Diving Air vs Nitrox

[TSandM]

Most tables will say to consider your dive 10 feet deeper if you were working hard. It's not because of the volume passing through the lungs, though; it's probably due to the increased tissue perfusion from exercise, and increased nitrogen delivery and equilibration.

I think somebody already gave my answer -- if you are doing a lot of diving in the 60 to 100 foot range, or you are given to liveaboards or Bonaire trips where you're doing multiple dives a day, for multiple days, then Nitrox is very beneficial. If your dives tend to be shallow, or you don't do multiple dives, then perhaps not so much. One final thought -- a lot of us put on a little weight as we get older, and there is some suggestion that being heavier gives you a higher DCS risk, which might make Nitrox attractive as well.

 

[MalibuJerry]

there has been very little research on the effect of inert gas under pressure for divers in your age bracket. Therefore no one can say if it is going to be significantly better for you.

What nitrox will do is lower the partial pressure of the nitrogen and therefore the uptake of inert gas into solution (your tissues). This is true for 25' as well as 60'. That is a good thing. The negatives are you need to get trained, if your LDS does partial pressure blending you need to have an O2 clean tank (easy enough but you have to pay for the cleaning), and you need to take the time to analyze your gas before each dive. Depending on your circumstances it may or may not be a big deal.

Were I you, I would do it. Given a choice I will always opt for nitrox.

 

[dyandiver]

Thank you, thank you everyone. I'm convinced. We'll get certified on our next trip to Bonaire.

 

[reefduffer]

Thank you, thank you everyone. I'm convinced. We'll get certified on our next trip to Bonaire.

Nitrox cert requires no diving, just classwork and classroom demo of analyzing a tank.
I'd recommend doing it at your LDS and leave vacation for diving.

And FWIW, my wife and I, in our 60s, both perceive the reduced fatigue effect that was mentioned, and usually dive Nitrox when we can and it's reasonably priced, just for that.

 

[cbm32]

More sex when breathing Nitrox???? Heck I am Nitrox certified and after reading that I think I am going to start using Nitrox even when on land

 

[KeithG]

My husband and I are 71 and 66 years young. We were both certified in the 80's and then didn't dive for 20+ years and are now actively back in the water and loving every minute. Neither one of us is nitrox certified - and do we want to be? My husband is somewhat of an air hog so he always runs low on air long before he reaches no deco limits. If you were me/he - is there an advantage to us in getting nitrox certified? The price of the course could just as well be spent on more dives.

Any/all thoughts and input appreciated. If we'll benefit then that's what we'll do. But if not -- why bother?

Thanks.

Who gets the benefit? It all depends upon your dive profiles.

If relatively deep, long and aggressive, then you can benefit.

If shallow and conservative, then the dive op benefits ($$$).

So we need to know your dive behavior before we can answer for you.

My most common trips are Bonaire or live aboards. Generally 4 dives a day. I dive air. I never come close to ndls and generally return with 1000 to 1500 psi in my al8 after a 60 to 90 minute dive. Nitrox is a total waste "for my profiles". They are very conservative profiles (I am a shallow water photographer, not much swimming happening...) but many or most of my fellow divers DO benefit from nitrox as they tend to ride the ndls of their computers.

Can you provide some info on your dive behavior?

P.s. and I am 55 and fat...and a little bit ugly on the side

 

[beaverdivers]

P.s. and I am 55 and fat...and a little bit ugly on the side

You might want to take cbm32 advice!

 

[dyandiver]

Semi-shallow and somewhat conservative. But from what I've been reading it looks like Nitrox is a safer bet for multi dives, day after after day, as I "mature" (hate using the word old.) We also dive Bonaire - 2x daily x 14 days. We do get tired.

 

[KeithG]

You might want to take cbm32 advice!

Ain't gonna work. I participated in the survey and I lied.

 

[dmoore19]

I got certified for Nitrox and have used it for every dive since. Provable or not, in my opinion diving Nitrox leaves me feeling less tired after a day of diving. I recently did a live aboard and did 4 dives a day, the price was (I think) $120 for the week. I would do it again, I am somewhere close to the 60 mark and I thought it helped me.