I was wandering what everyone thought of the V-Planner program for planning deco dives? I personally have never dove a V-Planner profile, just played around with numbers. Before I dive (or use as a backup) I would like to know what you all think. Good, Bad, will kill you?
Just to clarify depths in excess of 150'
1. Dives with around 20min deco
2. Dives with around 40min deco
3. Dives with over 60min deco.
Before I bought my trimix computer I used to use V-planner all the time. I like the profiles it generates and always felt good getting out of the water. I've actually dove the profiles for dives up to 260ft with about an hour of deco. I still use it to cut back up tables and for some general dive planning.
would you sudjest the VR3 or the Explorer for Deep CCR Trimix Diving with v-planner as backup tables or something else.
That's exactly what I do... well, so far I only use the VR3 as I'm still learning the Explorer. I like V-Planner for back up, easy to use...
I use the Explorer and dive primarily with others that are using the VR3, so I have had a lot of experience comparing the profiles between the two deco models. I really like my Explorer. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the VR3 but I like the profiles it gives me and it's REALLY easy to use. I won't get into the exact differences in the profiles (unless you'd like to hear), but I think the Explorer follows the continous slow ascent idea much better than the VR3. The VR3 will get you to your 20ft stop before the Explorer but it will also keep you there much longer. This past weekend on a dive to 260ft I got out of the water 14 minutes before the VR3 divers. Don't get me wrong, the best dive computer is NOT the one that gets you out of the water fastest. In my opinion the Explorer just gives you stops that make a lot more sense for deco.
I also use V-planner to run back up tables.
Thanks for the info, I think I will end up getting the explorer, as I prefer to have longer deep stops rather than spend a longer time at 20ft. If you wouldnt mind I would like to hear the differences between the two compluters vr3 and explorer.
V-planner is a great aid. Its good for planning your dive; use it to calculate total deco time and gas needs. Its a relatively inexpensive means for computing dives. With various programmable levels of caution you can set it to your personal comfort level.