30/09/2026
Apparently there are few quicker ways to divide divers than asking whether they still need to learn dive tables. 😄
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I asked the question and received more than 900 comments and replies.
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And there were some VERY strongly held opinions on both sides.
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Some thought every diver should understand tables and that relying entirely on electronics is a mistake.
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Others thought tables are obsolete and that time spent teaching them would be better spent teaching divers how to properly understand and use the computers they actually dive with.
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Looking specifically at the 656 substantive top level comments, some interesting numbers emerge.
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Around 51% mentioned dive computers.
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Around 50% talked about learning, teaching, understanding, theory or the basic principles.
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Around 23% mentioned computer failure, batteries or electronics.
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Around 18% specifically talked about backup or redundancy.
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And around 8% explicitly described tables as obsolete, outdated, unnecessary or something they no longer use.
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Those categories overlap, which is actually one of the most interesting findings.
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Quite a few people effectively said:
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"Tables are obsolete for actually diving, but divers should still understand them."
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And I think that is pretty close to where I sit.
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For the diving I do, tables are irrelevant as an operational tool.
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I use dive planning software and I carry multiple dive computers to provide redundancy.
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A computer follows my actual profile far more accurately than a table can.
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That can give me considerably more useful bottom time because I am not being treated as though the entire dive was spent at maximum depth.
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It can also deal far better with changes during the dive. On CCR that includes bailout, and my computers can calculate the effect of changing gases if I need to.
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And if one computer fails, my redundancy is another computer.
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I am not going to pull out a set of tables underwater.
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But I still think there is a very good argument for learning tables.
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They provide a simple visual way of understanding the relationship between depth, time, decompression obligation, surface intervals and repetitive diving.
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More importantly, they help explain some of the principles behind the number appearing on the computer on your wrist.
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I don't particularly want divers blindly following a computer without understanding what it is telling them either.
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So, for me, the distinction is quite simple.
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Learning tables and diving tables are not the same thing.
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I think there is still value in the first.
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I have very little use for the second.
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Judging by the comments, I suspect quite a few of you will disagree!
