Missed Safety Stop. Go Back Down?

[Kohanbash]

Hi all
I was always told if you miss a safety stop, to not go back down underwater.
This DAN video says that if you feel fine you should go back down for your safety stop.

What do you think?

0:20-0:45 in the video.

Edit: Assuming within recreational NDL's

 

[CuzzA]

Personally, I would not go back down.

 

[Diver0001]

Hi all
I was always told if you miss a safety stop, to not go back down underwater.

In the context of a safety stop it shouldn't matter either way.

In technical diving you're taught that if your time on the surface does not exceed 10 min to return to depth and repeat all mandatory decompression stops, starting from the deepest one, doubling stop times.

The suggestion in the film you posted seems to draw on that idea.

It's not a bad idea in terms of decompression theory in the big picture but since "safety stops" are optional, it shouldn't matter how you respond to blowing through one.

R..

 

[northernone]

Agreeing with @Diver0001. It shouldn't matter.

When I pop up for a rescue, if the situation allows, I will immediately return to do an extended safety stop (staged decompression).

If the ascent has been faster than the NDL tables were calculated to safety allow, I still follow DAN's advice for conservation if convenient.

Increases the distance between myself and decompression stress is a nice thing.

Cameron

 

[Lorenzoid]

I'm confused (which happens often). The video says "in the event you bypass your safety stop" after mentioning that you should slow down "if you ascend faster than [the proper rate] at any point." In recommending returning to the safety stop after surfacing, is the video assuming that the entire ascent was at the proper rate except for the last 15 feet or so? Is the video saying that even if your ascent was at the proper rate from the bottom up to safety stop depth, if you then ascend too rapidly from safety stop depth you should return to complete the safety stop? Or is the video saying that only if you experienced a "too rapid ascent" BEFORE reaching safety stop depth should you return to complete the safety stop?

 

[CuzzA]

My first response was a little short so here are my thoughts...

I see little benefit taking the advice of this DAN video. You've successfully completed a dive. Even at an ascent rate of say 60 feet per minute, you are on the deck or surface and you feel fine. Now you're going to go back down just to hang at 15-20 feet for three minutes? To me that presents more of a potential recipe for an issue than the extremely unlikely event you would experience DCS. You're already likely low on gas. You now (should) have to coordinate this with your buddy. I'm sure your buddy's looking at you like, "yeah whatever dude, I'm going to have a sandwich."

I realize this is the Basic forum and I'm not advocating unsafe diving practices, but if you get outside of the training dives and the tourism dives where everything is so scripted, CYOA, kind of like the video, you learn some of the things being parroted are overly conservative.

The safety stop is optional, but highly recommended. Personally, I've yet to see a diver complete a full safety stop. Can you believe it? I was shocked after getting certified. The safety pause is what I see in the real world. Again, NOT recommending that, just giving some perspective that there's a lot of divers doing some hardcore diving and the safety stop isn't part of their plan.

That said. I think you should still do it, but if for whatever reason you miss the optional safety stop, there's not much to gain by going back down.

 

[boulderjohn]

If I missed a safety stop at the end of a shallow dive not near NDLs, I would probably not bother to go back down. On a deeper dive near or at NDLs, I would go back down and do the stop--probably adding time.

As Diver0001 indicates, doing this sort of thing is a mandatory part of technical dive training.

 

[kelemvor]

I've always heard them described as an "Optional Safety Stop".

That video seems to make a simple issue complicated in my opinion.

 

[АлександрД]

I always try to follow DIR-diver.com - Using the min deco table
just in case....
I have Oceanic VT-3, it starts to count safety stop from 6 meters and I pass 3 min at depth from 6 till 4 m (slow ascend) then If I can - I try to stay 1-3 min at 3m.
Just to relax. Also good way to train buoyancy. Also not bad for the health.

Sure, if (just probability) I jumped to surface, I will try to return at 3-4m and will stay there 3-5 min... Just in case

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Mia Tegner's death should be a good lesson about going back down just to make a safety stop.