How you write deco plan on your slate?

[ofg-1]

Well, I have a 64 color box of crayola's. I use the green or sea green to write the NDL numbers, Yellow or orange for close to ndl, and red for deco stop depths and times. Then, I throw my slate away and look at my Shearwater.

 

[Imla]

Use a normal pencil in wetnotes. In the wetnotes, I keep some of these and one Pilot Croquis Pen.

 

[Wibble]

For the very few times I used a slate post courses, I used:

• Wet notes and a pencil, tore the page off and put it into the transparent window of the wetnotes book, four columns for plan, plan+5mins, plan+3m/10ft, plan plus both
• A plastic wrist mounted curved slate, stuck white gaffa tape and wrote using a black marker pen, one page per plan (plan, +3m, +5min, +both)

Then gave up and followed the computer.

To this day I always plan using those principles (and gas volumes with higher SAC) even though I use the computerS to run the deco (two on open circuit and three of them on the CCR).

 

[b1gcountry]

Thanks. When you write it on white duck tape with sharpie, do you put additional transparent tapes on it to prevent ink wash?

No. It has never been a problem. The ink dries pretty fast, and it has never bled or run.

 

[lukeb]

No. It has never been a problem. The ink dries pretty fast, and it has never bled or run.

Same here. I have used the same slate over multiple dives with a different plan on each side and the ink has not run or faded. Duct tape and sharpie was a game changer for me. I used to use a pencil and then try to erase it every time which took forever and made a big mess. Now I can just peel it off and replace it.

 

[b1gcountry]

One more point is the tape never really left residue when I actually dove because I rotated it out so much. The good/new duck/duct tape doesnt leave much residue unless you leave it on for weeks or leave it baking in the sun...

 

[OTF]

I write backup tables on pages in my wet notes in pencil, notebook stored in right pocket. I label each with a date and location and usually wrap the pencil's lanyard around the most recent page so it's easy to flip to. But I don't see a need for it to be as quick-draw as a wrist mount since it's a backup.

On CCR I don't write down backup tables. My breather has two independent computers. In the borderline ridiculous scenario of a double computer failure I'm either following a nearby buddy's computer and staying at each stop a few extra minutes for buffer, or doing a very slow ascent with some extended stops at guistimate depths and then a REALLY long hang at 15 feet, as long as my bailout gas allows. Might even extend it by SCRing.

 

[Fires]

One more point is the tape never really left residue when I actually dove because I rotated it out so much. The good/new duck/duct tape doesnt leave much residue unless you leave it on for weeks or leave it baking in the sun...

Agree on the residue. One of my pet peeves! I also always ensure I find the 'good' duct tape that is not sticky. The bad ones can even leave residue after one day.

As others have said if I am using a slate, I will use duct tape and a fine permanent marker, usually on a 'multi-page' wrist slate.

Back up plans and main plan go in the wetnotes for long term keeping and extra backup.

 

[Nick_Radov]

Because stuff happens and sometimes you need a reminder.

It's not hard to remember. All you really need to know is the relationship between bottom time and depth versus total deco time. If you know total deco time then it's trivial to figure out the lengths of individual stops according to whatever standard pattern you follow.

If you need reminders on this stuff then honestly I don't think it's a good idea to be doing this type of diving in the first place.

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

I don't do it anymore - I use 2 Shearwater computers.
Years ago, before good computers we used white duct tape and a black permanent marker on a slate.