PADI class has dive calculator instead of tables now?

[kaerius]

I second JMcD ... do NOT trust your buddy's dive computer! Get your own!
What happens if you and your buddy gets separated? (And sooner or later it WILL happen) How will you monitor then your ascent? And your safety stop?

While I also second getting your own computer, the usual buddy separation procedure I've been taught, and will teach in turn involves ascending to the surface without a safety stop. YMMV.

I was taught on tables, taught the wheel in AOW ML dive(one of my electives), and got the eRDPml as a divemaster. The eRPDml does a few things easier than tables, but not by much, and as long as you know the rules, you can calculate multilevel pressure groups on the good old RDP(mind you this is beyond most divers, you have to know the next depth that will give you credit, ie at what depths you change the controlling compaterment), it's faster for me than the eRPDml.

The difference between RDP/Wheel/eRPDml for a given profile is never more than a minute or so anyway, and I don't have a habit of diving to the absolute limits.

 

[taucherguy]

So does that mean I can get rid of my computer?

I welcome any new innovation if it helps. There were a bunch of people in the beginning who didn't care for computers either (even ridiculed). I still use a computer and simple tables.

 

[aquaregia]

My computer is waterproof, comes on my dive with me, and give me enough information to adjust my plan if something comes up.
My tables are waterproof, come on my dive with me, and give me enough information to adjust my plan if something comes up.

The eRDP is not (realistically) waterproof and cannot come on the dive with me.

 

[amcordon]

I second JMcD ... do NOT trust your buddy's dive computer! Get your own!
What happens if you and your buddy gets separated? (And sooner or later it WILL happen) How will you monitor then your ascent? And your safety stop?

I do plan on getting my own computer within the next few weeks, just haven't been able to afford one yet.

 

[Kingpatzer]

The amount of anger/dismay directed towards Scuba's relentless march to embrace technology has always befuddled me. It's all based on the same science and uses the same algorithms. It's just easier and with fewer human errors to get you bent.

My problem with the eRDPml (and it's predecessor) actually is precisely the technology.

Specifically, I had better displays and buttons on calculators I bought 25 years ago!!

High contrast displays aren't that expensive anymore, and buttons that actually work when you press them aren't hard to find either.

 

[Buoyant1]

I guess the $25 shelled out for it is better than needing to shell out upwards of $200 for a basic computer but I think it's probably more prudent to just GET a computer right off the bat since tables are seemingly becoming obsolete.


My computer was my first purchase after getting certified. In fact, my first "certified" dive was done with a computer. I think it was one of the best early purchases I made!

 

[The Chairman]

My computer was my first purchase after getting certified. In fact, my first "certified" dive was done with a computer. I think it was one of the best early purchases I made!

This is incredibly common and the reason table use is deprecated. I also bought a PDC within a month of finally getting certified, but I paid close to a grand (if memory serves me).

 

[Blackwood]

I do plan on getting my own computer within the next few weeks, just haven't been able to afford one yet.

The snide response I'd make if I took a whole lot of umbrage to you sharing a computer (I don't really, just make sure you've thought of "everything") is: If you can't afford a computer, you can't afford the chamber ride.

 

[TSandM]

Although I don't think sharing a computer is a practice to be encouraged . . . before we blast someone for doing it, let's look a bit at what he'd learn from the eRDPml. NDLs for a first dive to 60 feet (the recommended max for a new diver) is 55 minutes. This, of course, is assuming a square profile, so all the time is done at 60 feet.

Now assume the diver is carrying the "usual" beginner tank, with about 80 cf of gas in it. And assume he has the "usual" beginning diver gas consumption, in the range of 1 cf/min. At 3 ATA, he's going through 3 cf/min. Assuming he wants to arrive at the surface with 500 psi, he has 70 cf he can use, or about 23 minutes of bottom time. He's SO far from no-deco limits that whether he is precisely at the same depth as his buddy or not just isn't going to make a difference.

If he goes deeper, his bottom time is going to get so short, it's still going to keep him out of trouble from a decompression standpoint (he can, of course, run short on or out of gas!)

It's only when people's gas consumption drops (usually through experience) and/or they begin to dive much larger tanks, that going into deco becomes a significant issue, even on air.

 

[Randynfla]

My daughters crew pack came with eRDPml, but I have a couple old crew packs from my teaching days that have the tables. I am going to show her how to do both table and wheel.