I FOLLOW THE MANUFACTURERS SPECS AND DIRECTION TO THE LETTER.
No you don't.
You've already said that you don't use a torque wrench, and yet you have torque specs from manufacturers.
You can't follow a torque spec without using a torque WRENCH!
As for DAN, it wasn't about an "incident". Again you mischaracterize. Again! Why Mike?
As you're well aware, that discussion was about an ASYMPTOMATIC individual who comes to the surface, having blown their profile in some way,
but has no symptoms or signs of DCS. A number of people claimed that DAN said "don't let them have O2 until and unless they DEVELOP symptoms."
I challenged that, and went through their front-line person (who, incidentally, told me the same thing!) to the SOURCE of the information. After busting his chops for about 20 minutes, he conceded that (1) there is no difference between breathing O2 on the boat as a "silent" decompression stop and breathing it on the boat because you think you're at elevated risk of a hit, (2) that the O2 won't hurt you if you do breathe it, and (3), and most importantly,
it might prevent you from taking a hit you would otherwise suffer IF YOU WAITED FOR THE ONSET OF SYMPTOMS!
THAT was the point of the debate - whether to WITHHOLD Oxygen "until symptoms appear". The answer, after getting through to a REAL doctor (and not just someone answering the phone over there) was
NO.
This is just like the wonderful dive shop folks (two different shops thus far) who want to teach me how to dive in a drysuit. Nice idea, eh? Cool. I'd like to take that training. Except they want to teach me to use the drysuit as my ONLY buoyancy control device, eschewing my wing except in emergencies, if I have a drysuit on.
Even without actually diving in one I can determine with a bit of thought that this is somewhere between foolish and idiotic. Besides the obvious - a drysuit is not designed to hold pressure, in fact has seals that can "burp" at "high points" in typical diving postures (losing its air and thus buoyancy), it has a relief valve that is DESIGNED to be calibrated to release air at various pressures (making it even more dubious as a buoyancy device), air will redistribute itself in the suit over a MUCH larger area than in your BC (playing hell with your trim), and worse, if you invert there is no way to dump air from it in that posture AT ALL, there is the fact that the drysuit's purpose is exposure protection - not buoyancy control. My BC is designed for buoyancy control, not my drysuit! The obvious correct way (to me anyway) to use a drysuit is to add just enough air to it to maintain the loft of your undergarmets as you decend, vent any expanding air exceeding that as you ascend, and use the BC for its intended purpose - buoyancy control. This almost completely avoids the issue of "air bubbles" in the suit, makes you less of a balloon underwater (e.g. less drag), avoids the risk of having your buoyancy dramatically change without warning due to a suit "burp" and probably helps your trim tremendously, never mind avoiding the "floatie feet" problems some people have.
Now why in the Sam Hell would I take "instruction" in something from someone who wants to teach ne a thing that every rational thought process that I have says is just plain flat wrong? Oh, when challenged all they can mutter about why do it their way is "task loading". If I can handle a speargun and light underwater while managing my buoyancy I think I can handle a drysuit.
I think I'll spend a few hours in the pool figuring it out for myself, thank you very little - and save the $150.
You want to ignore me? Fine. I'll continue to point out the inconsistency in points I see made, whether by you or someone else.
Its all part of the same piece, and all part of where the mistrust of the "information" and "service" that dive shops hand out. My BS detector rings way too darn loud around some of these folks....
