[jome]

Good point and that's why I was so surprised that derelictp's times were so close to me, since there is no "common to all" contractions start time. Obviously it's highly individual and even varies from day to day.

That's why I try to get one message across to people who ask me about static. No matter how much you read, discuss or get advice, you have to do TONS of statics and play around with variables to understand what is the best method for YOU. You may read all the discussions in DB if you want, but if you only do static 2 times per year, it's very likely you won't be making much progress.

I've done 3-4 (total dry and wet) statics per week since June every week, having a break now and then for about a week. And almost every day I find something new and think "so this is what they were talking about...". When we read about people doing this or that ventilation, it's always just and idea. The actual implementation to your own body has to be done with personal experimenting. There's no point in copying someones preparation down to every detail.

It's much the same as with equalization. I often hear things like "yeah I tried the Fattah doc one night...Didn't work for me. I guess I have bad tubes or something". Not counting a lucky few, it can take months to get that first "sort of frenzel" going and a lot longer still to be confident in using it...Not to mention countless dives.

But this is getting a bit off topic now...