Two safety stops?

[Teller]

I was always under the impression that if you are diving under a recreational profile, a safety stop wasn't really necessary but certainly nothing wrong with doing it. So now it's being suggested perhaps we should do a "deep stop" I think they call it and then the traditional stop at 15 ft. or whatever. Just seems like overkill to me.

Saftey stops are a recommendation however all dives are deco dives and you should allow some time to off gas before surfacing.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

A recent article in Dec 2012 Dive Training mag talks about DCS and safety stops. Essentially, it says that there is good evidence (reduction or elimination of silent bubbles in the spinal cord) that if you're going to 80 ft or more, it's probably a good idea to make two safety stops: one at half your max depth for 2 - 3 minutes and then another one at 10 - 20 ft for 4 - 5 minutes. It makes logical sense that it would be more important to do these on a multi-day dive vacation.

I know there are alot of folks that have dived for decades without doing two stops that will no doubt claim it's unnecessary; and obviously few that have dived for a long time that have had the bends. So I'm not sure what my question is, but anyway I thought it was interesting.

Mostly I wonder if I can organize my dives enough to do these stops even if I wanted to -- I am most certainly an air hog, and hovering at (say) 40 ft is probably going to be in open water. With 50 dives under our belt I'm sure we could pull that off, at least in warm water.

The article is a good one, I thought, and is supposed to appear in Dr. Alex Briske's book "The Complete Diver".

- Bill

NAUI's been recommending that since before I started teaching in 2004 ... they call it the "Rule of Halves". Nice to see other agencies coming onboard with the idea.

As someone previously mentioned, it's a precautionary stop for one minute ... staying longer diminishes the potential benefit ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

---------- Post added March 24th, 2013 at 04:08 PM ----------

I was always under the impression that if you are diving under a recreational profile, a safety stop wasn't really necessary but certainly nothing wrong with doing it. So now it's being suggested perhaps we should do a "deep stop" I think they call it and then the traditional stop at 15 ft. or whatever. Just seems like overkill to me.

Overkill is a relative term. Keep in mind that there is no absolutely "safe" approach to ascents ... there's only a continuum of potential risk factors that often play against one another. Choosing an ascent strategy is a game of choosing which tradeoffs make the most sense for you.

The point of a brief stop at half your deepest depth is to allow those parts of your body that offgas the fastest a chance to "catch up". Those would be primarily your blood and nervous system ... the parts you want most to take good care of. In theory this gives you a bit more leeway for error on the part of the ascent where pressure changes occur the fastest ... and where people are most likely to ascend more quickly than they should.

If you have the gas, NDL and thermal units to do it, I don't see a downside ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

---------- Post added March 24th, 2013 at 04:10 PM ----------

Why not get a 20 cu ft bottle and fill it with pure O2, then do a 20 foot stop for 8 minutes on oxygen....then you will really feel good later on

... unless the person you're directing that to has been trained to use O2 as a decompression gas, that's a really poor piece of advice ... akin to recommending that an OW diver is OK to go just a little bit inside the cave ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[danvolker]

... unless the person you're directing that to has been trained to use O2 as a decompression gas, that's a really poor piece of advice ... akin to recommending that an OW diver is OK to go just a little bit inside the cave ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Considering this sounds like its all about the money that can be harvested , then my suggestion is just a different moneymaker....another course ..... An. O2 stop course for recreational divers....-

 

[billt4sf]

Hi DanVolker,

Where are you active as a DM?

- Bill

 

[BDSC]

... and where people are most likely to ascend more quickly than they should.

From what I remember reading on SB, the idea of safety stops in the first place had little to do with off-gassing and were implemented so folks would slow down because a lot of divers were ascending to fast. As a side benefit it did allow some additional time to off-gas.

 

[boulderjohn]

From what I remember reading on SB, the idea of safety stops in the first place had little to do with off-gassing and were implemented so folks would slow down because a lot of divers were ascending to fast. As a side benefit it did allow some additional time to off-gas.

As was suggested earlier, the reason something was done 30 years ago may or may not relate to what is done today.

There are some people who have said that on ScubaBoard, but I have never seen that anywhere else. The research supporting increased use of safety stops, both the traditional shallow stop which is now recommended on pretty much all dives, and the more controversial deep stops discussed here, is all based on research done long after safety stops were first created.

 

[BDSC]

There are some people who have said that on ScubaBoard, but I have never seen that anywhere else.

Well I read it on ScubaBoard so it must be true. You can't put things on the internet if it's not true.

 

[danvolker]

Hi DanVolker,Where are you active as a DM?- Bill

I don't use my DM cert for anything SB started showing this on my profile one day....I would rather not use any label.If you are asking where I dive the most, it is Palm Beach, fl.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

From what I remember reading on SB, the idea of safety stops in the first place had little to do with off-gassing and were implemented so folks would slow down because a lot of divers were ascending to fast. As a side benefit it did allow some additional time to off-gas.

For years I did aggressive "recreational" profiles diving 90 to 125 ft with each dive being close to or just slightly over into a few minutes of deco on an aggressive nitrox computer. Going 4-5-6-7 dives per day (although if it was 6 or 7, some would usually be quick bounces)... In any regard, even with slow ascent, safety/deco stops and occasional use of oxygen at 20 feet to clean up (which was not counted by the computer); I was sometimes plagued with "pole spear elbow" which was a persistent deep pain in one elbow. Of course I was using a pole spear (and a speargun) but once I started doing a couple minute stop at 50 feet, I don't recall ever getting "pole spear elbow" again. The difference was pretty clear cut for me.. A couple minutes at 50 feet (if diving around 100-120) is not much of an inconvenience, unless there were sharks around.

 

[elan]

Have not bought the license to use the O2 bottle yet I will try it when I have one.

Why not get a 20 cu ft bottle and fill it with pure O2, then do a 20 foot stop for 8 minutes on oxygen....then you will really feel good later on