What computer

[Norris]

I want to say thanks for all the help and replies so far. I have had a couple of PM's talking about other gear and training

Who woulda saw that one coming...

[Nwcid]

I want to say thanks for all the help and replies so far. I have had a couple of PM's talking about other gear and training

Who woulda saw that one coming...

While I would normally agree with you the PM's I got were actually to the point of the topic. It also covered why they suggested the things they did which is usually one of the big things that get left out many times.

[Norris]

I want to say thanks for all the help and replies so far. I have had a couple of PM's talking about other gear and training

Who woulda saw that one coming...

While I would normally agree with you the PM's I got were actually to the point of the topic. It also covered why they suggested the things they did which is usually one of the big things that get left out many times.

word

[ArcticDiver]

But, the fact is that both work as long as you understand what you are doing.. Neither is very useful without that understanding.

So maybe that is part of it. Here is my understanding and maybe that is something that needs corrected.

With a dive table it is all based on the deepest part of your dive for the amount of "down time" you can have. My understanding is that with a computer it is always monitoring your depth and "adjusts" you time based on actual depth. Based on the PADI RDT if I was to dive to 100' the max amount of time you can stay down is 20 min. But say I do a dive to 100' realize there is not much there and only spend a few min before heading up between 60' and 70' where the NDL are 40 min an 55 min (when used as a max depth).

So if I am understanding correctly, that dive to 100' but only staying a couple min still only allows me 20 min because the table has no method for doing actual profile. On the other hand the computer will actively monitor the depth and adjust for actual time spent. By doing this as you come up it will show different NDL based on actual profile.

Again not looking for "high end". Just saw some "on sale" and that is something that makes my "hey that is a good deal I need one" meter go into full active mode. Looking to see if there was something better then what we have, with a few "nice to have" features, that is still cost effective.

I meant the format not the generic published tables that use a square profile. Using the land computer a person can use one of several available algorithms to produce tables to fit a wide variety of profiles. Then the meter is used to match actual performance to the pre-determined profile. Part of the planning process is to provide alternates if there is any significant variation from planned.

On the other hand a take along computer allows a person to do some general pre-dive planning to make sure the proposed dive is possible with the amount of gas available and considering other concerns, like bladder size for us non-P tube folks and cold tolerance. Then the computer provide real time reflection of what is happening in the dive.

BUT, to my mind the single most important thing to realize in relation to this subject is to understand that every dive is an experiment and the diver is the guinea pig. A decent risk assessment can not be made unless the diver understands as well as possible the factors involved and matches them to personal risk tolerance.