Place of dive tables in modern diving

[lowviz]

@CT-Rich, But you know/knew tables and they gave you an instinctive feeling for how long you could stay at any given depth. The 'old ones' start feeling creeped out after that...

Does the new multi-level generation have any sense of this? I'm beginning to believe that it is now just like going on an airplane trip. I paid for a seat. It is now my right to expect that it will get me there and back safely.

Things change, maybe this is now the way it is...

 

[tursiops]

Does a simulator leave you with that?

You seem really down on simulators, which you also say you've never seen.
Sully would disagree....

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Saw tooth profiles at least from my perspective are the BIG advantage to diving PDC's . If PDC's didn't allow divers to perform saw tooth profiles with relative safety I wouldn't own two! It is PDCs not nitrox that has allowed me more time underwater. Nitrox can extend a divers bottom time only if the diver is not a gas hog like myself. Nitrox gets used up as quick as 21% so for me it's a wash, but being able to dive different depths when possible saves me air and increases my time underwater. Tables are just not as good as PDCs for that particular job.

Tables don’t work for sawtooth dives at all. The wheel doesn’t even work unless you stick to the multi level calculation that you planned on. How are you supposed to stick to a plan when you have no idea what kind of terrain you’ll encounter in the first place?
Computers are GREAT tools for exploration diving when you have no idea what you’ll be getting into.

 

[lowviz]

@tursiops, You know that I love simulators. I made a living out of using one, OrCAD.

Never seen is inexact, more like didn't start out using one. I approached my first dive simulator with a basic understanding of NDL's.

If I didn't have any prior knowledge/understanding, would I have the same confidence U/W with my DC? Or would I just enter the panic cycle if the only thing that I was basing my life on was either set incorrectly or decided to malfunction?

The OP is interested in seeing if tables have any current value. IMHO, they have both historical and instructional value as to showing the new diver how it was done 'safely' in the past and just how far you can push it.

I would prefer showing new divers how much easier/better it is today using DCs with the 'cheat code' of being cool with terminating a dive if it violated ones innate sense of how long can I stay here. If simulators are actually teaching that, then no, we don't need tables anymore.

 

[CT-Rich]

I know I alsways forgot to set my watch. I have no instinctive “feel” about the NDL. Like a black hole, you can’t feel when you cross the event horizon. Boom you are screwed.... I trusted the dive tables when I just had them to look at (because that was what we had). A PDC is more reliable than I could ever hope to be. I trust the computer to give me accurate information when I use it. And yes user error can creep into a dive computer (incorrect O2 settings, not looking at it, lack of familiarity). But all those things come in spades when using a dive table. I do compare notes with dive buddies about what our computers report. I validated my new computer this way for the first dozen dives.

I have gotten bad data from a PDC. It said the water temp was 86F in RI in June. I went and bought a fresh battery and it turned out the computer was fried. My trust in technology isn’t unlimited, but failure of 1 in a thousand is much better than a one in ten or even one in a hundred for human error.

 

[lowviz]

...//... I have no instinctive “feel” about the NDL. Like a black hole, you can’t feel when you cross the event horizon. Boom you are screwed....

I find that statement shocking, most especially as it is coming from you.

How do I resolve needing a more liberal computer? I need more downtime, I'll find a DC that will give it to me. One crosses the horizon, one doesn't.

Somehow this reminds me of a pot-boiler I unintentionally started last year. Give me a sec, I'll find it...

Found it: "Riding your Computer Up" vs. "Lite Deco"

 

[MargaritaMike]

Here is my original pocket table. On the right is my current PDC. Which one of these do you think I could more accurately apply at 90’?

The pocket table? It's hard to see the numbers on the PDC.
Cheers -

 

[lowviz]

The pocket table? ...//...

"Tables? You don't need no stinking tables!"

(They're in your head.)

 

[MargaritaMike]

"Tables? You don't need no stinking tables!"

(They're in your head.)

That is correct. I was just answering in general for the over 50 (60) masses! lol
Cheers -

 

[60plus]

Just out of curiosity if you dive fully to your NDL then get on a plane shortly after, will your dive computer alarm go off as the plane climbs?
I come from the "pre computer" era only having a pocket calculator in my first year at Uni. I am very glad I did because having a basic understanding of older methods means I usually can tell when a computer or other device is telling me rubbish, students who learn solely on computers only vary rarely develop this skill.