Did OP tell us that he'd be doing multiple days of dives?
14 hours between diving and flying
- Thread starter rnw7
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If you are Nx certified and can dive high Nx mixes (Nx40 has a max operating depth of 25m) the nitrogen loading of tissues will be significantly decreased and this results in shorter no-fly restrictions. If you have a dive computer/software that supports dove planning, you could dry run the doves and see what the no-fly recommendations are.
K
KeithG
Guest
this advice appears to make sense, but I think you will find that the computer will give an answer substantially shorter than the currently accepted "24 hours after multiple dives" rule of thumb.
For example we just finished 6 days of diving in Bonaire. 3 dives a day all dives around 70 minutes. We did NOT push NDLs and so our computers cleared us to fly in around 15 hours of our last dive. Way shorter than the 24 hour rule of thumb!
We sat out the last day. Cleaned the gear, napped a bit, relaxed, had an adult beverage for lunch.
Very true! The OP is planning to make two dives with no indication of multi-day diving. The 'accepted practice' calls for an 18-hour no-fly time and a computer might clear you to fly after less than 10 hours, if dives were on a very rich Nx mix. I am by no means suggesting to blindly follow one's computer for this - merely to get an indication of when the theoretical deco model (the one one has already trusted to make a dive on) calculates that it's safe to get on a plane. Obviously, the longer the safety margins added, the better.
Your advice makes sense and I agree.
robint
Contributor
yeah, if it is just 1 day of diving, and shallow (under 60'), then I lean more towards 12-18 hours wait before flying. IF it is multiple days in a row, regardless of depth, I always go 24 hours. Rather safe than sorry.
DeputyDan
Contributor
My point which is the same as Robint's - - - is always better safe than sorry. More than likely I will get to dive again in the future!
cb5150
Contributor
Diving is fun...but why risk it? Skip it and live to dive another day!
For me (and apparently people like you), it isn't worth the risk to skimp on pre-flight surface interval. My diving is generally fairly conservative vacation-type diving, and I aim for 18-24 hours pre-flight SI at the end of a dive vacation. But I do appreciate that some people have higher risk tolerance than I do and place more weight on getting in that last dive than I do. So, I won't criticize someone who, in deciding how long to wait between diving and flying, looks at the SI as a continuum rather than rigidly adhering to arbitrary points such as 18 or 24 hours, and considers possible factors such as his age and general fitness, the length of the flight and whether there is a chamber nearby at the destination, and other things that might factor into the equation. Maybe some divers figure that given a "long enough" surface interval for the relevant factors, any DCS that arises will be mild enough that he's willing to risk it. It's not like a DCS hit is all or nothing, either--it can be mild or severe or anywhere in between. As with any decompression safety question, it's up to the individual to weigh what he perceives as the risk against what he perceives as the reward. As they say, the only way to guarantee no DCS would be not to dive.
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