Aow=bs

[astromattical]

I've seen a lot of AOW bashing around...and I feel it is time for me to contribute.

I am PADI OW certified, and I have 6 dives total. 4 of those are from the OW class, the other two are from my honeymoon diving in the Bahamas earlier this month. With that being said, it is obvious I have very little experience in diving. I take it very seriously (while having a ton of fun), and during my OW class I studied the material, took the quizes/knowledge reviews, paid attention to the instructor, and focused while we did the pool/OW dives.

For that reason, I am very confident I have a strong foundation to build upon when I take my AOW class this year. I'm sticking with the same instructor I had for OW because he is amazingly good at teaching. I feel very confident in his abilities and know that I will be a better, safer diver with his help. When I get my AOW materials, I will study them and do all of the required work for the course. When it is time to do the AOW dives, I will focus on the task at hand, make lots of mental notes, and have fun doing it. At the end of my AOW course, I will know a little bit more to be a better and safer diver. My foundation to build upon will be stronger, so when I take additional courses (rescue, etc), I will become a better and safer diver every single time.

I'm not going into the AOW course expecting to become advanced. I'm expecting to learn more, and have fun doing it. I want to be a great dive buddy so that when I'm buddied with someone, they will feel confident they will be in good hands if something goes wrong. I expect the same from them as well. With every course, I become a better buddy, and become a better and safer diver so that the risk of anything going wrong decreases. AOW is a stepping stone in a long road to becoming a highly skilled and experienced diver - no need to bash it.

If you have a good instructor and you go into it with the right mind-set, AOW is a *GREAT* course. I can't wait to complete it, and move onto the next one, and the next, and the one after that...etc.

 

[leapfrog]

Unfortunately, the computer doesn't know anything about your physiology, how much sleep you had last night ....(Grateful Diver)

I believe you are right but that in fact the computer manufacturers are working on it by for example monitoring your pulse rate. I have it on reasonably good faith that in about six to seven years we could be looking at a scenario where many of today's computers will be "old hat".....

 

[String]

Semantics, perhaps ... but tables and computers aren't safe, they're conservative. In order to be safe you have to use them properly. And even then, I've known people to bend themselves staying well within the limits of their conservative dive computers. Unfortunately, the computer doesn't know anything about your physiology, how much sleep you had last night ... or how many drinks, how well hydrated you were prior to the dive, or a host of other things that factor into your susceptibility for DCI. All it knows is your dive profile and an idealized mathematical model that says you are within "acceptable risk limits". All those limits do is reduce your potential for getting bent ... they do not eliminate the possibility.

Yes but there is absolutely no evidence to suggest that using nitrox on air tables affects that risk in any way what so ever

And FWIW - coming up too fast from safety stop is probably the number one reason why people get bent. It's supposed to take a full half-minute ... not the five to ten seconds that most recreational divers tend to take ...

By doing so they are outside the limits of the tables so all bets are off.

 

[String]

I believe you are right but that in fact the computer manufacturers are working on it by for example monitoring your pulse rate.

Unfortunately the Sol is just a gimmick. There isnt any real known correlation between pulse and DCS so all it does is add a fudge factor to an already guesstimated model. Its a gimmick but probably entirely worthless as far as DCS reduction goes.

What does have potential are doppler bubble measurement in controlling a profile. Its a few years off but does at least have potential to have a measurement and response rather than just a mathmatical model.

 

[seaducer]

Unfortunately the Sol is just a gimmick. There isnt any real known correlation between pulse and DCS so all it does is add a fudge factor to an already guesstimated model. Its a gimmick but probably entirely worthless as far as DCS reduction goes.

Perhaps now, but perhaps not forever. Things like dehydration and fatigue do have an effect on your heart rate, and are know to increase risk of DCI. I am not that familiar with the Sol but in order for this idea to have any benefit it needs to know a baseline for you. If you know your average resting heart rate you can plug that in and let the computer take your pulse during the time of day and conditions that you sample from normally and it could determine from that if your risk of DCI is higher.
If this technology ever gets refined to the point of being useful...

What does have potential are doppler bubble measurement in controlling a profile. Its a few years off but does at least have potential to have a measurement and response rather than just a mathmatical model.

An easy way to measure blood O2 content is with a device that fits on the end of your finger. I wonder if they could work something like that out to measure how much nitrogen is in your blood? Or your exhalations?

 

[Web Monkey]

Unfortunately the Sol is just a gimmick. There isnt any real known correlation between pulse and DCS so all it does is add a fudge factor to an already guesstimated model. Its a gimmick but probably entirely worthless as far as DCS reduction goes.

I have a Sol, and while I haven't got a clue what (if anything) the computer does with the heart-rate data, it's excellent for catching yourself before you become too stressed.

If you keep an eye on it, it's very easy to notice when you're getting anxious or working too hard, and relax before things get out of hand or your SAC goes up significantly.

Terry

 

[24940]

I have a Sol, and while I haven't got a clue what (if anything) the computer does with the heart-rate data, it's excellent for catching yourself before you become too stressed.

If you keep an eye on it, it's very easy to notice when you're getting anxious or working too hard, and relax before things get out of hand or your SAC goes up significantly.

Terry

Can't you just monitor your breathing rate to determine the same thing? Is the rate recorded and downloadable?

I agree, the heart rate monitor is a gimmick. If my rate of breathing increases, my heart rate will also increase and I don't need a computer to tell me I'm breathing hard.

 

[Web Monkey]

Can't you just monitor your breathing rate to determine the same thing? Is the rate recorded and downloadable?

I agree, the heart rate monitor is a gimmick. If my rate of breathing increases, my heart rate will also increase and I don't need a computer to tell me I'm breathing hard.

Sure, but this seems to be more sensitive.

My HR hangs right around 60 when I'm relaxed underwater. It has to go up quite a bit before I start breathing hard enough to notice anything.

I'm not sure I'd buy a computer just because it had a HR monitor, however it's been great for keeping an eye on my stress level.

Since the data is recorded and shows up in the dive log, it's really easy to monitor workload and stress.

Terry

 

[Blackwood]

Yes but there is absolutely no evidence to suggest that using nitrox on air tables affects that risk in any way what so ever

Is there evidence to suggest that diving well within table limits affects risk as compared to diving to or past the edge?



If one believes:
In time limits, and
That decreasing nitrogen content in a breathing gas increases said time limits, and
That risk of DCS decreases with an increase in margin to said time limit,
Then breathing FN₂<.79 while diving an Air table yields a decreased risk of DCS as compared to the same dive on Air.

That there isn't evidence proving this relationship doesn't make it false. I suspect that the models most people dive are so conservative that instances of DCS are sufficiently rare to mask the relationship.

 

[seaducer]

Sure, but this seems to be more sensitive.

My HR hangs right around 60 when I'm relaxed underwater. It has to go up quite a bit before I start breathing hard enough to notice anything....Terry

Also what many people are not aware of is that something like fatigue is revealed with a lower than average heart rate. If say at the end of a week of hard diving your resting HR in the morning is 5 to 10 beats below your normal resting HR, it means your body has not been able to recover from the level of exercise you have endured throughout the week. Perhaps a day off or a few really shallow and physically easy dives are in order to reduce your DCI risk.