4 ms·

Found the SCUBA diver

SOLAR_FIELDS 1y ago
Indeed, the grandparent post is a pretty good summary of the takeaways you get from taking PADI’s enriched air nitrox course (which is a requirement if you ever want to dive with enriched air). In the olden days this was tracked manually (the ratio of your depth to percentage of air and time under water) via so called “dive tables”. The purpose and output of the dive table is to determine the safe amount of time you could dive at a certain depth without risking narcosis. As this is a sliding window based on multiple variables - and you are very rarely maintaining a constant depth as you dive - it’s of course annoying and less accurate to hand calculate this. Modern dive computers just seamlessly calculate it all for you nowadays.
- thrown-0825 1y ago
  Fun fact: those dive tables were created by the US Navy conducting experiments on its own divers, there was a real human cost to acquire that information.
- nradov 1y ago
  Numerous other training agencies also teach how to use nitrox safely. PADI training isn't specifically required (or even particularly good).
  - acjohnson55 1y ago
    I don't see where the person you replied to claimed there was anything special about PADI.
mapt 1y ago
Never done it, never gonna. Thank _Neoshade_'s legendary story in a Reddit comment for that - https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/dv99nf/til_the_blue_hole_is_a_120metredeep_sinkhole_five/f7bzg5a/ https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/dv99nf/til_t... With a side helping of Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon, and the submarine / treasure hunting arc which describes decompression sickness.
- thrown-0825 1y ago
  I have over 5000 logged dives and have only suffered DCS once, with the right training SCUBA can be very safe.
- agos 1y ago
  that comment is a classic and certainly entertaining, but there are multiple levels of safety to prevent something like this from happening, the first of which is the wall of tombstones that greets you when you arrive at that specific dive site. To end up in that situation means to have already made a number of big, big errors. I remember the Blue Hole as one the best dives I made, and not even the scariest: that prize goes to the time I was in calm waters at 20 meters, and the pressure regulator just failed, leaving me without air from both mouthpieces. And that's why you have a buddy...
  - thrown-0825 1y ago
    same, blue hole is notorious because inexperienced divers get pressured into deep dives they haven't trained for by local guides looking to make a quick buck. my scariest dive was when a 14 year old got separated from the group and thought it would be a good idea to continue his dive for 30 minutes.
  - acjohnson55 1y ago
    I don't think I've ever had anything fail on me diving, but I've been with people who have run out of air (my buddy was constantly using all his up), so having to breathe off someone else's tank isn't uncommon. As I mentioned in my sibling comment, I did have a scary time on the Blue Hole. I think my other most nervous dives were: - Pacific dive in Costa Rica in rough seas and surge. We suddenly had visibility drop to near zero when we hit the outflow current of a river. Definitely a lesson in how quick conditions can change. - Cavern diving in a cenote in Mexico. Nothing weird happened, but we went kinda far in, and I get nervous in overhead environments.
    - nradov 1y ago
      Running out of gas or having to breathe off of someone else's tank is uncommon. Gas planning and monitoring is a fundamental skill that every diver needs to master just to get a basic open water certification. If your buddies aren't able to do this reliably then they need remedial training. It's good to practice gas sharing as a contingency in case of equipment failure but actually running out is not acceptable.

Indeed, the grandparent post is a pretty good summary of the takeaways you get from taking PADI’s enriched air nitrox course (which is a requirement if you ever want to dive with enriched air). In the olden days this was tracked manually (the ratio of your depth to percentage of air and time under water) via so called “dive tables”. The purpose and output of the dive table is to determine the safe amount of time you could dive at a certain depth without risking narcosis. As this is a sliding window based on multiple variables - and you are very rarely maintaining a constant depth as you dive - it’s of course annoying and less accurate to hand calculate this. Modern dive computers just seamlessly calculate it all for you nowadays.

thrown-0825 1y ago
Fun fact: those dive tables were created by the US Navy conducting experiments on its own divers, there was a real human cost to acquire that information.
nradov 1y ago
Numerous other training agencies also teach how to use nitrox safely. PADI training isn't specifically required (or even particularly good).
- acjohnson55 1y ago
  I don't see where the person you replied to claimed there was anything special about PADI.

mapt 1y ago

Never done it, never gonna. Thank _Neoshade_'s legendary story in a Reddit comment for that - https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/dv99nf/til_the_blue_hole_is_a_120metredeep_sinkhole_five/f7bzg5a/ https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/dv99nf/til_t... With a side helping of Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon, and the submarine / treasure hunting arc which describes decompression sickness.

thrown-0825 1y ago
I have over 5000 logged dives and have only suffered DCS once, with the right training SCUBA can be very safe.
agos 1y ago
that comment is a classic and certainly entertaining, but there are multiple levels of safety to prevent something like this from happening, the first of which is the wall of tombstones that greets you when you arrive at that specific dive site. To end up in that situation means to have already made a number of big, big errors. I remember the Blue Hole as one the best dives I made, and not even the scariest: that prize goes to the time I was in calm waters at 20 meters, and the pressure regulator just failed, leaving me without air from both mouthpieces. And that's why you have a buddy...
- thrown-0825 1y ago
  same, blue hole is notorious because inexperienced divers get pressured into deep dives they haven't trained for by local guides looking to make a quick buck. my scariest dive was when a 14 year old got separated from the group and thought it would be a good idea to continue his dive for 30 minutes.
- acjohnson55 1y ago
  I don't think I've ever had anything fail on me diving, but I've been with people who have run out of air (my buddy was constantly using all his up), so having to breathe off someone else's tank isn't uncommon. As I mentioned in my sibling comment, I did have a scary time on the Blue Hole. I think my other most nervous dives were: - Pacific dive in Costa Rica in rough seas and surge. We suddenly had visibility drop to near zero when we hit the outflow current of a river. Definitely a lesson in how quick conditions can change. - Cavern diving in a cenote in Mexico. Nothing weird happened, but we went kinda far in, and I get nervous in overhead environments.
  - nradov 1y ago
    Running out of gas or having to breathe off of someone else's tank is uncommon. Gas planning and monitoring is a fundamental skill that every diver needs to master just to get a basic open water certification. If your buddies aren't able to do this reliably then they need remedial training. It's good to practice gas sharing as a contingency in case of equipment failure but actually running out is not acceptable.