SCUBA diving?
 

Any fellow SCUBA divers here?


I know everyone says 12-24 hours after diving before flying, however it seems that one can actually do less: http://www.ndc.noaa.gov/pdfs/AscentToAltitudeTable.pdf



Has anyone seen that chart before?

Military divers, especially SOF, use such tables for post-dive air transport. Not sure if these are the same ones, but it's worth noting that the mil tables assume a few things:

- Low body fat
- Highly fit
- Young

All these things affect N2 absorption and release, so if you don't quit fit the military diver profile I'd be careful using military tables. And frankly mil divers get bent all the time using our tables.

Also, if you're planning on serving as crew vice pax...pretty remote concern but if the airplane has a rapid decompression you're going to be extra-hurt if you're carrying any residual N2.

Good points

The first poster is correct. Even the tables use somewhat general formulas, so the exact time for the bubbles to go away varies with your individual physiology. PADI just publishes a really conservative number of hours to wait in order to cover their asses in case there is in incident.