Diving with a hookah. Decompression times

[123frankie]

I want to be able to dive safe with a hookah.Yet enjoy diving deep alsk i looked at the no decompression chart. My hookah runs 4 hours. Now thats a long time.I might want to dive again. Who knows. If i read the chart right i can dive 80ft for 40 mins. At the end of 40 mins can i just slowly go to shallower water and then stay around 30 feet for a couple of hours. I have a dive computer and spare air.I want to be able to get as much time as i can,but be safe. Any ideas on whats the best way to enjoy the hookah without getting myself into trouble. Being prepaired is one. I think my hookah runs for 4 hours. So im using that as my time underwater. Ill be swimming from shore until i can get a boat. I have over 2000 hours at 20-30 feet. Have done some deeper dives. I am a advanced diver with a few years out of diving. {10 years} Im comfordable at diving but want to be safe. Thanks Frank

 

[Doc Harry]

Greetings!

An "advanced diver" would already know the answers to your questions. Perhaps you should find a dive instructor and take a refresher course on deep diving. You're asking for trouble if you try to find the answers to such questions from the internet.

 

[Quero]

Your N2 loading won't be any different diving with a hookah or a regular cylinder. If you are doing no-decompression diving, you would plan your dives the same way you would if you were swapping out cylinders. So if you want to dive with part of your hookah supply, do a surface interval, and dive again, you simply calculate your new pressure group from your tables and go diving! If you want to do some of your offgassing at shallower depths, you need to plan multi-level dives. Essentially you would plan the length of your stay at your deepest depth and then plan the length of your stay at subsequently shallower depths.

I agree with Doc Harry that the best idea is to go work with an instructor to review dive planning, perhaps coming up with a few sample dive plans that you might be able to put into practice.

One final thought... are you planning on doing these dives all alone or will you have a dive buddy on the hookah with you? Solo diving is entirely another matter worthy of its own discussion.

 

[DocVikingo]

Greetings! An "advanced diver" would already know the answers to your questions. Perhaps you should find a dive instructor and take a refresher course on deep diving. You're asking for trouble if you try to find the answers to such questions from the internet.

Amen Brother Harry. This borders on the frightening.

Regards,

DocVikingo

 

[123frankie]

Thanks. Your right,I had better take a refresher course.Its beens years sence ive dove. So until i can take another class on decompression. Im staying under 30 and do my 3 min stop.Thanks for your time and advice.I was told to ask you,and they were right.I Wanted to get something to chew on and to check out.I dont know everything and ask people for their advice. I know you must get alot of stupid questions. Being a smarter person in this field than most,it must seem like theirs alot of stupid people out their.But just being here and helping others with good alturnitives,i bet you have saved at least one life.I try to be very safe in everything i do.But your right,and i should take a refresher course.I allways try to get ideas and other peoples thoughts on things. It never hurts.So as dun as my question might have seemed,i thank you for being their and helping others. Frankie Im waiting for all my gear to arrive and researching and getting familiar With everything while im waiting. Thanks again

 

[DevonDiver]

I'd concur with what the others said. Decompression diving is a serious undertaking, with serious risks. Mitigate those risks by getting yourself properly trained.

The internet is not the place to develop the knowledge and skills that will keep you from ending up in a wheelchair, or worse, should things go wrong on a deco dive.

 

[=C=]

A openwater class is only a matter of 4 weekends. If your ready certified a DM can teach a refresher at low cost. As for deco on a hooka, I would ask how you plan to meet a deco obligation if the hooka fails? It seems no matter what if you are looking for long dives you should have something more than a spare air with you in the water.

 

[boulderjohn]

From the threads and posts you have made in other forums, I got the impression that you have been out of diving for 15 years (I know you said 10 in this forum), and that you had very extensive experience (thousands of hours) before that in very shallow dives (20 foot range). If all that is true, then I suspect it has been very many years since you took your initial certification class and originally learned some of the theory that you are asking about now. In that time, a lot of research has been done, and thinking has changed in a number of ways.

Consequently, I strongly suggest that you do more than a simple refresher course. I think you should consider taking a full certification course over again--at least the academics. If you feel confident in your swimming skills, then you can sign up for the online academic classes from any of the several agencies that offer them and just do that work. You are under no obligation after taking those online classes to continue with the full class.

I have had a number of certified divers take full certification classes from me after a similar layoff, and I they generally have found it to be a worthwhile decision.

 

[Dr Deco]

Hello 123frankie:

Hookah Diving and Decompression

Diving with a surface supplied air source can definitely lead to a decompression obligation unless attention is paid to details of time and depth. With respect to SCUBA, you are dealing with a very different situation because of the limited air supply.

Professionals, military and technical divers always have contingency plans with regard to emergency decompression. [henceforth I will use “professionals” for these three groups of compressed air workers.]

Professionals always have some type of backup air supply.

Professionals always have sufficient personal around to handle problems should they arise.

Professionals always have telephone, satellite phone or radio access to medical advice should such be necessary. Divers must be cognizant of the fact that cell phones do not function at sea; the cell phone towers are not in the vicinity. [You would be surprised at the percentage of people who do not recognize this problem.]

Professionals always have a recompression chamber nearby and personal knowledgeable in its operation. OSHA regulations require a chamber for any compressed air work; depth is not a question since a lung barotrauma incident can happen with a small pressure increase.

Professionals know weather conditions and can plan appropriately at sea.

So, there you are.

Dr Deco :doctor:

 

[DevonDiver]

A openwater class is only a matter of 4 weekends. If your ready certified a DM can teach a refresher at low cost. As for deco on a hooka, I would ask how you plan to meet a deco obligation if the hooka fails? It seems no matter what if you are looking for long dives you should have something more than a spare air with you in the water.

Just to point out to Frankie, that an Open Water class will only certify and educate the diver to conduct no-decompression diving, to a recommended maximum depth of 18m.

To be fully qualified and educated to conduct decompression diving, the following courses are needed (they are all needed, as the earlier courses form training pre-requisites for the later courses)

1) Open Water (or equivalent, depending on agency)
2) Advanced Open Water (or equivalent, depending on agency)
3) Nitrox Diver (or equivalent, depending on agency)
4) Rescue Diver (or equivalent, depending on agency)
5) Advanced Nitrox (or equivalent, depending on agency)
6) Decompression Procedures (or equivalent, depending on agency)
7) Extended Range (or equivalent, depending on agency)

At Extended Range level, you are qualified to conduct decompression dives using multiple gas mixes (>100% O2) to a depth of 50m.

You will be educated to plan and conduct those dives using the appropriate dive planning software on your PC.

You will be educated to select and use the equipment necessary to provide an appropriate level of personal safety.

You will be skilled in monitoring your depth, time and gas to ensure that the planned dive is carried out accurately and safely.

You will be skilled in the emergency procedures necessary to deal with potentially life-threatening problems, including equipment failures, when emergency ascent to the surface is not an option due to deco obligation.

You will be skilled to use elevated O2 gas mixes to accelerate your deco obligation, and how to safely change between those deco mixes whilst minimising the potentially lethal risk of oxygen toxicity.

You will be educated to calculate and understand your gas requirements, including bail-out/redundant gas supplies for emergency use.

A skills or knowledge gap in any of those areas could lead you into potentially dangerous scenarios, with high risk of decompression sickness. Decompression sickness is potentially lethal or permanently disabling.