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Simple answer for me. Depends on the depth and cost.
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Since the rate of DCS incidents is already less than .01% using air there can be only a minute reduction using Nitrox.
Nitrox allows for longer available bottom time or shorter surface intervals
There is no proof of any safety factor nor reduction in fatigue other than anecdotal beliefs.
Agencies don't say that EAnx is 'safer' because the reduced risk of DCI is balanced by the risk of CNS tox.
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hi guys do you prefer air or nitrox, when doing a lot of diving,
do you start the week off with nitrox and then switch to air,
or stay with the same all week.
thanks sam.
Why not Nitrox if it makes sense with maximum depths ? Slight cost but some added safety for sure.
How do you balance two unknowns? The agencies don't say it is safer because they have no credible proof.
In my particular case, I am sure my risk of dci was greatest when I used EAN. But that is because I opted for EAN when the planned dives would have required deco if conducted on air.
There have been three peer reviewed tests, all showing there is a placebo effect when it comes to reduced fatigue using Nitrox. The only way to know for sure would be to have a double blind test with thousands of divers over thousands of various dives. Unless someone comes along with funding for those tests they will never happen. In the meantime many divers continue to repeat their claims of feeling less tired but until there is proof I will continue to trust my own feelings. If you believe in something without evidence then more power to you.The single oft-quoted study about Nitrox and Fatigue is quite misleading because it did not study fatigue in the way that most lay-divers discuss it. That same study did, however, state a belief that air divers had more decompression stress.
The only way to know for sure would be to have a double blind test with thousands of divers over thousands of various dives
Sure, using different gas on othwise identical profiles will result in different gas loads. But, suggesting that there are any quantifiable dci risk differences is the issue. Is there a difference in dci risk for a pressure group C diver and a pressure group D diver? Is there an accident risk difference when driving 29 mph vs 30mph? Are Fords safer than Buicks.