Recreational Dive Planner (RDP) Flashcards
7 cards from real PADI practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Recreational Dive Planner (RDP) flashcards as text
A diver plans three dives in one day. Which of the following is the MOST conservative planning approach?
Answer: Start with the deepest dive and gradually ascend to shallower depths on each subsequent dive
Starting with the deepest dive and ending with the shallowest minimizes residual nitrogen accumulation and follows RDP best practices.
If a diver wants to make three dives in one day using the RDP, how are the planning steps connected between dives?
Answer: The ending pressure group of each dive becomes the starting pressure group for the next surface interval calculation
The end pressure group of Dive 1 feeds into Table 2 for the surface interval, then Table 3 for Dive 2, and the same chain continues for Dive 3.
When planning a dive at altitude using the PADI RDP, what adjustment must be made?
Answer: Use the altitude-adjusted RDP tables or special procedures because reduced atmospheric pressure changes nitrogen absorption rates
At altitude, the reduced atmospheric pressure means nitrogen behaves differently, requiring special altitude dive planning procedures.
What does it mean if a diver's planned Total Bottom Time (TBT) exceeds the NDL for their repetitive dive depth?
Answer: The planned dive is not permitted as a recreational dive — the diver must reduce either depth or time
When TBT exceeds the NDL, the dive violates no-decompression limits and is not permitted in recreational diving — either depth or time must be reduced.
Which symptom is MOST associated with decompression sickness (DCS), the risk the RDP is designed to minimize?
Answer: Joint pain, skin rash, numbness, or paralysis after surfacing
DCS symptoms — joint pain, neurological symptoms, skin mottling — result from nitrogen bubbles forming in tissues when a diver ascends too quickly or exceeds NDLs.
On the RDP, what does the shaded area on Table 1 indicate?
Answer: Dive times that would exceed the no-decompression limit and are not allowed
Shaded cells on Table 1 represent depth-time combinations that exceed the no-decompression limit and therefore require decompression — not permitted in recreational diving.
A student asks why the RDP tables are more conservative than actual decompression research. What is the BEST explanation?
Answer: The RDP builds in safety margins because individual physiology, fitness, and conditions vary widely among recreational divers
The RDP includes conservative safety margins to account for individual variability, fatigue, cold, exertion, and other real-world factors that affect nitrogen absorption.