Gekko/Vyper/Aladdin Pro/Prime - how conservative?

[Rhone Man]

My understanding is that:

(a) Suunto alogrithms have gotten progressively more conservative with age (more modern computers being more conservative than older Stingers and Mosquitos), but

(b) they have been reasonably static for the last few years: the D6, D9, Vyper and HelO2 all use the same base algorithm.

Happy to be corrected if I am wrong.

IMHO they are just too conservative. I like my computer to keep me safe, but not by cutting away absurdly large chunks of my bottom time.

 

[Rhone Man]

Additional: this concept of a "floor" must be in an old algorithm. My Suunto D9 doesn't show a floor, except in deco mode (the floor being the level below which the deco penalty increases).

 

[altaskier]

I did my first liveaboard trip when I had only 25 dives in the log and had just purchased my first computer (Suunto Vyper). Doing 5x dives a day, I didn't get called on by the computer for any extra stops compared to others on the boat.

I'll be doing a liveaboard in a week with my Suunto Cobra 3. It has the 50% (less conservative) setting as an option, though since I'm 48 geezer years old I think I'll not turn on that feature. If it asks me to spend 10 minutes on the safety stop now and then, I won't mind.

 

[Riger]

I am a little confused by the concept being discussed here.

I understand about computers being more or less restrictive based on the algorithms being used, but surely the restriction is applied on the No Deco Limits and not the length of time at a Safety Stop.

So if I am correct, then we are talking about recreational diving (no deco obligations) and the difference between computers that are more or less restrictive is limited to the proposed NDL being presented to the diver at any given time. Thus when a restrictive computer gives 2 minutes NDL for a given profile, then a less restrictive computer would give something like 10 minutes NDL at the same point on a similar profile, given that all the influencing conditions were the same of course.

Is my understanding correct and if not, please explain.

Thanks in advance

Best Regards
Richard

 

[altaskier]

If you violate the no-deco limits but only by a little, you can make up for it by making a longer safety stop. That's why the computer might have you spend extra time at the end.

 

[The Great Kazoo]

I have the Galileo Sol and it is not nearly as conservative as the Suunto line (but not many are). It does show bottom. Deco....

 

[Rhone Man]

If you violate the no-deco limits but only by a little, you can make up for it by making a longer safety stop. That's why the computer might have you spend extra time at the end.

I don't know about going over NDLs (when all computers require you to make a deco stop), but different models of dive computers treat "high nitrogen loading" short of decompression requirements differently.

Dive computers which use the RGBM alogrithm (like Suuntos) would rather you off-gassed with a longer safety stop (the theory being that staying at depth reduces bubble formation, which is the main evil), and you are effectively penalised for going to the surface at an earlier stage.

Dive computers which use the traditional Haldanean model (like Sherwoods) will regard you as offgassing faster on the surface than at a safety stop, so you get more credit for actually being above water.

I carry one of each, and it's like the old motto: a man with one watch knows what the time is, but a man with two is never sure.

 

[Riger]

I have the Galileo Sol and it is not nearly as conservative as the Suunto line (but not many are). It does show bottom. Deco....

Hi there,

I also have the SOL, have you installed (and used) the PDIS function?

Best Regards

Richard