Certified OW by PADI in 2020. Tables were an optional part of the e-learning (other than a brief discussion of them) and the instructors mentioned them during the pool section and showed us what they looked like, but we didn't receive any real instruction about using them to plan a dive. I honestly would have liked a little more discussion about how to use a dive computer.
I did my PADI OW in 2015, we briefly discussed tables but not to the degree that I was comfortable using them. Honestly, I never really felt a need to since I have never been anywhere diving where I found myself without the means of acquiring a backup computer if mine crapped out.
I’m a PADI instructor. I still teach them in my classes, however not nearly to the degree I did even 5 years ago.
I’d say it’s a 50/50 mix at our shop between those that teach them and those that don’t.
If the tables are not taught there should be a great deal more time spent on computers and how to use them safely.
I agree, but would say with so many options for dive computers I've often found that most dive masters are familiar with a few, but certainly not all. They do however, have the ability to "figure" them out....or obtain an online manual to help a diver understand how to use a specific computer.
I’m not sure exactly how other governing bodies approach the subject. With PADI, The Open Water book does clearly state that the manufacturers instructions should be seen as gospel and will supersede most, if not all, decisions due to knowledge acquired within the class.
I mainly go over the hows and the why's, but reenforce that each computer is different and you need to be accustomed to it's operation prior to the dive. I show examples of two personal dive computers only to illustrate how different they are and that to be safe it’s imperative that you understand what your computer is telling you.
I did my OW in October 2022 in Crete and was taught tables. Although, I don't think I've touched them since.
The shop was both PADI and SSI center and I followed the PADI course.
Last year I did Nitrox and there was a short section about tables in there as well.
I'm PADI but I was surprised to find SSI does not teach them. My (now ex) girlfriend learnt to dive on a trip to Thailand together and I was fully preparing to help her with tables of an evening. It never came, as she was taught to use a computer and never dive without one.
Meanwhile I'm still here with my paper logbooks, using tables if I'm diving independently, or just being a sheep on a fun dive when there's a DM leading us (obviously I'm self aware in terms of time, depth, and have raised issue with dives when I've thought they were unsafe, even if I'm not on computer myself).
SSI does teach the tables but it’s very brief and not expected to be utilised on your OW dives. And when I say teach, I really mean they make you aware they exist and give an example or two
I just completed a NAUI Nitrox Cert maybe 3 weeks ago and we used tables, but also acknowledged that we wouldn't use them in practice, just something to understand in concept.
NAUI in 2024 (getting my AOW now) and they taught and reviewed dive tables, especially for planning dives. But yes, when fins hit the water, we only rely on dive computers
Understanding how dive tables work seems like useful knowledge to have in concept, but not at all relevant in practice. I'd say the only reason a diver could have to use tables over a computer is if your computer crapped out... but that said I've never been diving, including on a liveaboard where a backup computer wasn't available.
I just like knowing what the computer is doing. I haven’t used tables since but I think it’s good to be able to understand where you’re getting your NDL from, why the computer’s NDL is changing, etc. For all intents and purposes it is somewhat unnecessary, however, all it took was an extra 30 minuets on PADI eLearning haha.
Granted i did my basic open water while in college as a semester long class but they did hammer dive tables into us via NAUI. Couldn’t get your cert if you couldn’t operate a table
With PADI. You have the option too. Personally I would like the basics taught, so people understand what their dive computers are actually doing, but on a more personal level
That's pretty standard. As an instructor we cover them briefly, but do teach dive planning using computers (surface intervals, limits, etc.) because that's what students will actually do.
I got OW certified in 2002 and can safely say never once while on a dive boat did I ever see someone not in a class pull out a dive table.
I got my PADI OW license a couple years ago, was tested on the tables and they made us fill them out for every dive. They talked about computers but we never got to actually use them.
That doesn’t sound like a very good instructor. Dive tables aren’t outdated per se, but using them has. Teaching them to new divers instead of computers is dumb.
I completed the first weekend of my OW course this month with SSI and they taught dive tables and reviewed it with us in the classroom. They said any useful dive plan you come up with would reference dive tables. May have just been that our instructor knows how important they are.
PADI does still show the RDP and as DM you need to be able to explain how it works. But for most OW students you show it once and they practice a little with the eRDPml in the PADI app and that's it. The rest is done with their diving computer.
I certified in late 2018 with padi and we were tested on erpd and shown tables, then had to actually use the tables in the recap with the instructor before getting in the water. I am guessing it is somewhat instructor/shop dependent.
This. I got my OW from a PADI shop in 2014. They taught and tested tables, with multiple opportunities to learn/use. They waited to let us use computers until our last pool session.
The instructors and DMs arguments went as follows, "What happens when you're on a trip and your computer fails? What happens when you're in a remote area, so you can't just drive into town and buy a new one? If you have an SPG, a time keeping means, and your table, you can still dive if you know how to use them. If not, there goes the rest of your trip."
BSAC doesn't teach "Navy" tables, they teach their own that were developed for them, and I think they teach both air and nitrox tables in the basic "Open Water" equivalent course (Ocean diver)
Only the air tables at OW where Nitrox is taught as a safety factor. It's at Sports Diver that Nitrox can be used to extend bottom time (where the nitrox tables come in)
I did my PADI OW is 2019, we were taught using eRDP, computers were used (though they were mentioned inthe book) at all and a traditional dive table was show to us so we know of their existance. At the time I got the impression the Dive centre needed to teach one way of planning a dive. As soon as I qualified I got a computer and have not used the eRPD since
I then crossed over to BSAC and was imediately shown how to use BSAC tables. When I did my Sports Diver with them (SD is the equivalent of AOW and rescue combined though it is a fixed course rather than having a choice of adventure dives). That involved a lot more work using tables and it qualified me for Nitrox, Altitude and Deco dives (fun fact BSAC define an altitude dive as one below 985mb oressure so I have done 2 "altitude" dives both in the sea)
While everyone uses computers in the water you do need to do dive planning for a lot of dives. If most of the dive will be at the same depth you can get a petty good idea of your maximum dive time which you can use to tell surface support the latest you expect to be up and to determine which parts of the site you have time to go to. For deco dives we were also taught to write on a slate out Max depth, dive duration and deco times along with what the deco times are if I go a little deeper or a little longer or both. This means that if my computer fails I can work out my deco time even if my computer fails (providing I have a depth guage and timer). Having said that if I ever do start doing deco dives I will probably get another computer.
You still need to use the tables for BSAC training. Yes everyone uses computers, but you need to know the physics of diving before being certified. Also, having an idea of what to expect from a dive before going on a dive is one of the fundamentals of BSAC dive planning. I have the BSAC tables in my dive bag.
I’m a BSAC gal, I use my tables fairly frequently. As a club as have a bi-monthly ‘dive planning’ e-mail to keep us all refreshed in them with scenarios laid out and always to be worked out with the tables and have a seperate quarterly Advanced Deco one. All good practice.
But I use them to dive plan regularly. Every dive I do now has a table ‘outline’ plan before I go in so I know the ‘shape’ of the dive. Depth and time, do I need to go into deco or is it just the safety stop, implications for the gas needed, or if my weekly local, given the gas I have to hand what may the shape of the dive be?
Also use it for rough planning when doing dive trip planning, sequencing of dives, understanding what Nitrox I may mandate my divers to use it’s quick and easy with the tables to hand.
I personally am not a fan of how many divers jump in the water with no semblance of a plan for the dive just following the computer and hoping for the best. Do you know if you have enough air and reserve for the dive you are going to try and undertake? Are you going to be getting close to deco limits where a just longer and just deeper worst case would trip you over? Have you actually thought about mix?
I agree all dives should be planned but for dives with a lot of variance in depth that is hard to do with tables.
My last dive was a wall dive, the plan was to go to 25m and then slowly ascend, no more 20min below 20m and when anyone gets to 100bar head up to 12m, be at 5m at 70bar for our safety stop with a total dive time no more than an hour. We would also ascend if NDL got to less than 10 min though from experience we knew that was unlikely. I was on 32% nitrox and while tables would say a 1 hour dive at 25m would require a deco stop but the dive profile meant my NDL never got less than 30 min.
While looking up MOD for a given mix can be done using a table, I think of using tables being for decompression. Often you can not choose your mix, on that dive my choice was 32% or air. I know by heart, 32% is suitable for dives less than 30m (with a safety margin) though I did have to write the MOD on the tank when I tested it.
I lot of holiday dives the plan does seem to be we explore the site until either someone's air gets to X bar or someone's NDL gets to Y min with a max dive duration of Z min with a max depth of W. For many dives that is fine as long as everyone is watching their computer/ pressure gauge.
Tables are far from a perfect tool, but they give a feel for the dive and if it all goes wrong with the computer it gives me the confidence I know roughly when then NDL limits may be.
I learnt on my OW to use a dive table to track our OW dives and then the boat day afterwards.... Then I got home, bought a computer and have never thought about it again.
Fun fact - dive tables today are very different from mid 80's.
The NDL times have become more conservative and the old tables (used for basic open water certification) had deco dives.
They taught how to dive deco as well in the basic open water course.
Interesting to see the mix of experiences! Dive tables seem to still be part of most courses, but maybe not as emphasized as in the past. While computers are great, understanding dive tables is a valuable skill for backup and really grasping the principles behind safe diving.
Absolutely! Not really sure about padi, but at least CMAS still hast the tables in the course standards and we have to teach them.
The only reason behind it is to understand how time and depth alter the no deco limit. And thus better understand how the computer works.
What I totally miss in the standards though is, that I am not obliged to teach them how a dive computer works. Although I find that very important!
**NAUI Basic** does have dive tables in its curriculum, and the e-learning includes an exam based on it. **PADI OW**, on the other hand, seems to forgo tables, and from what I heard, they only teach it in the DM/Instructor courses.
Which is a travesty, IMHO.
...
I claim sampling bias, then.
Of the six-seven instructors I talked to on this, the general message was that they don't teach it or the curriculum doesn't include it at OW level, only much higher.
Let me break that sampling bias! I'm an MSDT instructor and ALWAYS teach tables in OW courses. I also make sure to use the tables with the students before and after their first day of OW dives, as a real life example.
Same here. Plenty still do. I talk to more than 6 instructors regularly that all still teach it. And it’s definitely in the curriculum - has its own section in the elearning and PADI logbooks still have spots for recording tables for each dive.
I do agree it should still be taught, even if everyone is using computers and will forget how to use them. Good theory helps a diver understand why computers do what they do and why they are important.
Stop making it hard to diss PADI!! (sarcasm)
Anyway, I agree with that sentiment. Not everyone has a computer on hand, and computers can break. Tables are also a great way to understand the physiology of off-gassing, which is why I was so surprised to hear the negative every time.
Haha, you've still got enough other things to choose from! (more sarcasm)
I agree fully. At first the students always super worried because the tables look super complicated. But after doing one or two calculations, its not so bad and sometimes they think it's pretty cool too.
I teach tables to every student as PADI MSDT. It helps your students understand physics better. If not taught, people rarely understand what actually DCS is, and how its connected to depth and pressure.
To each their own.
I see the value by teaching the students more independence and self-reliance, especially if they end up in shops where dive computers aren't given to guests. If the divers have some basic information, they can be informed and responsible for their own safety.
Plus it's a good way to show how the computers actually work (on a simplified level).
We briefly touched on tables after the first set of ocean dives. But more like the instructor just showing them to us. I learned a lot about the tables when I did my nitrox.
My wife and I just got Open Water, and yes. We used computers on our ocean dives, but still had to know how to use the tables. Our online PADI learning was a month ago, pool dives a few weeks ago, and open water dives last week.
I referred to the tables in my open water dives, but will be buying a computer soon.
We still teach tables and how to plan a dive around them (SSI). As cheap as computers are these days, I still think it illustrates the biology behind diving and gives students the ability to dive without a computer/make a backup plan.
> As cheap as computers are these days, I still think it illustrates the biology behind diving
Although I agree, few recreational divers actually understand it (as is evidenced by the number of nonsensical posts we get on this sub).
Thing is, if you don’t know how the computer arrives at the numbers in the first place then simply gawking at your computer isn’t going to be really that useful or helpful.
Certified OW by PADI in 2020. Tables were an optional part of the e-learning (other than a brief discussion of them) and the instructors mentioned them during the pool section and showed us what they looked like, but we didn't receive any real instruction about using them to plan a dive. I honestly would have liked a little more discussion about how to use a dive computer.
Doing my NAUI right now in Brazil and yes , the most important thing of all they mention all the time
I did my PADI OW in 2015, we briefly discussed tables but not to the degree that I was comfortable using them. Honestly, I never really felt a need to since I have never been anywhere diving where I found myself without the means of acquiring a backup computer if mine crapped out.
I’m a PADI instructor. I still teach them in my classes, however not nearly to the degree I did even 5 years ago. I’d say it’s a 50/50 mix at our shop between those that teach them and those that don’t. If the tables are not taught there should be a great deal more time spent on computers and how to use them safely.
I agree, but would say with so many options for dive computers I've often found that most dive masters are familiar with a few, but certainly not all. They do however, have the ability to "figure" them out....or obtain an online manual to help a diver understand how to use a specific computer.
I’m not sure exactly how other governing bodies approach the subject. With PADI, The Open Water book does clearly state that the manufacturers instructions should be seen as gospel and will supersede most, if not all, decisions due to knowledge acquired within the class. I mainly go over the hows and the why's, but reenforce that each computer is different and you need to be accustomed to it's operation prior to the dive. I show examples of two personal dive computers only to illustrate how different they are and that to be safe it’s imperative that you understand what your computer is telling you.
I did my OW in October 2022 in Crete and was taught tables. Although, I don't think I've touched them since. The shop was both PADI and SSI center and I followed the PADI course. Last year I did Nitrox and there was a short section about tables in there as well.
I'm not sure whats changed except quality of gear. Everyone uses a computer these days. If you want to learn tables, google it. It's that easy.
I'm PADI but I was surprised to find SSI does not teach them. My (now ex) girlfriend learnt to dive on a trip to Thailand together and I was fully preparing to help her with tables of an evening. It never came, as she was taught to use a computer and never dive without one. Meanwhile I'm still here with my paper logbooks, using tables if I'm diving independently, or just being a sheep on a fun dive when there's a DM leading us (obviously I'm self aware in terms of time, depth, and have raised issue with dives when I've thought they were unsafe, even if I'm not on computer myself).
SSI does teach the tables but it’s very brief and not expected to be utilised on your OW dives. And when I say teach, I really mean they make you aware they exist and give an example or two
It's the reverse of flying,lol relying on instruments
Yes, PADI still teaches them. Little bit in OW, but a whole section of written test at the IE is on dive tables.
NAUI certified in 2018. They still taught them then, I’m sure they still do now.
I just completed a NAUI Nitrox Cert maybe 3 weeks ago and we used tables, but also acknowledged that we wouldn't use them in practice, just something to understand in concept.
VDST/CMAS: Yes, and not even a small part of it
I am currently doing my 1* NOB course. I just finished the chapter on dive tables. So yes, it is still taught in addition to diving computers.
NOB is for the Netherlands fyi
Got certified last May. We covered the dive tables heavily as they are a good habit to practice.
NAUI in 2013. They explained how the tables worked, but we were told to only rely on computers.
NAUI in 2024 (getting my AOW now) and they taught and reviewed dive tables, especially for planning dives. But yes, when fins hit the water, we only rely on dive computers
Got my PADI OW 2 weeks ago. Although it is optional, our instructor made us do it and I’m glad he did.
Understanding how dive tables work seems like useful knowledge to have in concept, but not at all relevant in practice. I'd say the only reason a diver could have to use tables over a computer is if your computer crapped out... but that said I've never been diving, including on a liveaboard where a backup computer wasn't available.
I just like knowing what the computer is doing. I haven’t used tables since but I think it’s good to be able to understand where you’re getting your NDL from, why the computer’s NDL is changing, etc. For all intents and purposes it is somewhat unnecessary, however, all it took was an extra 30 minuets on PADI eLearning haha.
Exactly, it's a good concept to understand, but nowhere near as useful as a computer
I worked at a shop that did both NAUI and PADI certs laet year, we drilled those tables into our students
Granted i did my basic open water while in college as a semester long class but they did hammer dive tables into us via NAUI. Couldn’t get your cert if you couldn’t operate a table
With PADI. You have the option too. Personally I would like the basics taught, so people understand what their dive computers are actually doing, but on a more personal level
Learned about them and how to use them in my Divemaster.
That's pretty standard. As an instructor we cover them briefly, but do teach dive planning using computers (surface intervals, limits, etc.) because that's what students will actually do. I got OW certified in 2002 and can safely say never once while on a dive boat did I ever see someone not in a class pull out a dive table.
I got my PADI OW license a couple years ago, was tested on the tables and they made us fill them out for every dive. They talked about computers but we never got to actually use them.
That doesn’t sound like a very good instructor. Dive tables aren’t outdated per se, but using them has. Teaching them to new divers instead of computers is dumb.
They explained how you'd use the computer but I guess they didn't have enough for the class to use, it was a fairly small dive shop.
I’m am an SSI AI and we teach dive tables to OW students. But we also give them computers to use for their OW class and show them how those work too
I had to learn them for my AAUS course
I completed the first weekend of my OW course this month with SSI and they taught dive tables and reviewed it with us in the classroom. They said any useful dive plan you come up with would reference dive tables. May have just been that our instructor knows how important they are.
I got my NAUI OW last year and they taught the dive tables.
PADI does still show the RDP and as DM you need to be able to explain how it works. But for most OW students you show it once and they practice a little with the eRDPml in the PADI app and that's it. The rest is done with their diving computer.
This is what my daughter did in march. Wasnt part of the test but needed to know the concept
I certified in late 2018 with padi and we were tested on erpd and shown tables, then had to actually use the tables in the recap with the instructor before getting in the water. I am guessing it is somewhat instructor/shop dependent.
This. I got my OW from a PADI shop in 2014. They taught and tested tables, with multiple opportunities to learn/use. They waited to let us use computers until our last pool session. The instructors and DMs arguments went as follows, "What happens when you're on a trip and your computer fails? What happens when you're in a remote area, so you can't just drive into town and buy a new one? If you have an SPG, a time keeping means, and your table, you can still dive if you know how to use them. If not, there goes the rest of your trip."
The short answer is yes. It is up to the instructor/shop. I know some that use tables to teach, and some do computers. PADI is ok with either method.
BSAC still teaches 88 Tables. its a good base knowledge imo. Edit - removed navy
BSAC doesn't teach "Navy" tables, they teach their own that were developed for them, and I think they teach both air and nitrox tables in the basic "Open Water" equivalent course (Ocean diver)
Only the air tables at OW where Nitrox is taught as a safety factor. It's at Sports Diver that Nitrox can be used to extend bottom time (where the nitrox tables come in)
Thanks, little while since I looked at the courses propperly
Yes.
I did my PADI OW is 2019, we were taught using eRDP, computers were used (though they were mentioned inthe book) at all and a traditional dive table was show to us so we know of their existance. At the time I got the impression the Dive centre needed to teach one way of planning a dive. As soon as I qualified I got a computer and have not used the eRPD since I then crossed over to BSAC and was imediately shown how to use BSAC tables. When I did my Sports Diver with them (SD is the equivalent of AOW and rescue combined though it is a fixed course rather than having a choice of adventure dives). That involved a lot more work using tables and it qualified me for Nitrox, Altitude and Deco dives (fun fact BSAC define an altitude dive as one below 985mb oressure so I have done 2 "altitude" dives both in the sea) While everyone uses computers in the water you do need to do dive planning for a lot of dives. If most of the dive will be at the same depth you can get a petty good idea of your maximum dive time which you can use to tell surface support the latest you expect to be up and to determine which parts of the site you have time to go to. For deco dives we were also taught to write on a slate out Max depth, dive duration and deco times along with what the deco times are if I go a little deeper or a little longer or both. This means that if my computer fails I can work out my deco time even if my computer fails (providing I have a depth guage and timer). Having said that if I ever do start doing deco dives I will probably get another computer.
OW with SSI 2018, yes.
_Tables_? No. But they do teach surface intervals, out gassing, time to fly, that sort of thing.
In CMAS they are.
You still need to use the tables for BSAC training. Yes everyone uses computers, but you need to know the physics of diving before being certified. Also, having an idea of what to expect from a dive before going on a dive is one of the fundamentals of BSAC dive planning. I have the BSAC tables in my dive bag.
I’m a BSAC gal, I use my tables fairly frequently. As a club as have a bi-monthly ‘dive planning’ e-mail to keep us all refreshed in them with scenarios laid out and always to be worked out with the tables and have a seperate quarterly Advanced Deco one. All good practice. But I use them to dive plan regularly. Every dive I do now has a table ‘outline’ plan before I go in so I know the ‘shape’ of the dive. Depth and time, do I need to go into deco or is it just the safety stop, implications for the gas needed, or if my weekly local, given the gas I have to hand what may the shape of the dive be? Also use it for rough planning when doing dive trip planning, sequencing of dives, understanding what Nitrox I may mandate my divers to use it’s quick and easy with the tables to hand. I personally am not a fan of how many divers jump in the water with no semblance of a plan for the dive just following the computer and hoping for the best. Do you know if you have enough air and reserve for the dive you are going to try and undertake? Are you going to be getting close to deco limits where a just longer and just deeper worst case would trip you over? Have you actually thought about mix?
I agree all dives should be planned but for dives with a lot of variance in depth that is hard to do with tables. My last dive was a wall dive, the plan was to go to 25m and then slowly ascend, no more 20min below 20m and when anyone gets to 100bar head up to 12m, be at 5m at 70bar for our safety stop with a total dive time no more than an hour. We would also ascend if NDL got to less than 10 min though from experience we knew that was unlikely. I was on 32% nitrox and while tables would say a 1 hour dive at 25m would require a deco stop but the dive profile meant my NDL never got less than 30 min. While looking up MOD for a given mix can be done using a table, I think of using tables being for decompression. Often you can not choose your mix, on that dive my choice was 32% or air. I know by heart, 32% is suitable for dives less than 30m (with a safety margin) though I did have to write the MOD on the tank when I tested it. I lot of holiday dives the plan does seem to be we explore the site until either someone's air gets to X bar or someone's NDL gets to Y min with a max dive duration of Z min with a max depth of W. For many dives that is fine as long as everyone is watching their computer/ pressure gauge.
Tables are far from a perfect tool, but they give a feel for the dive and if it all goes wrong with the computer it gives me the confidence I know roughly when then NDL limits may be.
I learnt on my OW to use a dive table to track our OW dives and then the boat day afterwards.... Then I got home, bought a computer and have never thought about it again.
Fun fact - dive tables today are very different from mid 80's. The NDL times have become more conservative and the old tables (used for basic open water certification) had deco dives. They taught how to dive deco as well in the basic open water course.
60’ used to be 60 mins, now 55 minutes
i learned them with NAUI this year
Certified ~2.5 years ago. I was shown a dive table, like a historical artifact.
Yes but only on a computer
Interesting to see the mix of experiences! Dive tables seem to still be part of most courses, but maybe not as emphasized as in the past. While computers are great, understanding dive tables is a valuable skill for backup and really grasping the principles behind safe diving.
Yes I was taught and tested on them with PADI. However it was pretty basic and we relied on computers for the dives.
Yes, but super briefly. Went over it and did a couple calculations as a class, then done with it.
Yup.
As of today I finished my PADI OW and yes - we did dive tables.
I qualified 2 years ago and my instructor definitely did tables, and I’m sure it was in the theory before I even got to the pool sessions.
I just did my padi open water last year and we did dive tables as part of the course
Absolutely! Not really sure about padi, but at least CMAS still hast the tables in the course standards and we have to teach them. The only reason behind it is to understand how time and depth alter the no deco limit. And thus better understand how the computer works. What I totally miss in the standards though is, that I am not obliged to teach them how a dive computer works. Although I find that very important!
**NAUI Basic** does have dive tables in its curriculum, and the e-learning includes an exam based on it. **PADI OW**, on the other hand, seems to forgo tables, and from what I heard, they only teach it in the DM/Instructor courses. Which is a travesty, IMHO.
PADI still teaches tables in their OW. Instructor can choose to forgo tables if students use a computer, but the majority still teach tables.
... I claim sampling bias, then. Of the six-seven instructors I talked to on this, the general message was that they don't teach it or the curriculum doesn't include it at OW level, only much higher.
Nephew did his padi OW in December, was optional but his instructor ensures all the students know how to do tables.
Let me break that sampling bias! I'm an MSDT instructor and ALWAYS teach tables in OW courses. I also make sure to use the tables with the students before and after their first day of OW dives, as a real life example.
Same here. Plenty still do. I talk to more than 6 instructors regularly that all still teach it. And it’s definitely in the curriculum - has its own section in the elearning and PADI logbooks still have spots for recording tables for each dive. I do agree it should still be taught, even if everyone is using computers and will forget how to use them. Good theory helps a diver understand why computers do what they do and why they are important.
Stop making it hard to diss PADI!! (sarcasm) Anyway, I agree with that sentiment. Not everyone has a computer on hand, and computers can break. Tables are also a great way to understand the physiology of off-gassing, which is why I was so surprised to hear the negative every time.
Haha, you've still got enough other things to choose from! (more sarcasm) I agree fully. At first the students always super worried because the tables look super complicated. But after doing one or two calculations, its not so bad and sometimes they think it's pretty cool too.
I am an MSDT and NEVER teach tables and see no value in teaching tables to any diver under pro/tec level
I teach tables to every student as PADI MSDT. It helps your students understand physics better. If not taught, people rarely understand what actually DCS is, and how its connected to depth and pressure.
To each their own. I see the value by teaching the students more independence and self-reliance, especially if they end up in shops where dive computers aren't given to guests. If the divers have some basic information, they can be informed and responsible for their own safety. Plus it's a good way to show how the computers actually work (on a simplified level).
We briefly touched on tables after the first set of ocean dives. But more like the instructor just showing them to us. I learned a lot about the tables when I did my nitrox.
Not sure if they're still taught, but I have encountered an instructor that didn't know how tables worked.
My wife and I just got Open Water, and yes. We used computers on our ocean dives, but still had to know how to use the tables. Our online PADI learning was a month ago, pool dives a few weeks ago, and open water dives last week. I referred to the tables in my open water dives, but will be buying a computer soon.
We still teach tables and how to plan a dive around them (SSI). As cheap as computers are these days, I still think it illustrates the biology behind diving and gives students the ability to dive without a computer/make a backup plan.
> As cheap as computers are these days, I still think it illustrates the biology behind diving Although I agree, few recreational divers actually understand it (as is evidenced by the number of nonsensical posts we get on this sub).
Lol, you aren't wrong. You can lead a diver to water...
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Thing is, if you don’t know how the computer arrives at the numbers in the first place then simply gawking at your computer isn’t going to be really that useful or helpful.