Soon to be newbie diver with algorithm questions?

[diver 85]

So my wife and I are going to be getting certified next month.

We will rent most of our gear for awhile until we figure out what "works" for us, but one item we both would like is a dive computer.

I have done some research and see the Suunto, Dive Rite, Cressi, etc. are known to have "conservative" algorithms and that Oceanic is more liberal.

I know what that means in the broad sense, i.e. bottom time, but what does it mean in real, practical sense? If the wife and I are on a 5 day, 2 dives-per-day trip, can we get screwed if the computer says we have not had enough SI, even if a hard-card calculation shows we have?

I apologize if this specific question has been brought up but my search-foo did not grok (ie. find) anything regarding this issue.

Thanks!

Surely can be if you 'bust' the tables ie too deep too long & short SIs------anything's possible..saying that, most rec. dives do not present those problems(& most newbies don't press their luck----just the dumb ones.......).IMO, go with the Oceanic......

 

[Diver0001]

Something else to consider is that while accidents leading to DCS among divers are one of the more common types of accidents relatively few of those accidents are caused by what divers call "undeserved hits"... or DCS when all procedures and time limits given by tables/computers have been followed.

There are almost always extenuating circumstances like making rapid ascents for some reason etc etc. The point being that the computer itself is hardly ever the root cause of DCS incidents. The diver's own skills (or lack thereof) and/or failure to follow proper procedure usually is... and *this* is something you have entirely under your own control ... if you wish.

R..

 

[eponym]

I will add regarding books that Wienke's texts can be very heavy on the physics and higher math. I have his Technical Diving and his Basic Decompression. A chapter listing of his Diving Physics is viewable here.

Wienke is a major figure in deco theory. His Reduced-Gradient Bubble Model, which is incorporated in the Suuntos, is quite a departure from the "standard" models. But his texts are not cheap and may not be as useful to the new diver as more general-audience books (for example, Diving Physiology in Plain English by Joie Bookspan, although only the first chapter is specifically about deco theory).

-Bryan

 

[TSandM]

Even people I know who still have the math have said that Wienke's books are relatively impenetrable. That's why Mark Powell's book was such a breath of fresh air. It's quite accurate and not oversimplified, but extremely readable and accessible for those of us for whom real analysis is a remote memory.