Safety stops

[LI Diver]

I've had 17 dives to date most with a guide or dm. None of the dm's have initiated a safety stop. Most of the boats had no hang line and when asked about it said that a gentle ascent up a slope towards the top of the reef was sufficient. Most of the dives were 30ft or less but 6 were just over 60ft.I recently ascended from a 25 ft dive on a mooring line w/my son and slowly hand over handed it up to a marker that was conveinently at 15ft and made a 3 min safety stop while the dm waited. On the next dive I attempted the same thing but was urged by the dm to continue ascending.On all the dives but the one with the safety stop my computer showed an ascent alarm when in log mode. Am I being too cautious or are the dm's being too reckless? I know that we are responsible for our own profiles but what is the proper edicate and if there are other people on the same line then what? Should I have to discuss something this basic with the dm before the dive? Am I going to sound like a wuss? Help guys!:06: :06:

 

[Wildcard]

If the DM dosen't mention a safety stop in the brief, ask.

 

[makomike]

tough. Before I became an instructor, I never did a safety stop diving above 33 ft and always did one below that. It is a "safety stop" not a mandatory stop. As an instructor though I always try to be and teach conservative diving. Plus I get 3 more minutes of wet time. I would defininitly do it if you can, especially with your son. Teach him safe diving. Who cares what the DM says. Your certified now and you are responsible for you. Its only 3 minutes and its under water, the best place to be. Age, physical condition, and cold among other things play a role in DCS. 20ft and above though I wouldn't on my personal dives. How consevative do you want to be? Thats up to you.

 

[LI Diver]

tough. Before I became an instructor, I never did a safety stop diving above 33 ft and always did one below that. It is a "safety stop" not a mandatory stop. As an instructor though I always try to be and teach conservative diving. Plus I get 3 more minutes of wet time. I would defininitly do it if you can, especially with your son. Teach him safe diving. Who cares what the DM says. Your certified now and you are responsible for you. Its only 3 minutes and its under water, the best place to be. Age, physical condition, and cold among other things play a role in DCS. 20ft and above though I wouldn't on my personal dives. How consevative do you want to be? Thats up to you.

Thanks Mike, I would rather err on the side of safety and I want it to become second nature to my son so that when we do deeper dives it will come naturally.

 

[vondo]

tough. Before I became an instructor, I never did a safety stop diving above 33 ft and always did one below that. It is a "safety stop" not a mandatory stop. As an instructor though I always try to be and teach conservative diving. Plus I get 3 more minutes of wet time. I would defininitly do it if you can, especially with your son. Teach him safe diving. Who cares what the DM says. Your certified now and you are responsible for you. Its only 3 minutes and its under water, the best place to be. Age, physical condition, and cold among other things play a role in DCS. 20ft and above though I wouldn't on my personal dives. How consevative do you want to be? Thats up to you.

Basically what makomike said:

1) Are you being unsafe by not doing a SS on a 30 ft dive? Probably not.
2) Are you being unsafe by not doing a SS on a 60 ft dive? Maybe. Best to do it to be as safe as possible.
3) Should your DM(s) encourage you to do a SS on a 60 ft dive? Yes.
4) Should you do a SS after a 30 ft dive if you feel more comfortable that way? Absolutely. It's your dive and your safety.

 

[rixemailfl]

I agree about initiating your own safety stop. If your computer is calling for you to stop I feel you should stop.

As far as having an ascent line... Sometimes you won't have one at all. It makes things a bunch easier if there is one but you also need to practice ascending without one too. I've done several drift dives where you end up quite a distance from the boat with no line to ascend on.

If the line gets crowded, the technique you have learned from ascending with no line will come in handy; because then you will be able to hover at the safety stop while everyone else attempts to stay close to the rope.

Also, as long as you are within 3 feet either up or down of your safety stop you should be fine. This gives you some more room to spread out on the ascent line. This is always helpful if you are diving in a situation with a strong current that tends to send you drifting.

Dive safe, dive lots!!!

 

[makomike]

Good decision ex601. Great decision!

vondo, thanks for working out my mudle into something concise!

 

[jiml]

I agree with the answers you've gotten, and would like to add a couple of points:
First, never feel like a "wus" when your safety is at stake. If others have a problem with that, then tough.
And concerning your ascent rate alarm--- I don't know what kind of computer you are using, but with mine, the ascent rate alarm has nothing to do with whether or not you do a safety stop. It could be that you were ascending too quickly on these other dives. Which brings up another benefit of doing a safety stop, it's also a pause to get your ascent under control.

 

[String]

IF they dont mention safety stops in a brief then ask them.
If you feel you want to do one to feel safe then tell them that fact.

A safety stop is just that, an optional stop that can be skipped. Its not a mandatory decompression stop so i see nothing wrong in what they're doing.

As for the "no hangline" comment - why would you expect one? You dont need (or shouldnt need) a line to hang on to maintain a depth for a few minutes. No qualified diver should really. Its just a case of practicing.

 

[LI Diver]

IF they dont mention safety stops in a brief then ask them.
If you feel you want to do one to feel safe then tell them that fact.

A safety stop is just that, an optional stop that can be skipped. Its not a mandatory decompression stop so i see nothing wrong in what they're doing.

As for the "no hangline" comment - why would you expect one? You dont need (or shouldnt need) a line to hang on to maintain a depth for a few minutes. No qualified diver should really. Its just a case of practicing.

Thanks String, no we don't need the line and we have made and held safety stops (and in near 0 vis I might add) with no problem. However if the boat is at anchor how hard is it to drop over a line? It adds a point of reference and is a lot easier than staring at your depth guage the whole time.Buddy goes up and you feel like your going down etc.