i tried to fly out today and i ended up being bent

[GrumpyOldGuy]

This was a group dive lead by a DM, so pinning it on the OP's liberal computer is a tough sell unless he was diving deeper than everyone else.

It is much easier to explain logically that Kell490 has some predisposition to the hit. There are plenty of risk factors mentioned already.

 

[ianr33]

Not trying to pin it on his computer,just pointing out that by surfacing in the caution zone (if indeed he did) he was increasing the odds a little.If he was dehydrated and short on sleep then it would have been a good idea to extend safety stops rather than pushing the computer.
I had a PM conversation years ago with a Scubaboard member who had gotten bent after doing a 2 tank dive and surfacing in the yellow on both dives.He was surprised he could be bent even though the computer was only in the "caution" zone.
Surfacing in the green just seems like a sensible precaution. IMHO

 

[Blastman4444]

I was only in the caution on the 2nd dive the first dive I was about 3/4 the way in the green the 2nd dive should have been shorter. I'm sure the reason is the first dive we went though the front of the ship the 2nd dive we went though the back which is usually lower where the bridge and stuff is higher up the 2nd dive was deeper. I'm looking at the log so I'm assuming if it shows in the log that it was in the yellow then it was like that when I surfaced. I stuck very close to the DM about ran into him a few times so I'm assuming he is used to pushing his computer to the limit as well. The big issue I will point out I had was most of the time I just looked at my depth and air figuring nitrogen loading wasn't something to worry about since the DM had already planned it out. A big mistake I won't make again I plan on getting advanced and nitrox certified. I'm going to get a new computer with a bigger screen as well.

 

[Surface Interval]

Kell, thank you for posting this story. I really hope it can help remind people that even if you do take the "recommended time" for an SI, you should listen to your body and not take chances. I'm glad that you had insurance (ANY kind of insurance) to help you with the cost of recovery.

 

[Bombay High]

There is nothing exact about decompression and the risk of bends. They are models . Each human will react differently . You need to build up a body of knowledge based on study and observing how your body reacts to dives before carrying on with very aggressive dive profiles. None of this will happen on the internet or with a book unless you constructively build your dive experience.
A computer may tell you you will not get bent, but it is not an oracle. It is making mathematical calculations based on an algorithm. You need to apply common sense to how you interpret that.
If you keep pushing NDL's (that to on a second dive) you should not be surprised at the outcome.
The option is to do it in a way that makes it safe.
That will require training and experience.

Stay un-bent .. its more fun that way.

I was only in the caution on the 2nd dive the first dive I was about 3/4 the way in the green the 2nd dive should have been shorter. I'm sure the reason is the first dive we went though the front of the ship the 2nd dive we went though the back which is usually lower where the bridge and stuff is higher up the 2nd dive was deeper. I'm looking at the log so I'm assuming if it shows in the log that it was in the yellow then it was like that when I surfaced. I stuck very close to the DM about ran into him a few times so I'm assuming he is used to pushing his computer to the limit as well. The big issue I will point out I had was most of the time I just looked at my depth and air figuring nitrogen loading wasn't something to worry about since the DM had already planned it out. A big mistake I won't make again I plan on getting advanced and nitrox certified. I'm going to get a new computer with a bigger screen as well.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Not trying to pin it on his computer,just pointing out that by surfacing in the caution zone (if indeed he did) he was increasing the odds a little.If he was dehydrated and short on sleep then it would have been a good idea to extend safety stops rather than pushing the computer.
I had a PM conversation years ago with a Scubaboard member who had gotten bent after doing a 2 tank dive and surfacing in the yellow on both dives.He was surprised he could be bent even though the computer was only in the "caution" zone.
Surfacing in the green just seems like a sensible precaution. IMHO

I understand your motivation and to some extent it is good, but also has some drawbacks. Here is an analogy:

You can increase your safety on the road by driving 5MPH under the speed limit. It will in fact do that.
However, the arbitrary 5mph buffer may not be enough in some conditions (snow & ice) or totally useless in others.
In our case (the yellow zone) we don't even know the magnitude of the buffer (is it 1mph, 10mph, 20mph?)

Bottom lines is you constantly need to asses the big picture including all risk factors before planning every dive.

 

[Blue Sparkle]

I have no idea why this post showed up THREE times. I'm sorry.

 

[Blue Sparkle]

Just got home looked at my computer shows 1st dive 24BT 93 max depth shows and 2nd dive 25bt max depth 101.

I'm also a newer diver and I have made a few dives on wrecks in the Keys (not the Vandenburg, but other similar ones). So I've been comparing your dives to some of mine. I also noticed that several people made comments to the effect of "Well, with that profile, I can see why it might have happened."

So, I would really like to know a few more details, if you are able to get them.

Here are a few questions that come to mind:

[Edit: Iztok pointed out below that had made a mistake, so I have re-worded my question for clarity]

1) You say "bottom time." I have noticed that my computer counts "dive time," which is the entire dive from getting wet to re-surfacing. Is your computer counting the way mine does? (Or are you figuring bottom-time out by subtracting manually?)

2) Can you see anything about your ascent profile? Were there any "quick" sections? Pardon me if you mentioned this and I forgot by now, but did you make a deep stop? Any other stops besides the 15' "safety stop"?

Unless I am understanding something wrong (which is very possible), these dives don't look that different from some I have made on wrecks in the Keys, so naturally I'm interested to know if I'm "on the edge" without realizing it.

(I do understand that people vary in their susceptibility to DCS, but OTOH a few people mentioned that your dive profiles did look a bit "risky," so that's why I'm wanting to understand more.)

Thank you for starting this thread, and for continuing to update it.

Blue Sparkle

 

[Blue Sparkle]

Sorry, for some reason this post decided to start replicating like rabbits.

 

[iztok]

With the tables time starts when you start descent not when you reach bottom. Time stops when you start ascent.

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