Help understanding M values

[Mike Boswell]

I think Mike's point is this: given the nature of these dives -- lingering at 30-50m for hours, repetitively, with no apparent ascent discipline -- why aren't all of these divers getting hit, if not hammered?

Thanks mdf, Exactly right.

Sorry if my post wasn't clear. We have been discussing the Moskito Coast divers and their DCS in another thread (http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/advanced-scuba-discussions/338696-do-you-buy-lobster-tails.html) for some time now, and the divers do indeed suffer high rates of crippling DCS. It is tragic.

But my point here is that most of these divers do not suffer DCS.

Given their lack of training, unbelievable dive profiles, and complete ignorance of DCS and decompression principles, it's hard for me to understand how any of them manage to survive a day's diving.

The only explanation I can think of is that there is enormous variability in the incidence of DCS, much greater than I would have imagined based on the physical processes involved.