My AN/DP/Helitrox course

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I'm not Jim, but I have done a lot of pool practice for developing my own skills, plus some pool time in classes.

YMMV, but I like to take all my usual gear into the pool and wear my usual undergarment layers and dry gloves. Yes it looks ridiculous and I get a bunch of stares and questions. But, I struggled a LOT with my valve drill. I used the pool to practice that, and it's easier with fewer undergarments, without gloves, and if you're using thinner tanks (like the 72s I use for shore dives) vs the 100s I use for boat diving, because the 72s are just that much closer to my back. So I always gear up for the pool just like I do for the ocean. Because it makes sense to practice something how you need to be able to do it, if it's possible.

It made for some very sweaty dives this summer at the indoor pool that's 80 degrees and humid. But I generally tolerate heat better than cold, and I got through it, and after a lot of practice, I got that valve drill down. It also helps to wear the type of gloves you'll use in the class. It's way easier to clip things on and off with no gloves on, but realistically in the ocean around here, I'll always have dry gloves on, so yep, wool liners and dry gloves in the pool, too.

Just my 2c. I've found pool training to really be helpful for me personally. I practice skills on ocean dives too sometimes (ok, maybe lots of times), but nothing beats a solid hour of just working on whatever you're weak on in the pool when you are trying to acquire and refine new skills.

Can you believe we're on Page 11 and we haven't even gotten in the pool yet? @Marie13 sure does know how to post a thread that's popular!
Practice with the gear you dive with always no matter what , because when it goes wrong you want to be able to make it right ASAP.
 
Hey guys.
Any idea when and why TDI increased Helitrox limits from 20% He to 35%?
That sounds like a good news but quite odd to only dive to 45m/150ft.
Just being curious.

To support people that dive standard gases, 21/35 is now a legit gas for Helitrox divers. It's a great move, I'm incredibly happy with it.
 
To support people that dive standard gases, 21/35 is now a legit gas for Helitrox divers. It's a great move, I'm incredibly happy with it.
Is there a way to upgrade TDI AN/DP to Helitrox? I’d like to be able to use 21/35 for cold water dives where I get easily narced on air, but have no interest in going deeper than 150’. Or is taking the normoxic trimix course the better, or perhaps only option?
 
Thanks everybody for your answers about Helitrox Helium limit changes. Indeed, it makes sense!
 
Is there a way to upgrade TDI AN/DP to Helitrox? I’d like to be able to use 21/35 for cold water dives where I get easily narced on air, but have no interest in going deeper than 150’. Or is taking the normoxic trimix course the better, or perhaps only option?
Just because you're qualified to go to 200' after a normoxic class doesn't mean you have to.
 
To support people that dive standard gases, 21/35 is now a legit gas for Helitrox divers. It's a great move, I'm incredibly happy with it.

Where can I find the reference to this change please, stil have it as 20/25 as the limit for helitrox. Did my CCR Helitrox in June last year and that was the limit given to me.
 
Where can I find the reference to this change please, stil have it as 20/25 as the limit for helitrox. Did my CCR Helitrox in June last year and that was the limit given to me.

Find the Helitrox course on TDI’s website and scroll down to the bottom to download the course standards.

TDI Helitrox Diver - SDI | TDI | ERDI | PFI
 
Is there a way to upgrade TDI AN/DP to Helitrox? I’d like to be able to use 21/35 for cold water dives where I get easily narced on air, but have no interest in going deeper than 150’. Or is taking the normoxic trimix course the better, or perhaps only option?

Do you really get so narced that you need to set your END very shallow?

Find a local instructor and ask. A local diver who was already AN/DP certified did Helitrox last fall, but I’m not sure how many dives, etc., were required.
 
Do you really get so narced that you need to set your END very shallow?

Find a local instructor and ask. A local diver did Helitrox last fall, but I’m not sure how many dives, etc., were required.

On a cold-water dive on air or lean nitrox to 130’, I can’t remember all the details of the dive afterwards. That is how I know I’m narced and I avoid going below that. And as a Great Lakes diver you know that there is good stuff in the 130’-150’ range. So adding some helium seems like a good idea. I don’t think I need to necessarily go to 21/35, but I don’t want to go with my END much higher than 100’. Warm water is different for me and I feel much less the effects of narcosis. I suspect that for me at least this marked difference between cold and warm water may also have something to do with CO2 retention. Again, adding some helium to bring down the work of breathing can’t hurt.
 
On a cold-water dive on air or lean nitrox to 130’, I can’t remember all the details of the dive afterwards. That is how I know I’m narced and I avoid going below that. And as a Great Lakes diver you know that there is good stuff in the 130’-150’ range. So adding some helium seems like a good idea. I don’t think I need to necessarily go to 21/35, but I don’t want to go with my END much higher than 100’. Warm water is different for me and I feel much less the effects of narcosis. I suspect that for me at least this marked difference between cold and warm water may also have something to do with CO2 retention. Again, adding some helium to bring down the work of breathing can’t hurt.

I’m OK with an END of 100ft. My shop doesn’t bank standard mixes. It’s all custom fills. So getting fills for a shallower END is a waste of money, IMO. My shop is currently charging $3/cft. My instructor calculated that a fill with 20% helium in my HP80 doubles would run $90 just for the helium.

I get a massive case of what I refer to as “mush brain” at 130ft.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/
http://cavediveflorida.com/Rum_House.htm

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