Diver Safety; Altitude Diving - Suunto D5 User Manual

Suunto D5
Computing closely spaced repetitive diving
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Reacting to a dive deeper than the previous dive
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Adapting to rapid ascents which produce high microbubble (silent-bubble) build-up
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Incorporating consistency with real physical laws for gas kinetics
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The Suunto Fused™ RGBM 2 combines and improves widely respected Suunto RGBM and
Suunto Fused™ RGBM decompression models developed by Suunto together with Dr. Bruce
Wienke. (Suunto dive algorithms are a culmination of expertise and knowledge accumulated
over decades of development, testing and thousands upon thousands of dives.)
In Suunto Fused™ RGBM 2 the tissue half-times are derived from Wienke's FullRGBM where
human body is modeled by fifteen different tissue groups. FullRGBM can utilize these
additional tissues and model the on-gassing and off-gassing more accurately. The amounts of
nitrogen and helium on-gassing and off-gassing in the tissues are calculated independently
from each other.
The Fused™ RGBM 2 supports open-circuit and closed-circuit diving up to a depth of 150
meters. Compared to previous algorithms, Fused™ RGBM 2 is less conservative on deep air
dives, allowing shorter ascent times. In addition, the algorithm no longer requires tissues to
be completely free of residual gases when calculating no-fly times, thereby reducing the
required time between your last dive and flying.
The advantage of Suunto Fused™ RGBM 2 is additional safety through its ability to adapt to a
wide variety of situations. For recreational divers it may offer slightly longer no- deco times,
depending on the chosen personal setting. For open-circuit technical divers it allows use of
gas mixes with helium - on deeper and longer dives helium based gas mixes provide shorter
ascent times. And finally, for rebreather divers the Suunto Fused™ RGBM 2 algorithm gives the
perfect tool to be used as a non-monitoring, set point dive computer.
NOTE: Suunto D5 does not have Trimix diving or CCR support.

3.9.1. Diver safety

Because any decompression model is purely theoretical and does not monitor the actual
body of a diver, no decompression model can guarantee the absence of DCS. Experimentally
it has been shown that the body adapts to decompression to some degree when diving is
constant and frequent. Two personal adjustment settings (P-1 and P-2) are available for divers
who dive constantly and are ready to accept greater personal risk.
CAUTION: Always use the same personal and altitude adjustment settings for the actual
dive and for the planning. Increasing the personal adjustment setting from the planned
setting as well as increasing the altitude adjustment setting can lead to longer
decompression times deeper and thus to larger required gas volume. You can run out of
breathing gas underwater if the personal adjustment setting has been changed after dive
planning.

3.9.2. Altitude diving

WARNING: Traveling to a higher elevation can temporarily cause a change in the
equilibrium of dissolved nitrogen in the body. It is recommended that you acclimatize to the
new altitude before diving.
The atmospheric pressure is lower at high altitudes than at sea level. After traveling to a
higher altitude, you will have additional nitrogen in your body, compared to the equilibrium
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