Skirting the Tables

[jonnythan]

Agreed.. it's terrible practice. However, I would rather the diver LEARN why it's terrible practice than to have him simply "stick to the tables".

Me too! More training would be in order.

For now, though, the diver in question should stick to his training and not attempt to guess his way around exceeding the table NDL's, don't you?

 

[Uncle Pug]

So much blind fear ~ so little understanding.

Some of you folks really need to stay out of the water altogether. Can't be too safe you know.

 

[bluwolf]

Oh no, not here! you must be new to SB as well as diving, here they will beat a dead horse to powder, resurrect it and beat it to death again, and then, just when you finaly thinks it's over, some dufus will reopen the thread 3 years later.

Man (or woman, gender undisclosed, no offense meant), I dang near fell out of my chair on that one. Just reading the quote in my reply is still making me laugh out loud. Could not have stated that better if I'd spent 2 weeks drafting my statement. Especially the 3 year remark.

Well said. Must be the clean air, hey?

 

[xiSkiGuy]

So much blind fear ~ so little understanding.

Some of you folks really need to stay out of the water altogether. Can't be too safe you know.

Well put!

 

[JustinW]

Agreed.. it's terrible practice. However, I would rather the diver LEARN why it's terrible practice than to have him simply "stick to the tables". Keeping people in the dark is rarely a good idea. Should he ever be in a situation where he CANNOT adhere to the tables (like rescuing a diver from 50ft and having to blow the stops completely) he might be in a better positoin to help himself out by understandind why those stops exist, rather than blindly following the table.

Seeking new information is great, do it with an instructor. You as a Newbie yourself are giving advice, and probably advice you also got off the internet. But until he learns otherwise, any diver should "stick to the tables" This all seems so clear and I'm not sure why people aren't getting it. Responses have been, "its ok because you rationalized a bad move and you should learn about deco theory, and because I think i know, I say its ok" Would love to see what a lawyer says after reading some of the reckless posts here when a scubaboard member dies from interpreting your responses as an OK to blow tables because they are more conservative. From what I saw with the last response from the thread starter, he seems more aware of these dangers than some of the people that have responded. Perrone, I understand you have good intentions, but its likely that you don't know as much as you think, and its even more likely that you don't know enough to rewrite the tables with your own exceptions.

Remember the facts here again people when evaluating the situation. A newbie diver with only OW level cert. Multilevel dives skirting the tables and in the case of the second dive, blowing the tables. A situation where the diver has the chance to react and change the dive plan before blowing all NDL time, but chose to not take the more conservative path. Its not wrong to know your limitations and stay within them. Don't ever take risks like that unless its an emergency, its not worth it. If you want more time, learn to use other methods of measuring your nitrogen loading, but not following your method of gas tracking is certainly not a smart idea.

 

[JimC]

Justin, the original poster is a grown up and can make his own choices about the kinds of risks he is willing to take.

If he wants to "blow" the tables, he can. Instead of feering him into doing something, inform him and let him decide what to do.

 

[PerroneFord]

Ok. Advice recieved over the internet is invalid.

Thanks.

Seeking new information is great, do it with an instructor. You as a Newbie yourself are giving advice, and probably advice you also got off the internet.

 

[PerroneFord]

Jim,

You're living in the past. Today's world does not have time or a place for people who want to think for themselves, or make their own decisions. Today we only choose to learn from people we can sue if they give us incorrect information. Today we give advice through our attorneys. And today we accept no personal responsibilty for our actions. We shun sources of information that we do not pay for. And we all know that it is impossible to learn anything over the internet.

It's a shizzy world we've created.

Justin, the original poster is a grown up and can make his own choices about the kinds of risks he is willing to take.

If he wants to "blow" the tables, he can. Instead of feering him into doing something, inform him and let him decide what to do.

 

[wardric]

Hi,

remember that the tables were made using people in relative good shape. I think that when planning, it is better to keep a security margin between the limits and the actual dive... just in case something happens and force you to stay a bit longer. Your dive was probably safe if you calculate it as a multi-level dive... but you did not.

If you feel confident in the water now and have taken a bit of experience, i strongly suggest taking an advanced cours with multi-level specialty. but even then, you could be tempted to bend the rules and this time, your security margin is reduced. So the first thing to learn for you is to respect the rules and the tables you are qualified
to use.

I always prefer to plan my dives with a security margin, this way, after the dive i have fun and remember the good dive instead of being nervous and extra attentive to DCS symptoms.

dive safely

 

[JimC]

Its all a mater of how much risk your willing to accept. All tables do is give you a baseline number which is unlikely to get most divers hurt on most dives.

Education is the key here. Know why the tables say what they say and why they say it. Know what happens when you cross that fuzzy "NDL" line. Get diferent tables and see what THEY think NDL is. Then decide what you think NDL means to you.

Then make your own choice. Personaly, my risk level is very low and I dive in a way that reflects that.