Air backup for a nitrox dive?

[vanderschmooz]

Say I have Spare Air (the air model, not nitrox) and I have an OOA situation on a nitrox dive. Am I correct in assuming that it's safe to switch to the 20.9% backup for my ascent? I can't wrap my head around it at the moment.

 

[Marie13]

Say I have Spare Air (the air model, not nitrox) and I have an OOA situation on a nitrox dive. Am I correct in assuming that it's safe to switch to the 20.9% backup for my ascent? I can't wrap my head around it at the moment.

Why wouldn’t it be? My pony is always filled with air. That way you’re not depth limited.

 

[vanderschmooz]

Why wouldn’t it be? My pony is always filled with air. That way you’re not depth limited.

Without doing any math (or having experience with backups) I considered that it could affect the gases in your body. I was wondering why they sell nitrox versions of Spare Air.

But good point--I guess regular air is better than no air...

 

[Marie13]

Without doing any math (or having experience with backups) I considered that it could affect the gases in your body. I was wondering why they sell nitrox versions of Spare Air.

But good point--I guess regular air is better than no air...

I hope you haven’t bought the spare air. Get a pony.

They sell Nitrox versions of Spare Air? Wow.

 

[Bob DBF]

I was wondering why they sell nitrox versions of Spare Air.

Marketing. Same unit different packaging.


Bob

 

[yle]

Say I have Spare Air (the air model, not nitrox) and I have an OOA situation on a nitrox dive. Am I correct in assuming that it's safe to switch to the 20.9% backup for my ascent? I can't wrap my head around it at the moment.

Yes. Absolutely no problem.

And certainly much safer than staying where you are.

 

[yle]

I hope you haven’t bought the spare air. Get a pony.

They sell Nitrox versions of Spare Air? Wow.

Marketing. Same unit different packaging.

Yeah... considering a Spare Air is filled from a main tank, i.e. no one in their right mind would will a SA with partial pressure blending... I think every SA is a "nitrox SA".

Silly. But a good test of how well someone paid attention in their nitrox class.

 

[ofg-1]

Well, it beats drowning.

 

[yle]

Without doing any math (or having experience with backups) I considered that it could affect the gases in your body. I was wondering why they sell nitrox versions of Spare Air.

But good point--I guess regular air is better than no air...

Regular air is great. I've been using it all my life, as have all mammals.

Keep in mind that there's a tendency to think nitrox is better than air because nitrox has more oxygen. But your body doesn't use that extra oxygen... whether breathing regular air or nitrox, your body only "consumes" a fraction of the oxygen you breathe (the rest is exhaled.)

 

[EireDiver606]

If you were properly trained for nitrox, or trained at all you probably shouldn’t be asking this question. And that’s not being rude, it’s just reality. Put simply, with increased O2 you cannot go down as far.