Tell the Truth - Is your brain rotting?

[Scottri]

I am suffering from brian rot but not from my dive computer. I plan my dives more or less based on the tables and use my comptuer to track my dive. I use the tables to plan repetitive dives. I rely on my computer for ascent rate and nitrogen loading but don't live by it. I still trust the tables more than my computer. I make my living with comptuers and therefore don't want to trust my life to one. I didn't use a dive computer for the first 2 years of my diving so I'm more comfortable with the tables. I think computers are a crutch for SOME people that want to push the limits. For others it's just a matter of convience.


Scott

 

[Mike Newman]

I'm pretty new to diving. The appeal of a computer to me lies in being more confident on day with more than one dive that I'm going to get the most out of my air and my opportunities. Computers also seem to me to have a lot to offer in the way of dive time, depth and ascent rate reminders that work no matter how distracted the human user becomes.

But at this stage of my diving life, there's no way that I would fail to 'do my profile' as taught under PADI auspices.

OK - so dive slates do get rubbed, but there are no batteries to fail and no worries if they do. Diving isn't dangerous, unless you choose to make it so. The prospect of wearing 'Belt and braces' doesn't cause me any concern at all

Mike

 

[Uncle Pug]

Originally posted by Blargh
Surprised ?

Nope.... and I hope that your never are either

 

[Blargh]

Originally posted by Uncle Pug

Nope.... and I hope that your never are either

Hmmm.. there are two ways to read that .... :think:

 

[miztflip]

I use a computer. I also plan a dive before entering the water and dive the plan. Most all are multi-level plans with up to 4 target depths. I am talking exclusively about reef cruising well within the recreational dive tables. I also have the pleasure of keeping track of 8 to 10 other profiles for certified divers. I encourage my divers to use computers but not to rely on them. I want them to use computers so that I can browse them during the surface interval to see if the divers are following the dive plan. Most have no idea of how long or deep the dive was.

I absolutely agree that many people use a computer as a crutch. I see people everyday who blindly follow the computer without even understanding NDL, how they are figured and how they govern a dive. Kinda scares me when it's my liability insurance.

 

[The Chairman]

has been added. But I used a computer to do it and thought that might be defeating the purpose. So just pencil it in on your monitor. :tease:

 

[100days-a-year]

When diving recreationally I dive with a computer for that very reason(lazy)At recrearional depths,times and conditions I'd personally have to be an idiot to get bent.I don't get sub-clinical due to LYs aproach(slow last 20')I don't get CO2 headaches because of good equip and cardio.However if planning any deco time I'll use the PIII with Uwatec/watch and Oceanic as a back-up (altho it can't do multi-gas)Dive planning software is still using a computer albeit a more sophisicated one it is limited by a lack of real-time calculations.In any given situation with identical tables a computer would get you out sooner.The limitation there is as Mike brings up a lot is the mis-use of tables by computer manufacturers to protect themselves from legal problems.If and when an affordable multi-gas computer hits the market I'll have 2 if they're small please.I enjoy comparing dives on my desktop to get the best solution to a dive but I prefer to let my attention wander when possible .Unky Pugnacious has valid fears about the newer generation being unable rather than uninclined to self-rescue in an emergency.The chief culprits here tho aren't the cert agency or manufacturers but the students.Nice to seee such a civil tone.

 

[Divesherpa]

Computers are good!
That being said, let me add a few things.
Computers are good if used in conjunction with pre-selected tables for the particular dive/series of dives. Computers aren't a save all, but they make recreational dives much more safe for people who can't remember how to use tables, or don't take the time to look at tables.

I'm guilty of not running tables and trusting a computer when doing a 40 foot photography dive, but then again, how much time do we have at 40 feet.

Those of us who dive religiously are very interested in exactly what is going on in our bodies at all time under the surface of the water. We are severely outnumbered by people who dive solely to look at the pretty fish.

Sometimes it nice to see the forest, not just the trees.


Cheers

 

[TwoBitTxn]

There were two people in my Nitrox class. I did the tables version the other dude did the computer version. I did all my homework off tables and charts. I dove for 8 years before I got a computer.

That being said I'm not sure I understand what your asking Pug. You have said the same thing repeatedly and I'm still not sure I get what you are saying. Most of my diving is multilevel stuff. The stuff where a computer (IMHO) shines. I'm sorry but on air I am probably too narced out to remember I spent 5 min at 80 feet to 9 min at 75 feet to 15 min at 65 feet back to 3 min at 70 feet up to 10 min at 50 feet then on to the surface and a safety stop for 5 min at 15feet. (This is not a real profile it was quickly created in my head to show a point) I plan the dive keeping in mind my max depth will be 85 feet and total time no more than 50 min or 500psi which ever comes first.

I guess I could, every time I check my depth and time, write it down on my slate, but I guess I don't understand what that is supposed to tell me.

Tom

 

[Uncle Pug]

Originally posted by Tom Vyles
There were two people in my Nitrox class. I did the tables version the other dude did the computer version. I did all my homework off tables and charts. I dove for 8 years before I got a computer.

That being said I'm not sure I understand what your asking Pug. You have said the same thing repeatedly and I'm still not sure I get what you are saying. Most of my diving is multilevel stuff. The stuff where a computer (IMHO) shines. I'm sorry but on air I am probably too narced out to remember I spent 5 min at 80 feet to 9 min at 75 feet to 15 min at 65 feet back to 3 min at 70 feet up to 10 min at 50 feet then on to the surface and a safety stop for 5 min at 15feet. (This is not a real profile it was quickly created in my head to show a point) I plan the dive keeping in mind my max depth will be 85 feet and total time no more than 50 min or 500psi which ever comes first.

I guess I could, every time I check my depth and time, write it down on my slate, but I guess I don't understand what that is supposed to tell me.

Tom

Hi Tom,
As you were ticking off your senario I was running a profile in my head and by the time I got to the end of the 50 foot portion I had 45 minutes at 60 feet and unless I actually had something to look at or do at 15 feet I would have continued a very slow ascent from 50 feet to the surface dragging out the last 20 feet at a snails pace just for practice rather than hanging for 5 minutes at 15 feet. But practicing a 5 minute stop is not a necessarily a waste either - just boring in OW.

I want to have a running picture in my head of what my *deco* status is as the dive unfolds. I adjust this running picture that I call my *profile* on a five minute interval. This *profile* is expressed as total time at average depth weighted to conservatism. It is really very easy to figure once you get used to paying attention and does not take away from the enjoyment of the dive and does not consume a lot of mental energy and time. I do not have to write anything down on a slate... I only have one figure in mind and that is the profile I am carrying from the last 5 minute interval. Learning to do this is a fundamental step for the staged decompression diving that we do. While not necessary for recreational dives that is the ideal kind of dive to practice the skill of *profiling*.

Some of the respondents to this thread have indicated that they use computers and still keep track of their profile... I am sure that some of them even checked the first box. But in reality when you read their posts you see that they are *keeping track* in a different sense than I am. Even if (and this is doubtful) they could recall each time/depth interval... they are not keeping a running profile of what that actually means in terms of time at depth as to nitrogen loading.

Is this important to you on your recreational dives using that single AL80? Probably not. But what better place to start learning the modest skill of *profiling* your dive? Later on it proves to be the foundation for keeping the really complex dives simple.
{Sorry for the disclaimer but this is only how I would profile the dive and it is not conservative in this case... you should not dive the profile as given by Tom or *profiled* by me... please take this warning seriously.}