Do you use tables for every dive?

[Searcaigh]

1. Started with RDP.
2. Switched to The Wheel after AOW.
3. Finally computer.

Me too, started with US Navy tables, then BSAC followed by PADI.

The wheel was revolutionary, and used to have a regular profile on most dives like 20M for 20 minutes, 16M for 20 minutes and 10M and less for as long as I had air. If I was diving outside of that profile I had different times marked on a slate.

My first computer was a Suunto Companion, I still used to work out my profiles with the wheel for about a year before moving on to my next computer (Solution alpha, sold the Companion to a buddy)

I still plan Nitrox dives on tables as well as using V-Planner on my iPhone.

 

[Bob DBF]

Navy Dive tables '63 to '80
Old PADI dive tables '80 to '09
Computer '09 to present

I still use the tables to plan and make some dives, but I can't run them in my head like I used to. I usually check the planning function on my computer to give me information for planning my next dive.

It doesn't seem there is an answer on the poll for me.



Bob
--------------------------------------
I may be old, but I’m not dead yet.

 

[drbill]

After 50+ years I know my usual profiles, but I do wear two dive computers (one set more conservatively and that is the one I usually follow)

 

[chrpai]

I voted before I saw it was for non-computer users.

I fully understand tables but since pretty much all of my dives are multilevel, tables don't really serve any purpose for me.

 

[Steve_C]

Sometimes use tables to get an estimate of bottom time and to see if doing a set of dives makes sense in terms of enough bottom time. But I dive the computer. (2 actually) Many dives turn into multiple level dives and the levels are not always planned.

So I am examining a wreck and viz is great. I go up a mast and hang out there for a while watching the stuff swim by. Dive might be 20 or 30 ft shallower than planned.

Similarily I am coming up the anchor line and a big school of fish comes by and I have plenty of air. I hang out for a while taking pictures or just looking. How long? No clear idea on the spot. I might spend 10 or more minutes doing that.

Or Viz is unusually good and instead of hanging out on the deck I might drop 20 ft to the sand to look for teeth. Dive is now running deeper than planned. [I always have the right mix for the max depth I could see on a dive]

If I was in a situation where I was doing the same dives with the same profiles dozens of times a year, some things might be different.

On shallow reefs none of it mattes. The only thing that counts is BRT. (Boat return time). BRT is usually shorter than NDL air supply.

 

[Kharon]

Didn't vote because there was no category that fit. If I'm doing an exploratory dive I follow my computer and don't use the tables at all. For my trip to Bonaire I have my first 6 days worth of dives planned using tables. I will still follow my computer but I have the probable depth and time thought out for each dive so I can get the sequence right for the most bottom time with the least surface interval. Tables are useful for planning, for NDL not so much.

 

[rhwestfall]

Learned on Navy Tables, used a Wheel and a timer for the next 10-12 years or so exclusively. Computers weren't mainstream like now (this was 25 years ago). Computer after that, though I will still use the "tables" for a quick pre-dive plan for the slate, and check and/or attempt to correlate PDC to tables afterwards to plan if multiple dives in a day (not always successful).

I use the pre-dive planning function of the PDC when I first exit from a dive (and it goes into surface mode), creating a depth/time schedule on my slate (snapshot in time in case it craps out), and update it on the slate just before I splash again. I always have a watch for a second time device in conjunction with the PDC in case it decides to "wonk out" on me.

 

[tracydr]

Started with tables. Got a computer after about 3-4 years.

 

[nimoh]

I didn't vote since there wasn't an option that applied to me. I use a bottom timer and an spg (no computer) and most of my dives are non-professional dives.

I don't use tables when planning with deco planner software, or when doing shallow dives where I know I am well within limits without consulting the tables -- so option 1 doesn't apply.

I sometimes use tables on deeper recreational dives, especially when doing multiple dives in a day -- so options 2, 3 and 4 don't apply either

 

[Malpaso]

I voted "every single dive" but I need to qualify that. I use them for every repetitive dive over 30'. Many of my dives are as an instructor assistant so I don't use them for that. I have yet to buy a computer, but am actively researching which one to buy for my diving lifestyle.