navy85
Contributor
I have read this thread with interest, especially when I saw comments such as the YMCA prohibits multilevel table use and SSI does not advocate or teach it. The dive logs that came with my PADI OW pak have a planner for multi-level diving. I recall being taught a method to use in OW was to assume a zero SI with the flat RDP that came with my materials. I reviewed them this evening to find that "the Wheel version of the RDP can be used for multilevel diving". So I learned something extremely important (not that my dives approach the NDL).SubMariner once bubbled...
Id argue in favour of keeping the statement in context, which was:
"...but I wouldn't advocate using the "Flat" PADI Recreational Dive Planner at all for multi-level diving.
The PADI Wheel is the best way to calculate multi-level profiles and is much easier to use.
I was comparing two versions of the RDP not the RDP vs a dive computer.
That being said, PADI has a Multilevel Dive specialty (which uses the Wheel RDP or a computer). Do the other agencies teach this or similar? I didn't see anything like it for SSI. Do the earlier postings WRT YMCA and SSI mean that this subject is ignored, or do they advocate the use of a dive computer? The reality for the limited diving I have done is that in certain areas - such as reefs - your dive profile will be multi-level, so it seems strange that it is not taught.