Deep and Safety Stops, including Ascent Speed and Gradient Factors

To stop or not.

This book is the third book in the diving series after The Art of Gas Blending, Dive Computers and before Diving Below 130 Feet, and looks at what 'Deep Stops' actually are, and how these stops are calculated and used today.

This book looks at the research done and current understandings of deep stops, both for and against. The book’s aim is not to advocate or discredit the use of deep stops, but rather to be neutral and provide the reader with the most up to date knowledge, research and methods used by various groups, from military to recreational and technical diving, and how each has changed their diving due to their research.

Some of the topics covered are:
• Safety stops and their role in diving
• Ascent speed and how it affects your
decompression • Descent speed and how it affects your decompresion
• Oxygen window
• Gradient Factors, in-depth explanation with example calculations and formulas
• Different kinds of deep stops
• How long to stop for
• Research done on deep stops
• Micro bubbles
• Diffusion speed and solubility
• How bubbles form
• Tribonucleation
• Thermal change during diving and decompression
• Exercise and diving
• Body’s reaction to bubbles
• Blood complement activation
• Smoking, fat, alcohol and Yo-Yo diving, their role in decompression
• Different algorithms