Discuss: gas analyzer before second Shearwater?

[Marie13]

Yea sorry I have no idea how you're supposed to have at least one or two reliable buddies to practice and dive with if you take a private class.

1. There’s no guarantee I’d want to dive with said people again. In any case, instructor said the other students he definitely has for next year aren’t from the Midwest.
2. I have a number of people to practice with. Only one is local. The others are in Michigan and Ohio. So I drive the 10 hours round trip to Gilboa. Big deal.

 

[divad]

What is the benefit of redundant computers if your gas analysis is off?

 

[Jack Hammer]

I don’t know of anyone locally who has their own analyzer who isn’t tech certified or a recreational instructor.You analyze at the shop.

No buddy for my class. I’m doing a private class. I don’t have anyone to take it with, anyway.

I know recreational divers with their own O2 and/or CO2 analyzers (I was one before I got into tech). I dont know any recreational divers who dont plan on using helium at some point who own a trimix analyzer.

 

[wedivebc]

Tech divers use AI without a backup gage? I guess making “tech diving” so easy a caveman can do it leads to normalization of deviance. Like using 2 dive computers instead of cutting a set of tables for your wrist slate, I guess.

Coincidentally the first time I ever heard the phrase normalization of deviance was Bruce Partridge (Shearwater) giving a lecture at RF3 in Orlando.

 

[jgttrey]

I bought an O2 analyzer pretty early on, before doing my TMX training anyway.

Like everything, it depends on the kind of diving you do, whether you have access to a good analyzer belonging to someone else, etc., but I sure would rather use mine that whatever might or might not be on the boat.

A couple of years ago I was on an island in Fiji with an operator that didn't normally pump nitrox, but had a mixing stick and would make arrangements to get some O2 and blend 32 if folks wanted it. Our whole group was on nitrox.

Then the only analyzer the operator had other than the one hard-plumbed into the fill station crapped out. So, no ability to analyze the cylinders themselves. I had my little Palm O2 and I think we ended up using it on 250+ fills that week. So, it comes in handy. Now I have a Divesoft for TMX, but still just use the Palm O2 if I'm on a recreational trip because it's so easy to travel with and use if I'm not having to worry about He.