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we shouldn't give divers additional tools....until they're ready for it.
I'm drifting towards just playing devil's advocate here, for the sake of a thought provoking debate, but... I find my student OW's RMV/SAC is so variable that planning dive time through gas consumption expectations is realistically just a shot in the dark...
I see dive training as a progression that starts at the conceptual level. Using gas management as an example, what I want them to take away from OW is that gas management is an important aspect of dive planning, that it is important to monitor your gas throughout the dive, and that it is important to know when to turn around and begin your ascent.
Whatever your gas consumption rate may be, coming up with some reasonable numbers to keep in your head for beginning your ascent isn't rocket surgery. Everybody's consumption rate is variable to one degree or another, but that shouldn't prevent you from thinking about how much gas you need to surface safely.
FWIW - I have had people in my gas management seminars who hadn't even begun their OW class yet, and guess what ... they got it. It ain't hard to grasp concepts. The arithmetic may take longer, but at the OW level the important thing is to get them thinking about why it matters.
... Bob (Grateful Diver)