Do you dread the table portion of classes?

[TMHeimer]

I never understand this "tables" problem. I'm lousy at math, not an academic, and a career musician. With just a bit of dedicated memorizing I conquered the tables. Nitrox took a bit longer. If I can do it anyone can. It's not rocket science. Yet in some of the advanced courses I've taken (including presently DM course) time has to be spent reviewing the TABLES. If one uses a computer and wants to keep in practise with the tables one can: Copy the examples out of the RDP pamphlet, Adventures in Diving Book, etc. and just look over (do) one problem every day. It takes 30 seconds. Same idea with Nitrox (takes a minute), and alternate them.

 

[Diver0001]

Of all the the things GUE has done, the development of their minimum deco table for 32% is far and away the most brilliant.

DIR-diver.com - Using the min deco table

You could teach a chimpanzee to use this table in under 10 minutes. I've been thinking that when I get a spare couple of days to play around that I should translate the PADI air table into this format with a column for EAD. I think you could put everything you'll ever need to know about nitrox tables in a format that would fit on one easy to understand page of your wet notes.

R..

 

[MD_Diver]

I didn't like the tables when I did my OW class but after the Nitrox class the tables are much easier to use and understand.

 

[fnfalman]

And when that computer battery dies on the 4th dive of the 2nd day of your week long diving trip in bonaire what do you do?

Break out the backup computer? Or hire a dive guide? Or do shallow less than 30-ft dives? Or go get some hookers and blow?

 

[fnfalman]

Yep. Per PADI's RDP, that would br group O and the NDL is 80 min. On air.

I just LOVE my iPhone dive planner.

What if on the second day of dive in your week long vacation at Truk Lagoon, you've found out that you had left your iPhone's recharger at home and none of the people on the boat has a compatible recharger?

What will you do?

 

[boulderjohn]

I don't know why the class should take two sessions, frankly. We always schedule just one, and I did one last night. The couple was well prepared, and we had no trouble getting done in a couple of hours, even though we did quite a few practice problems for the experience.

The idea is that the students should come to class ready to go. You should not have to teach the tables from scratch. When students come to the class totally unprepared, we reschedule. If they prepared to the best of their ability but are still struggling with the tables, then I teach them as necessary, but the worst case scenario has never required as much as an entire second class section.

 

[SkimFisher]

Well, hopefully everyone else in my class is on the same page tomorrow. I really don't feel like being there all night. We shall see.

 

[ucfdiver]

Of all the the things GUE has done, the development of their minimum deco table for 32% is far and away the most brilliant.

DIR-diver.com - Using the min deco table

You could teach a chimpanzee to use this table in under 10 minutes. I've been thinking that when I get a spare couple of days to play around that I should translate the PADI air table into this format with a column for EAD. I think you could put everything you'll ever need to know about nitrox tables in a format that would fit on one easy to understand page of your wet notes.

R..

That's not a GUE table. I agree however that it's great, although personally I prefer this method-
Ratio Deco - Unified Team Diving

Give me a set of PADI / NAUI tables or a computer and I'd have no idea how to use them until I read the directions. For recreational diving, minimum deco gives a HUGE benefit on repetitive dives, and forcing divers to remain aware of average depth from early on is an excellent training method to ease the transition into higher levels of diving.

I don't understand why depth averaging isn't taught sooner. I hear it's a "tech" thing, but honestly, scootering with 2 stages in a cave that goes up down up down up down the whole time is NOT a good time to learn this stuff, but on the other hand, fairly square profile reefs like most OW divers are doing are an excellent time to learn it....I'm just not sure why we wait so long

 

[Rainer]

Yet I don't know a SINGLE (not one!) DIR diver who uses that table. I certainly don't, nor do any of my buddies. Neither GUE nor UTD teaches that table. Far, far easier tools available.

Of all the the things GUE has done, the development of their minimum deco table for 32% is far and away the most brilliant.

DIR-diver.com - Using the min deco table

You could teach a chimpanzee to use this table in under 10 minutes. I've been thinking that when I get a spare couple of days to play around that I should translate the PADI air table into this format with a column for EAD. I think you could put everything you'll ever need to know about nitrox tables in a format that would fit on one easy to understand page of your wet notes.

R..

 

[Sas]

...because I do.

I'm taking my Nitrox class next week and just finished the book yesterday. I did not find the tables to be difficult or confusing. However, based on the trouble most people have in the OW class with the RDP - I can only IMAGINE what my class is going to be like next week with these tables.

I was lucky with my OW in that it was just me and one other person in the "classroom" portion. We both new how to use the tables by the time we showed up that morning and as a result spent maybe 15-20 mins going over them in class. Our instructor told us that his previous class took about 4 hours to get the tables down.

I'm looking at this Nitrox book and trying to figure out why I need two classroom sessions for this next week. Geeze...

I don't dread tables at all and think they are incredibly easy to use. Nitrox formulas are easy as well and that is what I learned with (coupled with air tables) as my instructor didn't provide tables during my nitrox class.

I had a class of 12 or 13 for my OW, and it didn't take anywhere close to four hours for the instructor to teach tables despite a wide range in ability of people to grasp it. I can't imagine why it took so long for him to teach it

I'm sure you'll be fine, good luck with your course