MuddyFox,
Thank you so much for your kind offer! Based on a recommendation from Jeff, I downloaded the Dive Manager software and ran some sims myself this afternoon. I'll post the results here for anyone else who might be interested.
I ran 4 sets of sims. RGBM100, RGBM50, RGBM50 with personal adjustment P1, and because I was so surprised with the results of the last set, also ran RGBM100 with P1.
Dive profiles were identical for all 3. First dive was max depth of 90 feet for 10 minutes, 85 feet for 5 minutes, passed through 50 feet on ascent, then 5 minute safety stop at 15. Total dive time 23 minutes. Second dive after a 1:00 surface interval had 65 max depth for 25 minutes, passed through 30 feet on ascent, and a 5 minute safety stop at 15 feet. Total dive time 33 minutes. Final dive after a 90 minute safety stop was 45 feet for 35 minutes, 5 minute safety stop at 15 feet, total dive time 42 minutes. Temperature was set at 83 degrees for all dives.
The RGBM100 and RGBM50 models were identical in NDLs for the first dive: 20 minutes when first arrived at 90 feet, 12 minutes remaining when I ascended to 85, 14 minutes NDL at 85, with 10 minutes remaining when I began final ascent.
Second dive began to show the difference: RGBM100 gave me 29 minutes NDL when I first descended to 65 feet, whereas RGBM50 gave me 31 minutes. Third dive showed the impacts even more, with RGBM100 NDL at 64 minutes, and RGBM50 at 68. While these aren't significant differences, a few extra minutes can make the difference if you're wanting slightly more flexibility with Suunto.
What really surprised me was when I added the P1 setting to the RGBM50 model. On the first dive, instead of having 20 minutes NDL at 90 feet, I only had 16, and by the time I left 85 feet to ascend, was down to 5 minutes NDL. Second dive was just as pronounced with 25 minutes initially instead of the 31 for the regular RGBM50, and the final dive was down to 51 minutes NDL when I reached depth instead of 68. Quite a difference in conservatism!
To ensure the P1 setting wasn't actually defaulting to the RGBM100 algorhythm, and adding conservatism on top of that, I decided to also run the RGBM100 with the P1 setting. First dive had the same 16 minutes NDL at depth, but second dive started with 27 minutes NDL at 65 feet, and the third dive 53 minutes NDL.
Obviously, the RGBM50 isn't half as conservative as the RGBM100, but does add in a measure of liberalism or flexibility on repetitive dives. The P1 setting makes either the RGBM100 or RGBM50 significantly more conservative.
I also ran the "stock" loaded profiles in the Dive Manager changing from RGBM100 to RGBM50. On those profiles for the first day (Bonaire), the RGBM only added 1 minute NDL at all depths to the final dive, with no changes at all to the second dive.
One final test I ran was to compare the RGBM100 to an approximation of a dive I did on Theo's Wreck off Grand Bahamas off the Nekton Rorqual 2 weeks ago using a Cochran Commander without additional conservative factors. I had 9 minutes at 110 feet (on the sand bottom), 12 minutes at 90 feet, a 5 minute safety stop at 15 feet, and a 29 minute total dive time. The Cochran showed 21 minutes NDL left when I left 90 feet, but on the RGBM100, I was 2 minutes over NDL when I left 90. While this doesn't take into consideration some minor changes in depth, it is a pretty good basic illustration of the vast differences between Cochran's much more liberal algorhythm and Suunto's RGBM.
Amber
