Safety stop at 15'..........always

[2Tours N Iraq`]

I think it is important to remember that our bodies are completely saturated with as much nitrogen that can be absorbed at the surface. Once the pressure increases above that of surface conditions, you will be on-gassing. Generally speaking only when the pressure decreases will you begin to off-gas. On one particular dive to 20 feet that lasted for an 1 hr 40 minutes, my brother and I did a safety stop at 10 feet just to be on the safe side. Was it required, no, but I did feel better after the dive knowing I further reduced the risk of possible injury, yes. What I think it boils down to is this: are you staying within the industry accepted SAFE parameters for ascending and are you comfortable with the higher risk of possible injury if you don't do a safety stop? As I have stated in other posts, the best tool at your disposal is your brain. If doing a safety stop puts you at further risk due to current changes and increased boat traffic then by all means skip the safety stop. However, those conditions aren't considered normal and therefore I will do the safety stop unless it just isn't practical or safe for the dive to continue.

 

[Garrobo]

Never had the bends but from what I've read of them the three minutes is a cheap investment.

 

[Cacia]

Nitrox would have benefitted him especially because he was unfit, over 60, and doing dives that were over his skill level.

I get your points about this diver, but I am more concerned with these types of divers exceeding an MOD and having 02 toxicity issues, diving EAN. I am not sure I aggree with you and that EAN would not have been more of a risk for him.

(have you considered this?)

 

[robint]

I get your points about this diver, but I am more concerned with these types of divers exceeding an MOD and having 02 toxicity issues, diving EAN. I am not sure I aggree with you and that EAN would not have been more of a risk for him.

(have you considered this?)

we were all diving computers and had them set for nitrox % and all knew our max depth allowed. We never exceeded it.
He was a risky diver regardless, I just think it would have been better for him (especially considering his age and health) to have less nitrogen in the equation. But I do understand what you mean though. He ended up sitting out several dives later in the week, claiming ear trouble. I think it was more that he realized he had underestimated the diving skills required for the types of dives we were doing. No one else had any problems though.

robin

 

[Blackwood]

He ended up sitting out several dives later in the week, claiming ear trouble. I think it was more that he realized he had underestimated the diving skills required for the types of dives we were doing.

There's no shame in apprehension.

 

[ClayJar]

He ended up sitting out several dives later in the week, claiming ear trouble. I think it was more that he realized he had underestimated the diving skills required for the types of dives we were doing.

It could be that the cumulative effects of his diving added up to ear problems. The effects of a single dive may be negligible, but added together, the effects of many dives can easily end up manifesting as cumulative low-grade barotrauma. (Irritate your Eustachian tubes enough, and eventually they'll become inflamed.)

If the ear trouble *was* just an easy out so he could avoid having to say he'd underestimated the diving, that would be an *excellent* thing, indeed. I don't care a plug nickel about whether a gung-ho diver admits to me or anyone else that he may have been in over his head. (This is assuming he's not an instructor or other leader -- I hold them to a higher standard.) What I *do* care about is whether the gung-ho diver admits *to himself* that he may have been in over his head.

Admitting it to other people doesn't really do much. Sure, it may temper their disdain for you, if you've been acting macho all week and finally get your comeuppance and show some humility (or penance), but if you don't admit it to yourself, it can't help you improve. (There are plenty of examples of people admitting they were wrong but never actually believing it.) If you're too embarrassed to admit to those around you that you weren't all that, but you finally *do* realize that you may have something you can learn, you have a decent shot at improving yourself.

I'd find it far more likely that it really *was* his ears. I'd also wager that if anyone told him that, he'd absolutely refuse to believe it. Still, I'd *hope* that perhaps the ears *were* just an easy cover story and that enlightenment may yet reach him. :biggrin:

 

[robint]

I am sure the enlightenment did reach him about his own skill level....... he told me on the last day that "after diving in Palau, Bonaire will seem like a swimming pool". I think that sums it up. He probably won't venture out of the pool again.

I still don't think he got the whole safety stop thing though. He was still going straight to the surface after deep dives up to the last day. That still bugs me. I just wouldn't want to be his buddy and get hurt trying to keep him from hurting himself.

robin

 

[SteveAD]

I am sure the enlightenment did reach him about his own skill level....... he told me on the last day that "after diving in Palau, Bonaire will seem like a swimming pool". I think that sums it up. He probably won't venture out of the pool again.

I still don't think he got the whole safety stop thing though. He was still going straight to the surface after deep dives up to the last day. That still bugs me. I just wouldn't want to be his buddy and get hurt trying to keep him from hurting himself.

robin

Like Ron White (blue collar comedy tour) says:

You can't fix stupid.

 

[AbyssalPlains]

I try to do 3-minutes at 15ft every dive, unless the dive was to 30ish feet or less. When I go deeper and find that I have the air, I do 5 minutes at 15 ft. Air consumption at 15 ft is so minimal that I feel I am not sacrificing much of my air supply and add a safety cushion. I kinda enjoy my safety stops, they are like the credits in the movie theater, a nice conclusion to a good film (yes, I'm one of those weird Europeans who stay through the credits )
For me the safety stop is like dessert or coffee after a good meal, I relax, reflect on the dive, think about the things I saw and just enjoy hanging below the waves without having to pay attention to anything. If I feel like being efficient, I edit pictures on my camera.

 

[ClayJar]

I kinda enjoy my safety stops, they are like the credits in the movie theater, a nice conclusion to a good film (yes, I'm one of those weird Europeans who stay through the credits )

What does being European have to do with watching credits? I always watch the credits. They've usually got decent music, anyway, and sometimes there's an cookie at the end, but I watch them just because.

(Of course, I also make it a game to see how many people have the same name as J., but that's just because I'm a hopeless romantic.)

Between the things to see and just enjoying the hang, safety stops are wonderful, and once in a while, there's even a cookie at the end (like the dolphins we saw at the end of our hang on a night dive one time). :biggrin: