Repetitive Diving - Safety

[johnclark]

Hello all, I've tried my best googling this subject matter with little luck finding an article that tells me something more then a rule of thumb, which by the way all say something different. As many of you know I'm new to SCUBA and I've been diving like a mad man ever since being certified. How often in terms of consecutive days can I dive safely? Most days I dive once doing two dives in one day occasionally on the weekend.

Anyway, do any of you know any articles that shed some light on this matter? All of my dives are well within recreational limits with no deco, and appropriate safety stops, breathing air. Thanks.

[spatman]

it really depends on how many dives per day, to what depth, dive runtimes, and the mix you are breathing. but generally speaking you should be fine at 2 recreational level dives per day, ad infinitum.

if you want to take a closer look, you could simulate a dive plan over consecutive days of diving by using tables or a software planner. use long surface intervals between days, e.g. you end your 2nd dive monday at 3pm and start diving tuesday at 9am for an SI of 18hrs.

[Joshua Smith]

Well.....I don't think you really have much to worry about. You might want to think about getting a nitrox cert, though. Do you dive a computer, or tables? AFAIK, all dive computers track tissue loading over multiple days....but if you're diving no deco within the limits, I wouldn't really worry about diving every single day for a month or more....and that's not easy to do.

[CaptnJack]

As in how many days can you do one dive a day in a row? That's pretty modest. I would easily do weeks of that level of diving if I could without batting an eye. DMs in the tropics do that for months at a time while most of us have done 3 dives a day for a week plus on holiday many times. You're biggest risk factor for DCS in this situation is dehydration (from mammalian reflexes and/or outside temps) not the actual number/frequency of dives.

18 to 23hr SIs are basically group A on any table so you are pretty much completely "resetting" overnight.

And what they said, nitrox

[Grateful Diver]

On my vacations I commonly log 25-30 dives in a week without problems ... most of those in excess of 1-hour per dive ... nitrox is your friend ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[Norris]

... nitrox is your friend ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Voodoo gas

[Waynne Fowler]

... nitrox is your friend ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Voodoo gas

geezer gas

[loanwolf]

... nitrox is your friend ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Voodoo gas

geezer gas

HAHAHAHA

[johnclark]

Sweet, I guess I was worrying about nothing. After looking through my log book I did 9 dives in the past 7 days, diving every day, taking Wednesday and today (Thursday) off. I quickly calculate all my dives with the PADI tables in an effort to try and burn it into my brain but follow my computer which is based on the Palagic DSAT algorithm. I do plan on taking my NITROX course with Bob and it seems like NITROX is going to be an expensive habit. I could only imagine how bad Trimix will be. Maybe it's not to late to get out of SCUBA and save my credit card from nuclear meltdown. Who wants to buy my Halcyon crab cuffs and measuring tool?

[airsix]

Nitrox won't be an expensive habit if you buy an all-you-can-eat fill card. With as many dives as you are doing that would be much cheaper than buying air fills one at a time. "Nitrox from Bob" = 2x win.

[Penopolypants]

Nitrox won't be an expensive habit if you buy an all-you-can-eat fill card. With as many dives as you are doing that would be much cheaper than buying air fills one at a time. "Nitrox from Bob" = 2x win.

Sadly, there are great shops to the north and south that offer them, but only one within the city limits of Seattle that I know of, and it's a shop that I'm reluctant to use or recommend.

I've been working on the UWS staff to start offering such a program now that they're banking nitrox, and their advice has been to keep pestering management.

I would much rather pester Tacoma Scuba into opening a "Al Quaida Wahabi Somalia Cannibal Scuba" in Seattle!

[LCF]

Interestingly, DAN has studied DCS cases on liveaboards (kind of the ultimate in repetitive dive/repetitive day diving) and DCS cases are more frequent on the first day or so of the trip! Not what one would expect, but it goes along with the folks who think there is some component of crushing bubble nuclei at depth.

[Grateful Diver]

Interestingly, DAN has studied DCS cases on liveaboards (kind of the ultimate in repetitive dive/repetitive day diving) and DCS cases are more frequent on the first day or so of the trip! Not what one would expect, but it goes along with the folks who think there is some component of crushing bubble nuclei at depth.

I wonder if that might not have more to do with the condition of the divers on their first liveaboard day ... factors including fatigue, dehydration and lack of recent diving ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[camerone]

There is also the concept of hyperoxic myopia (see http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10353183 for the abstract.) Not likely on someone blowing open circuit bubbles to have happen, but for those of us diving rebreathers on a live aboard or over an intensive week of shore diving, it does become a real possibility.

It's a good reason to both dial back your ppO2 for intensive, repetitive diving, as well as realize that deco/o2 toxicity theory that you get taught is just that - empirical observation with a model applied to fit the data points, and not fact in any way, shape, or recognizable form.

[wallyc72]

="Penopolypants"]

I would much rather pester Tacoma Scuba into opening a "Al Quaida Wahabi Somalia Cannibal Scuba" in Seattle!

???? What does this mean ???

[Joshua Smith]

="Penopolypants"]

I would much rather pester Tacoma Scuba into opening a "Al Quaida Wahabi Somalia Cannibal Scuba" in Seattle!

???? What does this mean ???

It's a joke from another thread. Nothing but love for you guys.

[wallyc72]

Nitrox won't be an expensive habit if you buy an all-you-can-eat fill card. With as many dives as you are doing that would be much cheaper than buying air fills one at a time. "Nitrox from Bob" = 2x win.

We offer "all you can breath monthly nitrox".

We have a few different options for air and nitrox.
Here they are.

Air fill = GREAT DEAL!
Monthly all you can breath air = AWESOME DEAL!
Yearly all you can breath air = WICKED RETARDED DEAL!
The monthly and yearly air programs are PER DIVER NOT PER TANK.

Nitrox fill = AWESOME DEAL!
10 fill nitrox punch card = WICKED RETARDED DEAL!
Monthly all you can breath nitrox = IF you dive HALF as much as Greatfull Diver....WE LOSE ON THIS DEAL!
Yearly all you can breath nitrox = REALLY WICKED AWESOME DEAL!
These nitrox prices are for UP TO 40% fills.
The monthly and yearly nitrox programs are PER DIVER NOT PER TANK.

Nitrox fills over 40% and Tri Mix fills are PER CUBIT FEET.

We BANK 21%, 32%, and 40%.
We have O2, Helium, and Argon.

Air tests are performed quarterly. We make O2 compatible air.

If you have not been to the shop, stop by for a tour of our compressor system.

Before people get fired up with, I get my air free at......
We DO NOT GIVE "FREE" air fills. Our regular customers are happy with our prices.
We have invested A LOT of Time and Money in our system. The Maintenance prices to keep a system like this running to OUR standards is a nice chunk of change. LOL

THIS NEXT PART OF THE POST IS MEANT TO BE FUNNY!

I'm going to tell ya all what my BIGGEST pet peeve is about fills. :angry: Its probably going to come back to bite me in the @$$!

Here's the Question I ask What you want in this tank?
THE ANSWER that DRIVES ME NUTS...... What ever your pumping. WHAT?!? We BANK TONS O GAS! We CAN MAKE ANY MIX you would want to BREATH OR DIVE.

Here's how I would LOVE it to go!!
I ask, What you want in this tank?
Your answer..... I WANT 32%. I WANT 36%. I WANT....... you get the Idea.

[LCF]

BTW, if anybody DOESN'T have a monthly/yearly fill card because they don't think they'll save money -- think of it this way. Remember the dive where your suit was leaking and you called it early, and came home only having used a third of a tank? Didn't it hurt to pay a full fill price to top off that tank? NOT ANY MORE . . . !

[loanwolf]

Nitrox won't be an expensive habit if you buy an all-you-can-eat fill card. With as many dives as you are doing that would be much cheaper than buying air fills one at a time. "Nitrox from Bob" = 2x win.

We offer "all you can breath monthly nitrox".

We have a few different options for air and nitrox.
Here they are.

Air fill = GREAT DEAL!
Monthly all you can breath air = AWESOME DEAL!
Yearly all you can breath air = WICKED RETARDED DEAL!
The monthly and yearly air programs are PER DIVER NOT PER TANK.

Nitrox fill = AWESOME DEAL!
10 fill nitrox punch card = WICKED RETARDED DEAL!
Monthly all you can breath nitrox = IF you dive HALF as much as Greatfull Diver....WE LOSE ON THIS DEAL!
Yearly all you can breath nitrox = REALLY WICKED AWESOME DEAL!
These nitrox prices are for UP TO 40% fills.
The monthly and yearly nitrox programs are PER DIVER NOT PER TANK.

Nitrox fills over 40% and Tri Mix fills are PER CUBIT FEET.

We BANK 21%, 32%, and 40%.
We have O2, Helium, and Argon.

Air tests are performed quarterly. We make O2 compatible air.

If you have not been to the shop, stop by for a tour of our compressor system.

Before people get fired up with, I get my air free at......
We DO NOT GIVE "FREE" air fills. Our regular customers are happy with our prices.
We have invested A LOT of Time and Money in our system. The Maintenance prices to keep a system like this running to OUR standards is a nice chunk of change. LOL

THIS NEXT PART OF THE POST IS MEANT TO BE FUNNY!

I'm going to tell ya all what my BIGGEST pet peeve is about fills. :angry: Its probably going to come back to bite me in the @$$!

Here's the Question I ask What you want in this tank?
THE ANSWER that DRIVES ME NUTS...... What ever your pumping. WHAT?!? We BANK TONS O GAS! We CAN MAKE ANY MIX you would want to BREATH OR DIVE.

Here's how I would LOVE it to go!!
I ask, What you want in this tank?
Your answer..... I WANT 32%. I WANT 36%. I WANT....... you get the Idea.

It is a great system I remember when it was at Randy's house and it was not even as set up as it is now.

[eliseaboo]

Nitrox won't be an expensive habit if you buy an all-you-can-eat fill card. With as many dives as you are doing that would be much cheaper than buying air fills one at a time. "Nitrox from Bob" = 2x win.

We offer "all you can breath monthly nitrox".

We have a few different options for air and nitrox.
Here they are.

Air fill = GREAT DEAL!
Monthly all you can breath air = AWESOME DEAL!
Yearly all you can breath air = WICKED RETARDED DEAL!
The monthly and yearly air programs are PER DIVER NOT PER TANK.

Nitrox fill = AWESOME DEAL!
10 fill nitrox punch card = WICKED RETARDED DEAL!
Monthly all you can breath nitrox = IF you dive HALF as much as Greatfull Diver....WE LOSE ON THIS DEAL!
Yearly all you can breath nitrox = REALLY WICKED AWESOME DEAL!
These nitrox prices are for UP TO 40% fills.
The monthly and yearly nitrox programs are PER DIVER NOT PER TANK.

Nitrox fills over 40% and Tri Mix fills are PER CUBIT FEET.

We BANK 21%, 32%, and 40%.
We have O2, Helium, and Argon.

Air tests are performed quarterly. We make O2 compatible air.

If you have not been to the shop, stop by for a tour of our compressor system.

Before people get fired up with, I get my air free at......
We DO NOT GIVE "FREE" air fills. Our regular customers are happy with our prices.
We have invested A LOT of Time and Money in our system. The Maintenance prices to keep a system like this running to OUR standards is a nice chunk of change. LOL

THIS NEXT PART OF THE POST IS MEANT TO BE FUNNY!

I'm going to tell ya all what my BIGGEST pet peeve is about fills. :angry: Its probably going to come back to bite me in the @$$!

Here's the Question I ask What you want in this tank?
THE ANSWER that DRIVES ME NUTS...... What ever your pumping. WHAT?!? We BANK TONS O GAS! We CAN MAKE ANY MIX you would want to BREATH OR DIVE.

Here's how I would LOVE it to go!!
I ask, What you want in this tank?
Your answer..... I WANT 32%. I WANT 36%. I WANT....... you get the Idea.

Time stamp: 2:01am.

[spatman]

Time stamp: 2:01am.

have you met wally?

[wallyc72]

Time stamp: 2:01am.

have you met wally?

I don't really sleep too much. My life is a series of short naps.

[CaptnJack]

Time stamp: 2:01am.

in your time zone

12:01am here

[spatman]

Time stamp: 2:01am.

in your time zone

12:01am here

my time stamp says 1:01am. probably a combo of time zones and whether you have enabled Daylight Saving Time in your UCP.

[Geek]

I never do anything where one hour either way makes a difference... keeps me sane-ish