PADI tables finally going away?

[DevonDiver]

Ok, I'm sitting here with my Oceanic DataMax Sport, read the manual, can you tell me how to set the conservatism?

As I don't have one here...or the manual...that'd be pretty hard.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

The doppler bubble imaging work that led to the RDP determined that for no decompression (recreational) diving, the 40 minute compartment actually controlled the dive. They decided to be more conservative and selected the 60 minute compartment as the basis for the RDP.Thus you have a 6 X 60, or 6 hour washout.
The result is that in following the RDP, the recreational diver does not have to wait as long during a surface interval as someone following the Navy tables.

I agree with you with the exception of the conservatism concept - or least how it could be misinterpreted. Using the 60 minute compartment rather than the 40 minute compartment is more conservative, but using a 60 minute compartment rather than the 120 minute compartment is not, and a 6 hour out is not more conservative than a 12 hour out, especially on multiple dives over multiple days.

 

[The Chairman]

There's a recent thread in A & I

When are we teaching LONG deco procedures to OW students? There's a place for tables in diving, but they are just not essential for OW students to master.



Posted via Mobile Device

 

[HowardE]

When are we teaching LONG deco procedures to OW students? There's a place for tables in diving, but they are just not essential for OW students to master.



Posted via Mobile Device

The thread mentioned... The OP (before he deleted his post) was given a 27 minute deco obligation by his computer for some unknown reason (to him). At the same time - his buddy did not have an obligation at all. It wasn't about planning a long deco dive.

 

[D_B]

Ok, I'm sitting here with my Oceanic DataMax Sport, read the manual, can you tell me how to set the conservatism?

tissue loading bar graph .. dont let it get into yellow, or stop before the yellow by one, or two or etc. bars

... http://www.oceanicworldwide.com/pdf/12-1868-r01.pdf

 

[muddiver]

Thanks D_B, my point was it has one button and no known way of setting any conservatism.

 

[acwest]

Not all tables are created equal. The ones I use (ACUC, based on DCIEM) tend to be slightly more conservative than the PADI tables, but are designed for use with multilevel diving. It's not particularly difficult to do, either.

 

[boulderjohn]

I agree with you with the exception of the conservatism concept - or least how it could be misinterpreted. Using the 60 minute compartment rather than the 40 minute compartment is more conservative, but using a 60 minute compartment rather than the 120 minute compartment is not, and a 6 hour out is not more conservative than a 12 hour out, especially on multiple dives over multiple days.

And using the 720 minute compartment is even more conservative. Should we do that? Is conservative always good? If we say that divers should wait 6 days between dives, we can pretty much be sure that residual nitrogen is gone, but is that necessary? I think you would agree that we want to use a protocol that keeps us safe and still allows us to dive. The question is this: where do we draw the line.

The research by the group that created the RDP (and our own Doc Deco--Michael Powell--was part of the team) determined that for dives within the recreational limits imposed by the table (with some exceptions), the 60 minute compartment was more than adequate for safe diving. The exception is for multiple dives that fall within the WX and YZ rules, for which they made special rules.

Do you have access to research that shows their studies were wrong? If so, you should go to the Ask Dr. Decompression forum and tell Michael about that research. I am sure he will be interested in learning why they were wrong.

 

[DiveNav]

Thanks D_B, my point was it has one button and no know way of setting any conservatism.

You can NOT set the conservatism on the DataMax Sport

AM

 

[muddiver]

You can NOT set the conservatism on the DataMax Sport

AM

Correct, and thus the last statement by DevonDiver could be misleading:

I'm not referring to ZKY... but it does raise a decent issue (albeit slightly off-topic).

Being discerning about potential buddies..and refusing to dive with individuals you consider dangerous... is something that should be stressed in entry-level dive training.

Again...I am not referring to ZKY... but there are dangerous, careless, risk-taking, misinformed and deluded individuals within the diving community.

The capacity to spot them...and courage to refuse to enter the water with them....is the first step in responsible accident prevention.

Maybe if enough people did that...then these 'black sheep' would be forced to consider some self-analysis and re-appreciation of their diving methods.