Deco Planning Software/App

[NothingClever]

TDI's course materials are outdated.

When I took AN/DP, I found TDI’s more austere, clinical approach a refreshing contrast to the drippy marketing materials of a big-brand certifying organization.

 

[ToneNQ]

I use the Shearwater computer feature, but I would like something that had a better UI for scenario planning and I'll try some of these apps suggested. The last trip I did was remote and we had to order gases in advance. That meant a night sitting with my Perdix doing dive plans to try different bailout scenarios, which then got fed into a spreadsheet to factor in the cost, based on volume and hire costs. Deco time vs blend cost vs gas volume vs bottle size and quantity.

It's good to know how to plan using the computer incase after dive 1, you want to run a new profile for dive 2.

Ross was notorious for frothing in support of VPM. He's banned from a lot of forums for the flame wars he's been in, including this one, but that was all a long time ago. The VPM theory is compelling, but its use is a mathematical formula of a theory which empirical research has proven to be incorrect. RGBM is another formula whose details are proprietary, but seems safe given how broadly it is used by computers, which most are primarily for NDL diving. Ratio Deco and VPM have proven that individual susceptibility to DCS is highly variable, some will argue that makes them sound practice. The joy of Buhlman ZH-L 16 is you need to take nothing on faith, there is a lot of evidence to support it that goes all the way back to Haldane.

 

[Blackcrusader]

I use the Shearwater computer feature, but I would like something that had a better UI for scenario planning and I'll try some of these apps suggested.

I must admit that I do sit in my office ding deco dive plans on my Perdox just for the sake of it with different SAC rates and different size tanks. I have not use any web based app yet. I'm not doing CCR and nothing more than nitrox / air planning.

Gradient factors and surf GF I have learned about from this forum and reading my Shearwater manuals. Might be doing some deco dives in Maldives next month.

 

[Wibble]

I was TDI trained on the older course materials, which were pretty feeble, to be honest. Then I became a TDI instructor. Mark Powell wrote Deco for Divers, which was a big hit. Then TDI came out with its new courses, and much of it came directly out of Deco for Divers.

Mark is very much in the TDI hierarchy. He was also very much sold on V-Planner and VPM. It was only a few years ago that he came out and said that the deep stop philosophy had people stopping too deep.

Mark Powell wrote at least one of the TDI courses (Normoxic / Extended Range) and he's bound to have influenced or written others. Hence his diagrams would have turned up in the newer material.

 

[Wibble]

Just to save people some googling and looking at the websites...

MultiDeco: has both Buhlmann (used by most divers) and VPM (out of favour these days)

MultiDeco is a decompression program that uses the Varying Permeability Model (VPM-B) and the Bühlmann (ZHL-16) for decompression profiles.

V-Planner: has only the OLD VPM algorithm which is no longer used by most divers

V-Planner is a decompression program that uses the Varying Permeability Model (VPM-B) for decompression profiles

TL;DR
Use MultiDeco not V-Planner.

 

[NothingClever]

I vote for requesting a mod carve out your content and posts associated with your content to create a separate thread.

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

A new thread has been created here:

Abysner: NEW Deco Planning Software/App

This thread is a carve out from So I was not ready yet to share this with everyone on ScubaBoard yet, mostly because well the European mind cannot comprehend "Freedom Units" :wink:, anyhow... I just released a completely new decompression planner for both Android & iOS named: Abysner. I was...

scubaboard.com

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[CptMat]

I'm currently going through ANDP and it's a LOT of good information. I recently completed the section about planning software. The recommendation is V Planner but I've also heard about IDeco Pro and of course the Shearwater computers have planners built in. I just wanted to get recommendations based on your real life experiences. I do not have Apple, not a knock just wanted to save time. Many thanks.

There is also very nice application with modern UI called Deep Tools. I use it frequently. I checked it against MultiDeco and it produces same results. It has some flaws but generally I think it’s pretty awesome. It supports CCR.