starter for 10

[beanie]

what do you use / how do you plan your deco

[Phoenix]

It's good, it's cheap, you get the updates & I can't afford 2 VR3's.

I write the deco on a wrist slate then carry a laminated copy in my bag.

Ian

[Fathoms Down]

ProPlanner for most stuff, DDPlan for comparison.

[Juz]

Plan it on the VR3, then check it again either proplanner (if at home) or against XS (palm software) if away.

Also, buddy and I set the depth and duration and then separately plan the runtimes - if they are the same, it's pretty certain that we haven't made a cock up.

So, if my VR3 plan, is the same as my buddies and similar to either proplanner or XS, then I'm happy to get wet.

Juz

[chrisch]

The Oceanic Datamax is good enough for a minute or four - or it was til today when it gave up the ghost..

Gonna buy a fancy gas-switch thing to replace it - had looked at VR3 and so on but I cannot justify that much dosh for maybe 5 to 10 deepish dives a year. (Times 2 the missus needs one too).

V Planner for planning and gas management. (Particularly like the gas consumption with lost gas facility).

Chris

[KimH]

Originally Posted by iani

It's good, it's cheap, you get the updates & I can't afford 2 VR3's.

I write the deco on a wrist slate then carry a laminated copy in my bag.

Ian

Yep, same for me

[Mdemon]

DecoPlanner and ProPlanner. Scribbled on slate.

Or "on the fly" (do what computer tells me) ;-)

[Mark Chase]

Decoplanner for tables.

I have always tried to use a computer so I started with A Vytec three-gas computer. 21% minimum 02 but up to 100% for two-deco gas. I planned the dive on Decoplanner and followed the deep stop recommendations put forward by my 20/80 GF preferences than I used to clear the Vytec on the 6m stop.

I continued to use the Vytec/ Decoplanner option with the Vytec set on 21% for trimix diving using up to 25% He. The deep stops prevented the he bend and the shallow stops were actually longer than required for diving Trimix so it was conservative and I never felt ill after a dive. Using this set up I regularly saved deco time over tables due to the multi levelling on the dive.

Increased depth meant decreased 02 and increased Helium. The Vytec was way out of its league so I switched to the VR3. This was run in comparison to the Decoplanner tables for a while but now I trust the VR3 to get me out clean and feeling good despite its 0 safety setting. It gives me the deep stops I want and I add the slow ascent rates, as is my preference.

Decoplaner is used on every dive for redundancy and gas planning.

The VR3 is a fantastic computer in pretty much a league of its own. All of the anti computer vibe was written before its advent so doesn’t really refer to this level of sophistication. The only down side to the VR3 is you cant go past 0 safety. That said if you do it will still work and will still allow further dives, it just doesn’t like it.

The VR3 saves me as much as 20mins deco over decoplanner running 20/80 on my normal 50 -60m dives with a bottom time of 45mins. If our into deco and into computers it is the only choice.

ATB

Mark Chase

[Skeletor]

DDplan and V planner for comparison tables, run alongside a cochran, but to be honest, I trust the tables much more than the cochran. I generally just use the tables with a d timer, but have the cochran there to tell me the mimimum deco that I can get away with, given the actual profile, just in case the shit hits the fan.

I was looking into buying a VR3, but as I'm now going to be spending the next 12 months shallow, I might get myself a Buddy Nexus and hope that in the meantime delta P sort out the minor niggle with the sticking buttons.

[Mark Powell]

Mainly use V-Planner to generate plans. I set up the config so that it extends gas switching stops to at least 2 mins, add on a few minutes on to the last stop sometimes and do a slow ascent from 6m.