For some time now, Innerspace Systems has been working on a Megalodon head called APECS 3 that supports integrated decompression. As with any major software / hardware engineering project, there have been some delays, which has Meg owners clambering for information about when it will come out. It’s amazing how so many of these rebreather divers are pestering the company and acting like a bunch of kids a few days before Christmas. What I don’t really understand is why people are so anxious.
It’s not that I wouldn’t like to have integrated deco, but I really don’t see it as being all that big a deal. When software gets more complex it also gets more buggy, which is why I’m pretty happy having a very basic loop controller. Keeping the deco on a different unit like a VR3 is a nice modular system, and besides, I don’t really even use the computer on really deep dives.
When I plan a bigger dive, I do it like this:
- Work out the details on the laptop
- Cut the tables and laminate them (wrist mounted slate)
- Cut bailout tables and laminate them (also on wrist)
- Fill 02 and Diluent
- Fill bailout using thirds
- Do the dive as it was planned and as it appears on my wrist.
While I use the computer to validate my deco schedule, it is really only there for backup.
Again, it would be nice to have integrated deco, but IMHO, you should not do big dives if you can’t maintain a setpoint. Provided you can, or even if you depend on your loop controller to do it, your actual setpoint will match that on your computer. Everything should jive and you can validate the deco schedule on your wrist.
It’s tempting just to jump in, do a gnarly dive and depend on your computer to get you out of it, but doing so ignores some of the basic safety precautions of technical diving like proper gas management, which is a risk that I really don’t feel comfortable taking.
