Mailing List Archive

Mailing List: techdiver

Message Display

I have received a number of comments to my posting.
I am new to techdiver, I like the  cave diving most when I can find the
time and I like the deep wrecks <60m  Neither me or my associates have been
bent 
over my 20 years of diving and we dive using standard schedules. (Not US Navy)

The thesis is that if you dive you are going to get bent.
Therefore prepare for it.

The premise is that all dive tables have a certain bend
percentage, e.g. American Navy tables at 5%

This implies that if you dive to the limit of a certain table
that you have a certain probability of getting bent. Presumably
with American Navy that is 1 chance in twenty.  Whatever the
probability, a dive is seen to involve the act of throwing a die to
see if you get bent. The more conservative the tables
the more faces on the die.

However.. the bend percentage is across a population not across
an individual. It means, that out of 100 Navy divers on the limits
of their tables 5 will show bends symtoms. If this same population used
more conservative tables then there would be a zero bend percentage
no matter how many times they dived.

The likelyhood of getting bent using a particular set of tables is a
function of age, fitness, health etc etc etc and not whether you are
lucky on that day. It is true that these factors may change over the years
but hopefully divers adjust their schedules in accordance with their
life changes.

MOst divers dont get bent in practice, most divers enjoy an entire
lifetime of diving and dont get bent.

I think the important aspect is that a diver is responsible for themselves
and their companions. Accepting the bends as a normal hazard to be
accepted is like a bushwalker expecting broken leg to be unavoidable.
When people get bent mostly its because of accident or excessive
abuse of the tables and not because its part of the show, its not.

Navigate by Author: [Previous] [Next] [Author Search Index]
Navigate by Subject: [Previous] [Next] [Subject Search Index]

[Send Reply] [Send Message with New Topic]

[Search Selection] [Mailing List Home] [Home]