Deco without deco training

[Kingpatzer]

I agree with DCBC on this one, the key is training, or mentoring, or whatever you want to call the act of acquiring knowledge and guidance from those who know how to do this stuff safely. I've just gotten my first cert on the path to the world of deco diving; yet, I have already learned more in a couple of dives with highly experienced divers than I did in the process of getting certified.

One thought though, is that at least around here charters are starting to require a card of some sort to go out on a deco dive. I know it used to be all about personal relationships and recommendations from respected divers in the community. And I understand that in some areas that is still the case. But that seems to be changing around here anyway.

 

[LiteHedded]

as some others have pointed out, the most important bit is the gas planning and contingency planning.
if you know how to plan a decompression dive safely it doesn't really matter to me if you have a card or not. *shrugs*

I know i've done dives plenty of times I don't have a card in my wallet for...

 

[Mark Michaud SELAUSAR]

Stage cert........No
Scooter Cert.....No
Drysuit Cert......No
Deco Cert.........No
Solo Cert..........No
Sidemount Cert..No

Damn......I'M GONNA DIE!!!!!!

Really though, it isn't rocket science. Deco is based on nothing more than mathmatical theories that probably will, but may not, work. We are taught that about tables from intitial certification. Though I believe we all should have knowledge of how gas and pressure affects our body, and how stops and gasses work to remove the nitrogen from our body, most deco computers work great these days. I always have at least two and have never been completely let down by a failure. Even with the best tables, or computers, I can still take a hit. Reading and good mentoring is as safe as a cert class. If a class is available, by all means take one. Formal education can't hurt, but this ain't rocket science.

 

[ianr33]

Are you planning these dives to allow for one diver to have a total gas failure, just before starting ascent,and to still have enough gas for both divers to do the required deco? (Assuming you are not solo)

If not,then IMHO. you are pushing your luck and sooner or later Murphy/Darwin will catch up with you.

 

[Blackwood]

edit: never mind, people may take that the wrong way.

 

[Kingpatzer]

If not,then IMHO. you are pushing your luck and sooner or later Murphy/Darwin will catch up with you.

One of my favorite dive buddies comments that it's not "if," it's "when." Most folks just aren't lucky enough to be able to dive long enough.

 

[Doc Intrepid]

I'd subdivide it into 'planned decompression' and 'inadvertent decompression'.

I think you are asking about planned decompression (your reference to relying upon the computer). As Blackwood says, you really to learn about what you are getting into one way or another. Knowing how long to stop at 10' or 20' is a small part of planning decompression dives. Making sure you adequately plan your gas requirements and have appropriate equipment redundancy to account for the fact that going to the surface may not be an option is the bigger thing to get an adequate handle on.

I like the way Rhone Man divided the subject. There is a huge difference between responding to a recreational dive that inadvertently went over a time/depth limit calmly and competently, as Bob described, and planning a multi-gas decompression dive.

As the majority of you concluded, you may not need a formal certification card for the latter, but some sort of education and supervision should be sought before someone begins doing planned decompression dives.

"Are you planning these dives to allow for one diver to have a total gas failure, just before starting ascent,and to still have enough gas for both divers to do the required deco? (Assuming you are not solo) If not,then IMHO. you are pushing your luck and sooner or later Murphy/Darwin will catch up with you."

+1

Decompression diving may not be 'rocket science', but it involves complex physiological phenomenon that are only loosely understood. I've buried a diving buddy who died during a decompression dive, and medical science still does not understand precisely why he died. Planned multi-gas decompression diving is intolerant of error, oversight, or neglect. It ought not to be pursued by divers who have only a casual understanding of it's requirements.

IMHO, of course. YMMV.

 

[HowardE]

Doing decompression dives without training is easy. Just do the stops. It's what to do in the case of dealing with crap when it hits the fan, that training really comes into play.

A well trained diver knows how to handle contingencies and failures in the plan. Someone just doing a deco dive planned on software, by following a dive computer might end up dead in case of a failure of some sort.

 

[Amphiprion]

I would really suggest an understanding of gas planning before you make an intentional deco dive. Downloading v-planner for 50 bucks and planning your dive beforehand will be a lot cheaper and a lot less time consuming than a chamber ride.

 

[Akimbo]

I have not paid much attention to sport diver training since the 1960s. Are you people saying that the basic Scuba training class does not teach people how to read decompression and repetitive tables? I can understand saving treatment tables for later but basic decom?