Going into Deco as Rec Diver

[Blackcrusader]

On a previous day of diving the guide took us thru a deep swim thru of 43.3 meters / 142 feet. The second dive was deepish as well in the mid 20s and I showed the DM by no deco time which was around 4miutes and motioned that I was going to ascend a bit. He then tried to get the other divers to do the same but they didn’t seem to listen. Granted that I had set my profile one step more conservative than the default.

As I diver I never let a guide be the determiner of me deciding to ascend if low on NDL. In the Maldives the guides were often leading divers with no Deco training into deco. I use a Shearwater Perdix using GF 45/95 setting for NDL. I hear other divers DC's beeping away.

I simply had already ascended to avoid deco even though I am deco trained with BSAC. I am often much better on air than most other vacation divers. I did a deep 45m dive without exceeding NDL to pick up a dropped camera rig a lass dropped on a previous dive.
My buddy was a PADI instructor who stopped at 40m. By the time I got the camera righ I still had 180 bar and still OK 3 mins for NDL.

Even though I am BSAC deco trained I do not consider myself a technical diver. Also I did those courses in the 1980's. All on air. No nitrox back then, dive computers were a new thing... we used tables, no SPG's and a dive watch.

The issue is never your DC. It's you. Whenever I want to take a photo of something I always first check my depth NDL and air. You can get distracted by marine critters for sure. You are really always a solo diver. Pay attention to your own DC and dive within your NDL.

 

[Centrals]

LOL.
@Blackcrusader
Everyone knows getting into accidental deco is purely the diver fault for not paying attention to the computer. It has been mentioning many times already.
No need to BS about anything.

 

[Jafo19D]

Probably should just stay within NDL if home boy isn’t tech trained.

Was OP’s buddy in deco as well, or were you guys all running different algorithms/ GF

We were running in groups, mine consisted of a European couple and the DM and the DM had a habit of running off all of the sudden. The guy in my group was also wearing a Mares but I don’t know what profile he was running, I was using a more conservative one than the default. Anyhow he also ran into deco but if I understood correctly he didn’t do a deco stop.

Someone else mentioned the Deeo course. I did that course and although my computer suggested additional stop(s) they were not mandatory, these were in 40m dives.

I always play close attention to my computer, I think in this case I think it was a combinations of being narced and being distracted with the sharks.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

The number of divers relying on computers that they are clueless about is amazing to me. But I see it on almost every charter I am on in South Florida. If you are going to dive a computer, know how it works, what the settings mean, and follow it. Even if you don't want to learn the intricate details of the algorithm it uses, at least learn how to know what it is telling you, what the conservatism settings are and how to use them.

If it is a rental, ask questions! Have them show you how it works. Keep asking questions until you have a strong understanding of how it works! Better yet, own your own and learn it well.

Dive computers are tools to keep you safe and uninjured. Know how yours works and use it properly.

To the OPs question, 830ish dives and I've NEVER inadvertently gone into deco. When I have gone into deco, it was thoroughly planned. The concept of accidentally going into deco is entirely foreign to me. Plan your dive and then dive your plan. Maintaining situational awareness is a critical skill to safely dive for years to come.

 

[FF / EMT]

So how was the boat ride back after telli g everyone you went into deco?
Was the boat crew and captain showering you with praise and gifts?

 

[34109411]

I'm diving in Providencia, Colombia and today I went into Deco. Don't know how because I was watching my no deco time and it was fine then all of a sudden I saw that I was in Deco. I'm guessing that it was a mixture of all the sharks (there were 5-6 of them swimming all around us - spectacular) and maybe getting narced. Wondering how common is it to hit deco as a rec diver. I've come close within a few minutes but have always paid close attention, including the first day when we followed a 43.3m dive with another deep dive of about 25m.

The ggod news is that I now know what deco looks like on my Mares Nemo Wide.

well for a starter at 43, 3 you have 8 minutes before hitting the ndl and i am being generous. Plan your dive and dive your plan. You do need to pay attention to those details. Not the end of the world if you into deco but try to avoid it. I suggest two things first put a depth max alarm on your computer, do you really need to go pass let say 30 M ? Second monitor often your NDL.

Usually recreational diver don't go into deco so no it should not happen often.

Be safe

 

[Jafo19D]

So how was the boat ride back after telli g everyone you went into deco?
Was the boat crew and captain showering you with praise and gifts?

They didn’t care. I was worried about the other diver because as I mentioned I think he ignored the deco stop but they were saying that it wasn’t an issue because the next dive was going to be shallow.

And something funny that I did notice in the dive brief is that the DM said something like “we try to not go into deco”.

 

[Germie]

A lot of 'going into deco' depends on the computer. The old Suunto's got into deco under the shower if you dove more than 2 days in a row.

So if you computer shows you 'deco', it does mean that you are in deco as every dive is a decodive, but it does not mean it is directly dangerous or a problem.
Important is that you know your computer.

Remember that even the old divetables never showed the same. With CMAS you had DCIEM tables and the NDL for 30m on air was only 15 minutes. Other tables showed 17 minutes, and again other tables showed 20 minutes of NDL. So which table was right and which one was wrong?
The same with computers, they all have a sort of truth. And it is the truth of the programmer who wrote the algoritm. This said, there are 3 well known different algoritms (Buhlmann, VPM and RGBM). But within these 3 you have a lot of differences. You have 'Suunto RGBM', which is a sort of RGBM. You have VPM-b, VPM-c, etc. And the same with buhlmann, most times in computers the ZHL-16C is used. But I remember from the past that Scubapro used a ZHL-8 ADT. And then if you are using a ZHL-16C, this does not mean that every computer will calculate everything the same. Especially when you are doing dives with after a deep part where you build up deco you stay a long time at 10-12m. Some penalty you then, other computer will calculate down the deco. This is the difference of using the maths interpreted by the programmer. And no single computer is wrong, all computers show a truth.

On recreational dives, for me some minutes deco are normal. I don't mind about that. I am low in consumption, know what I am doing and don't mind if a guide with less experience thinks he has to tell me about staying in NDL. Probably he doesn't understand how it works.

I can make my Shearwater very agressive, so the computer does show 'deco' later than others. But I also can make my Shearwater very conservative. It is what I want. And even with very conservative, I will not be imune for DCS, this is still possible.

On the world championships underwaterphotography I followed the rules of 'decompression diving is forbidden'. You had to show after the dive your computer to make sure you stayed within the NDL and did not go over 30m depth. I used 2 computers (shearwater 100/100 and a newer Suunto) and the one that did not went into deco was the one I showed. So I followed the rules by knowing my computers.

 

[BabyLitigator]

On a long zoom so will share my one "into deco while not deco certified" story. It was my last pre-deco Tec40 training dive. So I had doubles and a stage, but was not certified to go into deco. Vis was crap and I was running the line (poorly - line work is currently my kryptonite). Everything took longer than expected so we came up on NDL even on a relatively shallow (max 62 ft) dive. Air, second dive of the day.

Heading back, NDL was quite low and I knew it would take a bit to get the reel off without having to cut. By the time I was done I had a 1 minute deco obligation (computer already in OC Tec mode), so I just followed the stop. At that point probably had enough gas for 1.5 hours of deco on my back and in the stage - did the math after. Told the instructor afterwards. Seems it was ok. Did a bunch of deco after that but had actual certification to do so.

 

[Scubagermany]

Why does it seem important to many people here to get or have a certification for a deco stop?

If you dive in a way that might lead to short deco stops you should be able to do them even without a cert.....