Decompression stop for shallow dives?

[Dan Gibson]

Gotta love those inflators. It sure beats swimming up vertically in a silty cave. At least for the second buddy

I can't count the number of times I have watched a new diver pound the crap out of the reef or silt out the dive site with their fins because some instructor told them never to inflate.

 

[Web Monkey]

Went diving yesterday, visibility was horrible. Was diving in a rock quarry a few hours after a heavy rain. Couldn't even see your own legs in the water. My dive partner and I would go down to about 20 or 30 feet, lose sight of each other, and then surface to find one another. Well this makes my dive computer go crazy. Keeps wanting me to stop at 15 feet for 3 minutes. This happened 7 or 8 times. Our deepest dive was to 42 feet for about 45 seconds.

Even if (especially if) you can't see anything , you need to watch your depth gauge or computer to make sure your ascent rate isn't too fast.

Also, if your computer tells you that you need a x minute stop at y feet, and you don't know for certain otherwise (based on actual data and standard procedures), you should do the stop.

Allthough your computer can't ensure "good diving", you can be pretty sure that if it's beeping, and it's not just telling you that you reached your preset tank-pressure, that you're doing something wrong.

3 minutes at 15 feet is pretty much standard on all dives deeper than 15 feet.

Terry

 

[Potapko]

The Suunto vyper suggests a safety stop with every ascent. After diving with my buddy in a quarry at 7 meters. (He is new also) he is signalling me for a safety stop at 3 meters. I was going to buy one of those, but now I am not sure.

Jeff

I was wondering what kind it is...?

And I wonder if all the repeated, frequent ascents & descents ticked it off...?

 

[teknitroxdiver]

I advise against holding the hose high above your head and mashing the deflate button all the way to the surface. Not only does this prevent you from looking at your computer (because your other hand is guarding against invisible boats as you surface, right?), it floods your wing with water during the times that bubbles aren't coming out.

What I do is get perfectly neutral and stay that way through the dive, when I want to go up, I take deeper breaths, and release a few bubbles from the shoulder dump if I need to. Works much better, and when relatively new divers are able to keep their hands across their chest instead of over their heads, they're less likely to want to dog-paddle during the dive.

 

[nemisis77]

Went diving yesterday, visibility was horrible. Was diving in a rock quarry a few hours after a heavy rain. Couldn't even see your own legs in the water. My dive partner and I would go down to about 20 or 30 feet, lose sight of each other, and then surface to find one another. Well this makes my dive computer go crazy. Keeps wanting me to stop at 15 feet for 3 minutes. This happened 7 or 8 times. Our deepest dive was to 42 feet for about 45 seconds.

So were we endangering ourselves by avoiding the decompression stop? I felt it was more dangerous to lose sight of my buddy. On one occasion my buddies Air 2 came lose and wrapped around his tank (so he had to do a swimming ascent). Our average depth for the dive was probably 20-30 feet.

I am new to diving and even i know that what you did was reckless..

 

[String]

Firstly provided the ascent rate wasnt violated the computer should NOT demand a mandatory 3 minute stop so can be ignored.

As for the comment about rapid multiple ascents being a recipe for DCS, some research is hinting otherwise, research linked off Divernet website last month showed a lower incidence of bends on short multiple descent/ascent dives than there were on dives where people were skimming the NDLs on a computer and doing a safety stop.

 

[String]

The Suunto vyper suggests a safety stop with every ascent. After diving with my buddy in a quarry at 7 meters. (He is new also) he is signalling me for a safety stop at 3 meters. I was going to buy one of those, but now I am not sure.

Jeff

Its just that, *suggested*. Provided the ascent rates arent violated as the manual says, its optional and will not penalise you at all if the stop is skipped.

 

[Wijbrandus]

I advise against holding the hose high above your head and mashing the deflate button all the way to the surface. Not only does this prevent you from looking at your computer (because your other hand is guarding against invisible boats as you surface, right?), it floods your wing with water during the times that bubbles aren't coming out.

TND, I'm not sure I understand. Why is water inside the wing a problem? I always seem to surface with a few pints or more in my wing from ascending in exactly the way you advise against, but it drains out very easily, and hasn't harmed anything as yet. Are you saying I'm risking my equipment's usable life by doing this? Or is there another reason I shouldn't?

I can see your point on the breathe control ascent. I just don't understand the concern of water in the wing.

 

[teknitroxdiver]

It's not a problem, just an annoyance. I've seen some people have a few quarts of water in their wing/BC after one or two dives.This is extra weight you have to carry to the back of the boat and it adds drag because it makes the deflated size of your wing larger. I guess if it doesn't bother you, don't worry about it.

 

[eponym]

Seriously, Dr.K, a few quarts?

No, seriously, I'm interested to know. If I'm staying on top of things (hmm . . . pun intended) and I inflate or dump in small increments, I should get the sound or sight of bubbles. If I don't, I change my posture and try a short press again.

I suppose fighting heavy surge or dodging rush hour traffic in the East Australian Current could make one that soggy . . .

Bryan