Dive Planning: What's your flavour?

[And]

Hi

I wonder what the majority of divers do in terms of planning dives? Do you have a well worked out methodology and practice it for every dive? Do you just let someone else do it and go with the flow, or does it depend on the dive? Over the last few years that I've been diving I have learnt about BSAC's SEEDS (Safety Equipment Environment Dive and Signals and GUE's SADDDDD Sequence, Air(Gas), Dive, Duration, Deco, Depth, Direction. (I think they are both right). They seem to work well and I use them on every dive, whether I've done the dive before or not, with a new buddy or without. It just makes the whole process easy and gets me in the right frame of mind.

Just wondered what other divers do and whether they think its important or not.

Andy

[Rick Huggins]

Before fundies I just planned a dive time based on NDL or available air!

Now I'm beginning to think a lot more about contingencies, gas management, practicing for deco dives and diving min deco etc

[dry suit diver]

all depends on who I am diving with, on the falmouth trip we had a vague idea of the site we were diving but specific plans were not agreed at the surface the only thing that was rigidly adhered to was first diver to 60 bar on main tank signals ascent to start and all divers in team to start ascent.
I was diving on 15l and 3l pony so knew i would have enough air to surface slowly and safely from 30m.

[nigelH]

Rebreather always has 18/40 in it.
Make sure it is full.
Check kitty-litter time.
VR3 on one wrist, Uwatec DT on the other, tables in pocket (3m/5min steps).
Are we going below 40m? Take sling of bottom mix.
Are we expecting more than 30mins of stops? Take 50% too.
Dive.
Have fun.
Try not to be seasick at 6m.

[jptaylor9]

Just do it...

[zepp]

Unless I intend a NDL dive, I always use either Z planner, or thanks to Nigel, his pocket PC planner and stick to it. I would normally plan say a 50mtr dive for say 30 mins, and then also write down back-ups of 50mtr for 35mins incase of unseen circumstances, and also one for 20 or 25mins incase I decide to leave early, therfore not having to do the full amount of stops on the 30mtr plan.....

[Little Pete]

Starting to think more about contingencies and such having done the fundies. Before that I guess I'd just got a bit blase having done lots of dives without needing to plan much (or at least thinking that was the case).

Now I just scare people when I tell them about rock bottom (i was just as suprised when I did the maths for the first time on the course) and they all suddenly get more interested in planning out the dive better :o

[Martin Burnard]

Used to do the following...

Any gas left? Yes! thats good then.

Did fundies. Now plan

[recurve]

Originally Posted by Martin Burnard

Used to do the following...

Any gas left? Yes! thats good then.

Ah, the well rehearsed POST dive, dive planning eh?

[Martin Burnard]

As used by divers all over the world, and in the pot!

Wasn't quite that lax but not really planned in detail, certainly I had a conservative approach.