PADI dropping dive tables?

[gndpdr]

what part of pre dive planing is so hard to understand?x amount of time at x depth then move up to x depth for x time and so on..worked great for 4 years in the military since 1981 and still works great 27 years down the road but i guess it cost's to much to buy a credit card size slate and pencil and would take up to much time to waste 15 minutes with the others in the group on a good solid pre dive plan session ...so please explain to me in detail how us old dudes came back alive from dives before the pdc ?was it an act of god? or dumb luck? please enlighten me ?

 

[diablonyc2]

I just completed the SSI OW class in April 09 and tables were not only covered, they were tested. It was also covered/tested in my Nitrox class.

I think it is good to know the principles of the tables in the event equipment fails.

 

[SubMariner]

I'm one who believes that "teaching the tables" is a joke and Thank Goodness the option for PADI to do away with it exists.

Why?

a. Teaching the Tables may take away valuable time to teach something of actual value, for example, gas management.

b. What do you really learn from "the tables" anyway? That 21 minutes is really 30 and that 51 feet is really 60 and that you put the two together and you are "D" (or whatever!)?

c. Square profiles are NOT how most recreational people really dive and thus provide a screwed up concept of no decompression limits.

The ONLY argument I've ever seen that makes sense to "teach the tables" is that it gives people a way to understand decompression theory. OK I guess. But I believe there are much better, easier, and quicker ways to get the Open Water student to understand deco concepts.

Tables, BAH HUMBUG!

What a new open water student learns from tables is the fact that every dive = more nitrogen in a diver's system and that it is a cumulative effect. The system is easy to understand and implement. It gives them a basic overview of the physiology of diving.

It's a foundation on which to build, not the top floor of the house.

 

[Crush]

I agree with many of you - tables are an anachronism.

Some of you are advocating the teaching of computers in OW courses. I agree with this, but only somewhat.

In all my courses we were taught tables. However, during all course dives we relied on computers, not tables.

The problem is, how do you "teach" computers when they all operate differently? You can teach the principals of slow and fast (theoretical) tissues, sure, but will you teach everyone to use one type of computer only?

Wouldn't standardized computers be nice?

 

[RonFrank]

A new training option for the PADI Open Water Diver course allows you to teach dive computer use instead of RDP use ...you've probably been teaching your entry-level divers to use their RDP's to plan dives and act as backup to the dive computers the actually use on their dives. You can continue to do this - teach both RDP and computer use - or you can teach computer use only.

Whichever option you choose, student divers will continue to learn the basics of decompression theory, the importance of dive planning to keep nitrogen levels within acceptable limits, and how to monitor depth, bottom time and surface intervals as they always have by using the PADI Open Water Diver Manual, Multimedia, or PADI eLearning.

So someone get's it wrong, and the SB dive community erupts!

PADI is allowing one to teach computers if they so choose. The choice rests with the student, so I'm betting most divers will end up learning both. As computers are based on the RDP, who cares?

The student has the option, and I would guess a lot will NOT learn a computer just do to added costs involved, especially if tying to purchase one of these beasts over the counter from our beloved but overpriced LDS's.

I'm sure tables will continue to see use in the Tech side. One should at least understand and know the deco obligation stats when doing a deco dive. However the computer can do that as well, and likely better than any of us.

 

[OldNSalty]

I heard that SSI was going to drop tables as well. Can anyone confirm that?

I suppose given that they are all about the dive shop that sounds about right.

 

[sandsunsurf]

I think that tables are worthwhile to teach to a new diver, not only because of the concepts that come along, but because it also teaches one to plan their dive. If you have a new diver that only learns to jump in and watch his computer, with only a few hours of knowledge and lecture on decompression theory and residual nitrogen levels, I think there will be even more lazy divers that ultimately put themselves and the people around them at risk.

Also, I recently went on a trip where my luggage was lost and was 3 days late. My bad for checking my regulator and computer, but ultimately at least I could confidently dive safely for the first 3 days (for those waiting to pounce on me switching to a computer, I didn't dive for 24 hours before diving with it). So I was glad I had the tables and knew how to use them.

 

[scubafanatic]

I just came back from a dive trip and the computer failed. Glad that i had my dive tables inside my log book so i could still dive safely.

...umm, if that happened to me....I'd.........wait for it......just revert to my BACKUP COMPUTER !!! Duh ! ......

 

[scubafanatic]

...I'm not even sure half the divers out there can even read the small 'font' of a dive table...especially in open water...in poor vis...at night...with a 'foggy' mask...the average diver is in their mid 40's and eyesight generally doesn't improve with age either.

 

[elmer fudd]

It's hard to believe anyone would just scrub their dives because their computer stopped working. Just throw a watch in with your gear. During your predive or surface interval, check the maximum NDL's for the depths you expect to dive and either commit them to memory or write them down. Then check the time or start your stop watch when you start your dive. It takes all of about 1 minute. As you dive periodically check your depth. It's that simple.

Then if your computer craps out on you, you just switch to your slate and watch.