.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

They don't teach decompression stops in OW because they are considered an emergency situation in the majority of recreational diving.. You shouldn't be planning to dive to depths/times that require them.

As a OW diver and most CERTAINLY as a newly certified diver, you should be staying well on the safe side of all your NDLs.

This is incorrect depending on the agency. We do teach decompression procedures and deco tables in the OW class from SEI Diving. Not so much to actually allow divers to plan deco dives but more to give a greater understanding of what they involve. And given the propensity of certain areas and ops to not only allow but lead divers on dives that approach the NDL's it gives them a new perspective on that. Knowing that the DM you are following on that wall dive or thru that deep swim thru is putting you in danger of having to do a say 20 minute stop if something goes balls up and you only have an al80 may make you think twice about following the clod. Deco tables become a very valuable tool when doing gas planning and see that uh-oh that plan may not be a good idea and a better choice is to tell the "guide" to go pound salt. Unfortunately not enough divers have been given the knowledge to make an informed decicion.

As for the second part of your statement I could not agree more. This is why I DO NOT RECOMMEND computers for new divers. Too easy for them to think that just because it's not in the red they will be fine. That was a problem with me just starting out. Luckily I wised up and everything I do is not planned and tracked on tables with the comp as back up to that. A DM taking you to 100ft for 15 or 120 feet for 10 minutes is not a safe practice IMO. And those guys should know that and more important the diver should know it and stay away from those dives until they get the training and experience to do them.

 

[FireInMyBones]

samsumon once bubbled:
Hey guys just some questions.


-How many dives do you think I should do before I take the plunge and go for the advance course (I would like to do the AC so I can go night diving,wreck diving,cave diving ect...)

[red]My advice is AOW soon after OW. I also think that the more dives you get the better. Make each dive count. Cave diving is not part of AOW. That requires a whole different set of classes after AOW.[/red]

-How do I calculate my decompression zones and times? Not to sure on it. I just did a 75 ft dive for 30 minutes and took a 3 minute 15 ft Decomp stop.

[red]Do not worry about decompression until Decompression Procedures class. Good to know that you see every dive as a "deco" dive, but work within your limits expressed by your training.[/red]

Thanks=-)

also,when is a good time I should buy gear,meaning,season and stuff.

[red]If you have the money now, spring for some stuff now. I would start with exposure protection (assuming that you already have mask and fins). Then move to a buoyancy compensator (I like a back plate and wing, but that is me). Then a regulator set with a computer that you can grow into. All brands and styles are your choice based on your research.[/red]

 

[NC Kelly]

I'm taking my OW course now and several of the students have asked if they could sign up for the AOW once we complete OW. The instructor told them to get some dives behind them first. Which I think is good advice.
I figure diving to 60 feet, I will have plenty to discover and hone my skills, as well as trying different equipment and learning what works well for me. Before I drop a $500 on a BC, just to learn I like a different one better.

 

[TSandM]

Okay -- so you are diving tables. The (RDP) NDL for a first dive to 75 feet is 35 minutes, so you were within limits there, but you do end up with a "mandatory safety stop" for 3 minutes at 15 feet. You should know how to plan this dive from your OW class, and there should have been questions of this kind on your exam. If you truly don't know how to do it, then there is a big hole in your OW education that needs to get fixed.

Decompression is a big subject, and the more you get into it, the more complicated it gets. But at the simple, pragmatic level, you DO need to be able to plan a dive on tables, if tables are what you are using, so that you know how long you can safely stay down, and how to manage your ascent.

 

[Peter Guy]

OP -- When you get advice from people who work with an agency other than PADI, please understand they may be working from a very different perspective. All agencies have differences in how they structure their courses and what the diving progression may be.

In the PADI Open Water Course (the basic course, the one you took), you are shown (and taught) how to do a "simple dive" that has the following parameters:

a. NO DEEPER than 60 feet;
b. A single tank;
c. No decompression obligation (that means you can always make a direct ascent to the surface); and
d. All dives are to be made in conditions similar to, or better than, the 4 open water dives you did with your instructor.

Some agencies have much more instruction in their Basic Open Water Class but they also include more pool time, more open water time and more lecture time (and most likely more money for the class -- not always perhaps, but time often does equal money). Are those classes better? Not necessarily but you will have learned more -- but perhaps not more than what you would learn if you took the Open Water AND the PADI Advanced Open Water class as a sequence. That is my advice, by the way, to take them as a sequence so that you get more instruction, more supervision and more experience.

As I went through the PADI system I was interested to find a comment (somewhere in the literature although I can't remember where now) that said something to the effect, "In the PADI system, once you have taken OW, AOW and RESCUE, you are now considered an independent diver." Having gone through those courses (and many more), I believe that is correct -- especially if you have a good instructor.

Some agencies think you need to have all that education before you can be turned loose to make simple dives, PADI believes it is OK to take them in sequence. Whichever way you go, you should end up with the same basic skill set and perhaps with about the same amount of money spent.

Side note -- I just did your 75' profile using the eRDPml and you end up with pressure group P and a "mandatory safety stop" -- I haven't checked to see what the PG would be if you used the RDP table.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Evidently the eRDP is more like a Dive Computer in that 75' is not rounded up/down to 80'...

The tables I have show Pressure Group R for a dive to the NDL limit of 30 minutes at 80'...

As noted many times above, mandatory 3 minute SS at 15'...

 

[knowone]

There are innumerable skills that can be learnt in 15 feet of water.
Actually all of them save the experience of using them further.
I would suggest experiencing as much diving and as many courses as possible before diving with your family because a clump of unsupervised inexperienced divers is just that.

And diving with family requires mastery of a different set of skills altogether.

I base my theories on the Vacation movies, holidays, families and diving.

Very good.

 

[samsumon]

Thanks peeps...Im going again for another 75ft dive tomorrow.Im going to start making logs of my dives in a composition notebook for now. I just REALLY wanna learn how to figure out if I will need a decomp dive..EVEN if Im a beginner .I feel that this is a skill to have no matter what. Understanding the dangers of my dive and how to prepare for them is important to me even if this is considered "advance".


I know how to use the table to plan a dive,see what group I end up with then do the whole "break on surface" and set the second dive based of the nitrogen left in my body.


So for now,just get out and do a few more dives (tomorrow is the typical 75 ft then a 35 reef dive) and after maybe the 4th boat trip start looking into more courses.

 

[seacreatures]

Get a good Computer, you might be too narced to do the math, unless that is all your going to do on the dive? Diving is dynamic and a lot changes and sometimes very fast, the safest way to dive is to be able to change with dive conditions...... Don't forget you will run out of air as a new diver before bottom time, I will bet on that