Altitude to sea level

[Ed L.]

I live at 6,000 feet here at Lake Tahoe. Will be heading to Roatan in May for a week of diving.

Since the air and oxygen content is thinner here than sea level. Would the greater pressure and oxygen content at sea level help with off gasing of nitrogen for the first day or two?

Just a thought that occured to me.

Don't worry I will stick to the limits that my computer tells me.

Ed L.

 

[DepartureDiver]

I live at 6,000 feet here at Lake Tahoe. Will be heading to Roatan in May for a week of diving.

Since the air and oxygen content is thinner here than sea level. Would the greater pressure and oxygen content at sea level help with off gasing of nitrogen for the first day or two?

Just a thought that occured to me.

Don't worry I will stick to the limits that my computer tells me.

Ed L.

No. The greater pressure of oxygen would be of no benefit since the nitrogen pressure also increases, i.e. the percentages of each gas doesn't change. Increased oxygen percentages only help in offgassing due to the lesser nitrogen percentage in the mixture. Since you live at altitude, your tissues have less nitrogen tensions in them than one at sea level. So if you were to hop on the plane, land and immediately dive, it could be argued that you are starting your dive with less nitrogen (i.e. a negative dive designation) and could gain some more time on some shallower dives. In reality though, your ingassing rate upon reaching sea level would be rapid and you would not gain any advantage.

 

[donacheson]

I live at 6,000 feet here at Lake Tahoe. Will be heading to Roatan in May for a week of diving.

Since the air and oxygen content is thinner here than sea level. Would the greater pressure and oxygen content at sea level help with off gasing of nitrogen for the first day or two?

Just a thought that occured to me.

Don't worry I will stick to the limits that my computer tells me.

Ed L.

All of us have experienced essentially the same thing when we step off the airplanes which carried us to our dive destinations. Aircraft cabins are pressurized to about 6000 feet, too. You've just had much more than a few or several hours to acclimate to altitude.

 

[Dr Deco]

These replies are right on the money. People have tried extensive oxygen breathing prior to diving (to offgass nitrogen). You gain little.