PADI Deep Diver course- gas management

[crofrog]

SurfGF had not been invented yet when the RDP was developed, but the RDP has mandatory safety stops if you pass 30m or are within 3 pressure groups of your NDL for any depth. See Info - The DSAT Recreational Dive Planner (RDP), 1994

Ok, so to back our way into the original topic of this post.

With RDP procedurally requiring stops on some dives, is there gas planning as part of the course that takes into account the need to make these stops?

Your comments in this thread are moving step by step into the realm of the bizarre. Of course maximum exposure is defined. The biggest problem we are having is working our way through your verbiage, since you seem to be using words in a way only you can understand.

Maybe I am misunderstanding what you are writing, but you seem to be saying that the course should predefine the specific depths and bottom times of each dive rather than have the divers work those out with the instructor.

If you're not defining as part of the course standards Maximum Depth AND Maximum Time at that depth then you are not defining the maximum exposure. I do not think the specifics should be defined per dive, but I think course limits should be in place.

Saying "follow the computer" leaves a lot up to individual computer setup and algorithm selection. Unless you define allowable algorithms and computers.

 

[tursiops]

With RDP procedurally requiring stops on some dives, is there gas planning as part of the course that takes into account the need to make these stops?

If you're not defining as part of the course standards Maximum Depth AND Maximum Time at that depth then you are not defining the maximum exposure. I do not think the specifics should be defined per dive, but I think course limits should be in place.

Saying "follow the computer" leaves a lot up to individual computer setup and algorithm selection. Unless you define allowable algorithms and computers.

You can't a priori state the limits because it depends on the students, the gas, the site, the conditions. All you can say a priori is you can't exceed 130 ft/40m, nor NDL, nor 60 f/min or what your computer's ascent rate is. The students are likely to have different computers; maybe different gases. So you find out what the limiting case is. that is, whose NDL is the shortest, whose ascent rate is the slowest, and that becomes the limit for all in the class. Then you discuss gas usage. Again, the person with the highest SAC becomes the limiting case for the class; if they don't know their SAC (and they should by this class) call it 0.7 cu/ft/min to cover most people. You work out gas usage, with a comfortable reserve (please, let's not dwell on that!), and then maybe have to back off further on the max depth or the max time to meet the gas usage requirements. The point is to have the students learn how to do this, NOT to predesign a perfect dive and have them execute it; they learn nothing from that.
Now, perhap all instructors don't do it that way; all I can say is how it is intended to be done and how I did it as an instructor.