Redesigning AOW

[ucfdiver]

What is the face to face you talk about for peak performace. Is this where they have to look at each other/requires bouyancy?

I think so. You'll notice a lot of divers who can hold good trim while staring at the bottom, lose it when they start looking around. I'm guessing they're locking in on an object to stay neutral, rather than having it come natural.

 

[SparticleBrane]

AOW shouldn't be a substitute for adv nitrox and deco procedures, IMO. I know it's limiting, but if a diver wants to increase his/her range, there are courses beyond a 2 day AOW cram session that deal with that in great detail.

What does any of what I said have to do with advanced nitrox/deco? I was talking about gas planning strategies for no-deco dives. Using 1/3rd's all the time is over the top.

Example:
You're going a 90ft drift dive in the tropics, live-boating (boat picks you up at the end of the dive wherever you drifted). Please explain why using 1/3rd's would be useful here, rather than just having a rock-bottom ascent pressure...

There's a point where it's so conservative that there's no point in diving due to limited bottom time.

 

[BDub]

AOW shouldn't be a substitute for adv nitrox and deco procedures, IMO. I know it's limiting, but if a diver wants to increase his/her range, there are courses beyond a 2 day AOW cram session that deal with that in great detail.

I don't see any adv nitrox/deco material in his post. What are you referring too?

 

[ucfdiver]

There's a point where it's so conservative that there's no point in diving due to limited bottom time.

That's why I brought up further education.

The rock bottom ascent would work in the situation you gave, assuming it was calculated correctly. Most of my diving is done away from any instructor or dive master where students have to calculate their own gas limits and make these decisions (unlike a boat), so that's perhaps why I was thinking about things a bit differently.

 

[BDub]

What is the face to face you talk about for peak performace. Is this where they have to look at each other/requires bouyancy?

This is controlling the pace of the descent to the slowest diver. Anyone can descend alone, at their own speed, meeting others at the bottom.

Descending/ascending together, prepared to offer assistance, can be quite challenging at first.

 

[PCBCaptChris]

A general rule of thumb I give my students is to never dive deeper than the volume of gas you have in your tank. In other words, if you're wearing an al80, I'd keep max depth at 80fsw. Again, that's just a rule of thumb.

I kinda like that... Sometime hard to do and I don't adhear to it, but it is a good base line...

I have always said a good rule of thumb is, at the razors edge, be within sight of the anchor line at 10psi for every ft of depth.

 

[ucfdiver]

I kinda like that... Sometime hard to do and I don't adhear to it, but it is a good base line...

I have always said a good rule of thumb is, at the razors edge, be within sight of the anchor line at 10psi for every ft of depth.

That seems like a better idea than my 1/3 rule, and I'd maybe go more conservative on repetitive dives.

 

[SparticleBrane]

That's why I brought up further education.

The rock bottom ascent would work in the situation you gave, assuming it was calculated correctly. Most of my diving is done away from any instructor or dive master where students have to calculate their own gas limits and make these decisions (unlike a boat), so that's perhaps why I was thinking about things a bit differently.

In my GUE-F class we were taught 3 main gas-planning strategies and rules of thumb for when to use each:

1/3rd available (when you HAVE to return to your entry point)
1/2 available (when it's preferable but not required to return to your entry point)
All available (doesn't matter if you return to the entry point or not)

All were taught with the inclusion of rock bottom.


Honestly I really think this sort of thing should be included in basic open water, but that's just me.

 

[PCBCaptChris]

It is a get you back to the boat number for a "normal" SAC rate. Meaning 500 PSI at 50ft would get you back to the boat with a 3-5 saftey stop. That said you wouldn't hav ethe standard recreation reserve of 500 psi when you hit the boat...

 

[ucfdiver]

In my GUE-F class we were taught 3 main gas-planning strategies and rules of thumb for when to use each:

1/3rd available (when you HAVE to return to your entry point)
1/2 available (when it's preferable but not required to return to your entry point)
All available (doesn't matter if you return to the entry point or not)

All were taught with the inclusion of rock bottom on each.


Honestly I really think this sort of thing should be included in basic open water, but that's just me.

Honestly, I think GUE has their act together with this sort of thing, and I'm planning to take the gue-f course after my intro class. I'd love to see GUE offer a OW course, if nothing else to see what the other agencies would adopt from it.