The Fine Art of Decompression

[Razorblade]

I know about that depth, I just didn't know it was that deep. The reason being that on repetitive shallow dives (no deeper than 30ft) my computer (a Suunto Vyper for those of you that are on the thread nextdoor talking about Pelagic vs. Suunto) towards the end of my second dive already starts showing me my NDL at around 180 minutes or so. Is the Suunto algorithm that conservative? (This last sentence might belong on the other thread, but I haven't really read it all)

 

[leadweight]

I have two sets of tables around here. The older one from NAUI (1989) starts at 40 feet, which using rounding up would mean 31 feet and deeper. The newer 1996 tables from SSI start at 10 feet, which effectively is a depth of 1 foot.

 

[Dr Deco]

Dear Razorblade:

NDLs

These do vary from meter to meter depending on the table designers desires. They usually move towards shallower then 30 feet (more conservative) rather than deeper (less conservative). Your meter is clearly of the more conservative design.

My Take on All of This

As I have indicated before, you can always make any dive more conservative by simply following the good dive habits (keep hydrated, for example) and avoiding the nuclei-producing activities (climbing onto boats with all of your gear, lugging tanks around between dives. These will get you into trouble eventually.:mean:

Mild activity is fine (e.g., walking) but not the heavy, stressful type. If you are involved in enough strenuous activity, some divers will get DCS from any dive table. That is why I would not put my faith in deco devices.

Of course, if you have trivial gas loads, you will not get the bends. No, you can not get “the bends” lifting weights in the gym – no over saturation exists.

Dr Deco :doctor: