thanks for all the great info everyone. I definitely want to get a computer in the future for sure. It is a great point to use both just to make sure that your computer has not gone hay-wire on you. Technology is great, but it can fail and you should also be smarter than the tool you are using! Thanks again for shedding some light on the situation for me.
Does anyone dive with tables anymore?
- Thread starter 1barzx3
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w ripley
Contributor
You know I have two very good Hammerhead dive computers, one on each arm. They allow you do use any kind of gas, go from being on a rebreather to open circuit...well they do just about everything you could ask for. Still, I always run tables from my desktop/laptop specific for my dive and tape them onto a slate that I also have a depth gauge/timer mounted on, and that sits in my drysuit pocket. This is my life I'm talking about, and I think having backup tables is worth the effort. Of course, you have to plan your dive and dive your plan to make my setup work. But, that's what divers are trained to do anyway.
My buddy dives my same dives and carries navy tables instead of the ones cut from a computer.
My buddy dives my same dives and carries navy tables instead of the ones cut from a computer.
Dive tables vs. dive computer ...
a) typical Saturday morning beach dive here in SoCal: time the waves, swim out 20 minutes, drop down on Deadman Reef, check out the reef to a max depth of 60ft (if you are deeper you missed the reef
), check the moray eels, ... first diver that hits 1500 PSI calls the dive, turn-around and return to shore underwater, ascend when you get into 5ft (but first play for few minutes the "who is better at hovering 10 inches from the bottom" game). No need for a dive computer (but I have one ... and some time more), no need for dive tables (I have them in the car) ... don't even need a compass (I have a 3D map of the area ) - but I bring one anyway.
b) dive trip to Cozumel; multiple dives per day over a week period ... difficult to use the tables because you don't always know in advance what the dive profile will be (and if you know it the DM might change it on the fly), and, if you use them you might end up having to skip a dive here and there because your tables might give you a ridiculously small bottom time :depressed:
BTW, it is not a bad idea to skip a dive here and there ... just grab a scooter and tour the island with your wife
Alberto (aka eDiver)
a) typical Saturday morning beach dive here in SoCal: time the waves, swim out 20 minutes, drop down on Deadman Reef, check out the reef to a max depth of 60ft (if you are deeper you missed the reef
), check the moray eels, ... first diver that hits 1500 PSI calls the dive, turn-around and return to shore underwater, ascend when you get into 5ft (but first play for few minutes the "who is better at hovering 10 inches from the bottom" game). No need for a dive computer (but I have one ... and some time more), no need for dive tables (I have them in the car) ... don't even need a compass (I have a 3D map of the area ) - but I bring one anyway.b) dive trip to Cozumel; multiple dives per day over a week period ... difficult to use the tables because you don't always know in advance what the dive profile will be (and if you know it the DM might change it on the fly), and, if you use them you might end up having to skip a dive here and there because your tables might give you a ridiculously small bottom time :depressed:
BTW, it is not a bad idea to skip a dive here and there ... just grab a scooter and tour the island with your wife
Alberto (aka eDiver)
I haven't used a computer in 5+ years. Call me retro, I multilevel (including deco dives) without one.
EastTNDiver
Contributor
Whether you are using tables or a computer to plan a dive they keyword is plan.
I see a lot of recreational folks flying a computer without having a plan. This is the biggest concern I see. While it appears we are making diving "easier" what we seem to really be accomplishing is complacency.
Everything I do beyond NDL's is planned using some flavor of software and written up on two slates that include depth, time, and psi with alternate plans on the flip side. This is all backed up by a computer that closely approximates my written schedule.
For everything else I use a computer and a watch with a bezel for planning and execution and scratch it out on a slate.
They're both comparable tools for getting the job done if used as intended.
I see a lot of recreational folks flying a computer without having a plan. This is the biggest concern I see. While it appears we are making diving "easier" what we seem to really be accomplishing is complacency.
Everything I do beyond NDL's is planned using some flavor of software and written up on two slates that include depth, time, and psi with alternate plans on the flip side. This is all backed up by a computer that closely approximates my written schedule.
For everything else I use a computer and a watch with a bezel for planning and execution and scratch it out on a slate.
They're both comparable tools for getting the job done if used as intended.
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1barzx3,
I strongly endorse having a new diver begin with something that monitors your ascent rate. Computers are great for this, tables suck.
I strongly endorse having a new diver begin with something that forces you to plan your dive. Tables are great for this, computers suck.
-not mentioned yet in this thread:
Computers also log and graphically display your dive profile and that can help a lot with post-dive analysis.
Plan your dives with tables, execute them with computers. You will understand what is going on fairly quickly, and then you can make an informed choice as to what works best for you.
Stay safe,
lowiz
I strongly endorse having a new diver begin with something that monitors your ascent rate. Computers are great for this, tables suck.
I strongly endorse having a new diver begin with something that forces you to plan your dive. Tables are great for this, computers suck.
-not mentioned yet in this thread:
Computers also log and graphically display your dive profile and that can help a lot with post-dive analysis.
Plan your dives with tables, execute them with computers. You will understand what is going on fairly quickly, and then you can make an informed choice as to what works best for you.
Stay safe,
lowiz
Good points, but.....
Well, I'll bring another twist back up here. Back 20+ years ago, my instruction taught us the "no faster than your smallest bubbles". Did that for about 15 years in conjunction with my watch & depth gauge. Decided I wanted a computer. Used it mostly for the benefit of stepped profiles, and the additional bottom time, not really focusing on the ascent monitor. When I dumped my data, one of the summaries is ascent rate.... so, what do you think it displayed? Average: 34 fpm! That was half of what we were taught, and in fact almost on make for the current teachings of 30 in 0-30.... all that by those little bubbles....
see, it works!
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vinegarbiscuit
Contributor
It's not a silly question at all, so don't worry on that quarter.
Previous posters have already done a great job of explaining the differences in dive plans that are generated by computers and tables, so I won't natter on about that. There have indeed been times I've turned to tables to 'save' my dives...there have been memorable occasions when my dive computer died, so I turned to tables instead, making sure to follow a more conservative profile to take into account previous nitrogen loading and so on. That way, I could still enjoy some bottom time. Now, some dive organizations are trending more and more towards teaching everything from computers right off the bat, but - and this is only my opinion, so take it for what it's worth - I believe it's still good to have a knowledge of tables and how they work...that way, you can better appreciate what the computer is telling you, and why. It will also enable you to recognize if/when your computer is misbehaving. There's a great deal of debate about the pros and cons of learning tables vs learning using a computer.
If you continue your diving education, you may find yourself encountering tables further down the track, too. I'm currently taking decompression training, and our syllabus demands that we plan dives using tables and execute them with a depth gauge/bottom timer or a dive computer set in 'gauge' mode. It's actually kind of fun to do that, but it might have been less fun if I wasn't already very comfortable with using tables.
Previous posters have already done a great job of explaining the differences in dive plans that are generated by computers and tables, so I won't natter on about that. There have indeed been times I've turned to tables to 'save' my dives...there have been memorable occasions when my dive computer died, so I turned to tables instead, making sure to follow a more conservative profile to take into account previous nitrogen loading and so on. That way, I could still enjoy some bottom time. Now, some dive organizations are trending more and more towards teaching everything from computers right off the bat, but - and this is only my opinion, so take it for what it's worth - I believe it's still good to have a knowledge of tables and how they work...that way, you can better appreciate what the computer is telling you, and why. It will also enable you to recognize if/when your computer is misbehaving. There's a great deal of debate about the pros and cons of learning tables vs learning using a computer.
If you continue your diving education, you may find yourself encountering tables further down the track, too. I'm currently taking decompression training, and our syllabus demands that we plan dives using tables and execute them with a depth gauge/bottom timer or a dive computer set in 'gauge' mode. It's actually kind of fun to do that, but it might have been less fun if I wasn't already very comfortable with using tables.
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