Are dive computers making bad divers?

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

It is becoming more and more frequent that I find myself with divers who are extremely computer dependent. Since computers are becoming a dime a dozen, I am not sure if this is a bad thing. I asked one of the divers I was with if she was able to plan and conduct dives without a computer and she told me that she has over 200 dives but was never trained on tables.

How many of you guys do dives without computers? For those senior divers who have been diving since before the computer revolution, do you feel that the new generation has been idiotized by computers, or no.

 

[Subcooled]

Should you not be writing about tourism industry, raw material (tourists) processing, and maximizing profit?
Don't blame a machine for the failure of man.
You presented an interesting question, though.

 

[tomfcrist]

Do custom cut schedules Fromm my laptop count as tables?

 

[Superlyte27]

Hmmm...
Well lets start by saying I still teach tables when I teach basic programs. However, I'm not sure they are necessary anymore. There are computers, programs and software that work just as good or better. So when I'm teaching even rudimentary dive planning, we plan dives based on several tools available to us. In technical diving, most dives are planned either with a Shearwater computer or some software like ideco pro or vplanner. I think that using the shearwater in part to plan the dive for long, significant deco dives is hands down better than tables.

 

[hroark2112]

The real question is "Can you properly plan your dive with your computer?"

Tables are a valid tool, but not every dive is a square profile dive. For 99% of the divers out there, computers are exactly what they need. For the remaining 1%, we know what tools to use to plan our dives. Should every diver know how to use tables? Probably, but most forget quickly after certification because it's not something we use every day.

I don't think computers make bad divers. I think bad instructors make bad divers. I think divers who don't care make for bad divers. I think divers who don't understand what exactly their computer is telling them, how to properly use, set and follow their computers are bad divers. I'm not saying every diver has to understand deco theory, the science of off-gassing or how to plan deco stops. I am saying they need to understand the information on the screen, how to set the computer for air or nitrox, how to set the various alarms, and most importantly they understand that they need to check and follow their computer.

 

[cashew]

I did my OW training this past summer. I learned that if you take the PADI e-learning course, you will learn how to use dive tables and one of those funny eRDPML devices. But apparently, for the people in my class who did the book version, learning dive tables was not required as part of the curriculum. So at least under the PADI certification standard, you have many new divers coming up who have never learned or heard of tables and will not know how to use them.

Having said that, I did dive with someone a few weeks ago where his computer died in the middle of the dive. So for the rest of the dives that day, my buddy relied on me to tell him how long our surface intervals had been and he did pull out a dive table for consultation at one point.

 

[decompression]

I think the most important aspect of dive planning, be it computer, tables, min deco or cut profiles is that the diver has a true grasp of what is happening. Once you understand that you should have the confidence and ability to safely dive with any of the planing tools.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[archer1960]

I think there are a lot more things that make a "bad" divers than their (non-) ability to plan a dive with tables. For the vast majority of recreational divers, riding the computer on a dive is perfectly reasonable, and is safe enough as long as they are willing to thumb the dive if the computer conks out.

 

[wedivebc]

Give someone a simple arithmetic calculation these days. When my trimix sudents pull out their calculatior to work out daltons equations on a 300ft dive we have a "talk". Dive computers are taking us the same direction but if you dive with a backup table, plan alongside your computer does it matter?

 

[rhwestfall]

The real question is "Can you properly plan your dive with your computer?"

^ This!!!!! Computers are only a tool to be implemented.

or, better yet, "Can you properly plan your dive?"

The skill of properly using one is the foundation to be discussed.