first deco dive

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OP, I noticed you are from Alabama.
Feel free to PM me, and we'll go diving sometime at ABWA or Vortex, and I'll show you what I do to safely plan and execute deco dives...it'll give ya some food for thought about running a decompression obligation on your computer.

Rita

Nice! OP, that is a really nice offer.
 
Anything I can do to make local divers safer...

Note, I get from this, that you'd show him the great deal of different gear and all the extra plans needed. Not that you'd take him on a deco dive. IJS
 
....... my computer was inching toward deco mode while I still had plenty of air(1500psi). .....
At which depth? And what was your previous dive profile?

........ I let 0min come and go deciding to test out the deco mode. .... I started my ascent and the deco stop was displayed at 10' for 2 min. .....
Which dive computer?
You got lucky .... your dive profile was "light" - probably the first dive of the day?) and the Dive Computer went into a light deco (driven by fast compartments) and so you had plenty of gas to safely complete your deco obligations and ascent to the surface.
With a different dive profile(s) your DC could have gone into a different deco stage - driven by slow compartments - with deeper deco stops and longer deco time .... in THAT scenario you might have run out of gas ....

........ Anyway, I was hoping for some feedback from you more experienced divers on whether this would be considered wreckless behavior or is deco diving really just part of the sport if done conscientiosly.
I think you got plenty of feedback: a) deco IS part of diving, b) learn more about decompression theory and c) learn more about your dive computer.

Alberto (aka eDiver)
 
hmmm....I thought I had posted a reply but don't see it....so here it is again...

Thanks for all the great input guys/gals. To answer one question - it was a 37min dive, 81' max depth. Also, I am waiting on the next Nitrox Course at my LDS but have read up on the subject and know the ramifications.

I will conclude that I was within safe diving practices but am grateful nothing forced a rapid ascent and I should not have pushed the limits so closely. The temptation of the undersea world is great!
 
hmmm....I thought I had posted a reply but don't see it....so here it is again...

Thanks for all the great input guys/gals. To answer one question - it was a 37min dive, 81' max depth. Also, I am waiting on the next Nitrox Course at my LDS but have read up on the subject and know the ramifications.

I will conclude that I was within safe diving practices but am grateful nothing forced a rapid ascent and I should not have pushed the limits so closely. The temptation of the undersea world is great!

I am glad you are taking more courses. The nitrox course will start you on mixed gas, but if you want to learn about deco procedures, you need Advanced Nitrox and Decompression Theory. Start with nitrox and keep on going. It is worth it to know what you are doing and much more satisfying, as well as safe.

I am glad you recognize the dangers and are training for them.
Happy diving.
 
hmmm....I thought I had posted a reply but don't see it....so here it is again...

Thanks for all the great input guys/gals. To answer one question - it was a 37min dive, 81' max depth. Also, I am waiting on the next Nitrox Course at my LDS but have read up on the subject and know the ramifications.

I will conclude that I was within safe diving practices but am grateful nothing forced a rapid ascent and I should not have pushed the limits so closely. The temptation of the undersea world is great!

Well, nitrox may help you avoid the situation ... but it won't teach you what to do if you should get into it.

Some time ago I wrote an article that you may find useful ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)
 
Everybody gets focused on the deco . . . do you really need to do the deco, is your computer telling your the right amount of deco at the right depth, etc.

To me, the bottom line on this type of thing is that the deeper you go, and the longer you stay there, the more important two things become: One is that you have enough gas, both to do the dive you planned and to cope with contingencies (can you imagine how stressful it would be to have your computer telling you you need ten minutes at 10 feet, but you don't have the gas to do the time?). And the other is that you can solve problems underwater, because the surface is becoming a less and less attractive option.

Any time the surface is no longer an option (which it theoretically is not if you are under a decompression obligation) you need a much wider set of skills AND a lot more poise. You can get away with the kind of thing you did, so long as everything goes well -- but what would you have done if you had gotten a freeflow when you had your deco obligation? Do you have a plan for that?

Training for "technical", or staged decompression diving, is only in a very small part about decompression itself. We do study tables and programs and other strategies for determining profiles and planning decompression, but a lot of that is to be able to plan enough gas. Much more of the training is about staying out of trouble, and getting out of trouble, and it's involved and stress-inducing training.

So were you reckless? No, but I suspect you didn't completely grasp the implications of what you were doing. I wouldn't make a habit of it.
 
Advanced Nitrox and Deco Procedures are two courses provided by IANTD. TDI also has courses of similar names, but with different criteria.

If you have an interest in learning to dive longer periods under water, it's recommended you do a course with doubles, and Nitrox above EAN 36. I found Advance Nitrox combined with Deco procedures to be an excellent and challenging 6 day course. If you can make it through safely and still have an interest in extended time diving... then plan and execute deco dives. If not, then stay within recreational limits, and don't let your NDL go below 5 minutes as a general rule.
 
While per your computer you may not have incurred much deco your diving was reckless. While it may seem as easy and simple as following your computer what happens when something goes wrong. Going into deco puts a ceiling above your head. What would have happened if something went wrong and you had to spend another ten minutes at you deepest depth. Deco adds up exponentially. Would you have had enough air if something went wrong.

You need to know how you computer works when it determines deco. I dove a Oceanic rec. style computer next to my Shearwater(true deco driven computer) on a planed out deco dive. During the accent my dive plan called for my first stop at 40'. My Shearwater had the some profile. The Rec. style computer had me going straight to 10' for about 25 minutes. It didn't show the 40', 30' or 20' stops my true deco planing showed.

My point is deco like you did may seem simple and easy. If you continue to do these simple dives you may be fine until something goes wrong.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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