I have been reading through all this and I do agree that hand calculating dive plans using navy tables, that no one should ever be diving in a recreational environment anyway is a waste of time. Or is it?
When I lay out a dive planner and teach my students how to use it, and to follow the rules of the tables I am not endorsing an obsolete dive profile.
I am demonstrating the important relationship between depth, time, tissue saturation and gas consumption and although all those numbers are available from a few mouse clicks on a computer, hand derived calculations involve the student in the process in such a way to give them an understanding of how desktop software derives those numbers.
To me it is an important lesson.
When I lay out a dive planner and teach my students how to use it, and to follow the rules of the tables I am not endorsing an obsolete dive profile.
I am demonstrating the important relationship between depth, time, tissue saturation and gas consumption and although all those numbers are available from a few mouse clicks on a computer, hand derived calculations involve the student in the process in such a way to give them an understanding of how desktop software derives those numbers.
To me it is an important lesson.