PADI not teaching theory re/EANx

[CuriousRambler]

Hey all,

I've been more or less on dive hiatus for the last decade or so, with but a few exceptions. I think I'm finally in a position to get back into things, so I lined up a nitrox course during a work trip in a couple of months. The instructor is a friend, but work will inevitably interfere with my dive time, so I'm doing the eLearning ahead of time. As I'm working on the eLearning portion, and I'm a bit shocked to hear, literally in the first five minutes, "divers using tables are now the exception" and that the course is intended to teach nitrox by dive computer. Silly me, I thought setting gas mixes was covered in my computer's instruction manual!

As I mentioned, I haven't been active in diving for 10-12 years, and did my open water about 20 years ago. Dive computers have obviously covered a lot of ground in that time, both in performance/reliability, as well as general acceptance from users. I fully understand that. I'm not trying to start another PADI-bashing thread, but is the current nitrox course offering a representative example of their current training mentality? I have not completed the eLearning, so perhaps my musings are premature, but from the first portion of the online training, I'm projecting I'd be better served by studying some of the widely available material online regarding dive physiology, dust off and re-read Vance Harlow's book, etc. and study adjusting gas mixes in my computer.

Admittedly, I'm more interested in understanding this information than taking the shortest path to being "qualified" to utilize it. To the PADI instructors in the crowd; what's your solution for a student who's not satisfied with the course material? Do I even have an option to learn (and acquire a copy of) tables with this course?

 

[mmerriman]

You CAN still get the manual and tables. You'd have to find a shop that wants to teach you that way.

Sign up for Enriched Air Diver Online – PADI’s eLearning option – to get started immediately. The web-based system covers all the enriched air diver course content and allows you to study at your own pace through an easy-to-use, interactive program. You also have access to an online version of the Enriched Air Diver Manual.
You can also choose to read the Enriched Air Diver Manual and watch the Enriched Air Diving video. Stop by your local PADI Dive Center and Resort to enroll in the course, get your materials and start learning.

 

[Esprise Me]

When I did the PADI Nitrox course a year ago in Mexico, I got the version with the book and tables, though in practice we followed our computers (kind of a moot point since my air consumption was the limiting factor.) I think it's useful to learn tables even if you never end up sticking to them. I keep my air and Nitrox tables in a pouch in my logbook so I can do some rough planning in the sense of deciding what kind of fill I want. (I almost always stick with air, because it's cheaper and I'm well within my NDLs when someone runs low on air or gets cold. I did use Nitrox on a recent LOB, and now that I'm getting a drysuit and contemplating solo--it's now usually my buddy who runs low on air first--I might find Nitrox worth my while again.)

 

[Graeme Fraser]

Worth a conversation with your instructor first, but there's no reason why not. Personally I love to bore my students with tables, best mix and equivalent air depth. Writing all the equations on the whiteboard kinda make me feel intelligent, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary .

 

[aviator8]

You will get all kinds of debate on the level of teaching by agency. I have found the NAUI materials to be very good, and thorough on theory. I have never seen the PADI materials but have heard similar observations as you make. TDI is supposed to be very good. I have heard others make the argument that PADI and all the agencies have the materials if you so choose to read them and alot of it is the instructor.

My take is most divers just want to know the basics so they can dive nitrox. They are not at all interested in the theory or physiology of it all. They just want to learn 1.4 PPO, MOD, how to measure and mark a tank, and how to set the computer. Many people will take that and dive the rest of their time and be happy with it.

My advice would be either get a really good instructor that can provide all the materials and theory you want to read if it is not readily available from the agency, or pick the cheapest course and self study with the plethora of detailed material you can get such as NOAA, Vance Harlow, Gas Blending, various lectures on the physiology of gasses under partial pressures, etc.

 

[Seaweed Doc]

I'm a newish PADI instructor (including EAN instructor) but an old diver. Despite really loving my tables, I'm slowly being dragged kicking and screaming into the digital age. Reading the manual on a computer allows me to effectively get what I need from it that I might have gotten from a table.

If a student WANTED to learn tables for EAN, I'd be happy to work with them to get that content. However, my general take is students don't want the added info.

On the other hand, I make them learn tables in Open Water and tell them a good backup to their computer is a cheap watch, a depth gauge, and their tables.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Do you have a computer? It’s hard nowadays to dive with tables unless you are diving on your own. And you can hardly even buy a bottom timer—a computer is no more expensive. If you anticipate joining the vast majority who do not use tables, why bother messing with Nitrox tables? The Nitrox table is used the same way as an air table—nothing new to learn there. The principles of ongassing and offgassing nitrogen are the same as with air—there’s just less nitrogen with Nitrox. A computer shows you how your ongassing and offgassing works as well as a table does, if not even more intuitively.

 

[kmarks]

Silly me, I thought setting gas mixes was covered in my computer's instruction manual!

"Shhh... walk softly. This 'ere is a pristine specimen of the Instructions Reader (Solois instructikis), rarely seen in the wild. We don't want to spook him."

I can't tell you the number of people who have no idea their computer could even do [that], whatever [that] may be because they just wanted to open the box and put it on their wrist and not do any reading. I'm way too familiar with way too many computers I don't own so I can teach people how to use theirs.

I remember in my PADI OW class we were told to ignore the section on tables and given a supplement handbook on computer diving. The only thing I really remember from that handbook was their advice that the best alternative if you don't have a computer is to buy a computer. Seriously. I learned the tables on my own because they aren't that hard (and I'm a scientist, ie, nerd) and I like to use them for planning purposes. I switched to SSI when one shop closed and another opened, and that's what I teach in now, and in my shop, we do discuss the tables at least briefly in OW class and I always offer to go further in depth with anyone interested after class. EANx and Science of Diving discuss them quite a bit and SoD even goes a bit into where the numbers come from and why you see variation between the SSI tables and other tables as well as dive computers.

I learned the tables because I wanted to, and I think it's important that new divers know that they exist and have the option to learn about it if they want to, but I don't think it should be required any more than people should be required to wash a load of laundry on a washboard and bucket in the backyard before they get a washing machine so that they understand the theory.

ETA- Your computer's manual probably isn't going to teach you things like CNS clock time, why you would choose ppO2 1.4 or 1.6, why MOD is important, what Ox Tox is/looks like, and how to use an O2 analyzer, all things that you should be learning in your EANx class.

 

[johndiver999]

Recreational nitrox divers are going to use their computers. There is little benefit in teaching nitrox tables or even EAD, since it will probably never be used and quickly forgotten.

Your manual is the proper reference to learn how to use your specific computer.

As others have said, if you know how to set computer, limit yourself to 1.4, and carefully check your tank mix and watch your depth and time, there really is not a whole lot more that is needed from a recreational perspective.

My advice is to learn the basic theory and then spend the bulk of your efforts studying the manual and really learn what the computer will do under a variety of situations, including when going into deco and forgeting to set the correct mix and ascending too fast etc. Computers provide a lot of options and information and it may take some time to understand the important stuff.

You can't expect PADI to provide detailed explanation of every computer made now, in the past or the future.

 

[TMHeimer]

I'm a bit confused. Seems we're talking about two things--one is the old "tables vs. computer" thing (albeit Nitrox tables). The other a question of what material is or isn't covered with the e learning as opposed to what I learned in the manual in 2006. I haven't seen the e learning so welcome some details.