Diving using Nitrox?

[MBH]

Unfortunately, many gases, including oxygen, have that narcotic effect. That is why nitrox has no real benefit for narcosis.

Helium has much less of a narcotic effect, which is why it is used by tech divers to reduce narcosis.

Hmmm....and I always though the helium in trimix was there to replace the reduced percentage of O2.

 

[Nemrod]

I was on a single 85 pumped up to 3,000 with Nitrox 28 on the Oriskany. I had over 1,000 psi at the safety stop plus a pony with 19 cf. The Nitrox was benificial to my dive, I don't use much air and can easily hit NDL on an aluminum 80 and even sometimes on a 65 at intermediate depths while still maintaining adequate open water reserves.

The nine million non divers you mention only carry a c card, they are not really scuba divers.

Arguing that Nitrox is not benificial is like arguing that the earth is not round or something foolish like that.

N

 

[grf88]

Hmmm....and I always though the helium in trimix was there to replace the reduced percentage of O2.

Then how would you explain Normoxic Trimix.

 

[MBH]

Then how would you explain Normoxic Trimix.

I was thinking along the lines of hypoxic trimix.

 

[grf88]

I was thinking along the lines of hypoxic trimix.

So if the helium is just there just to replace the missing oxygen then I guess 10/11, 15/6 etc. must be popular hypoxic mixes.

 

[grf88]

MBH I have just read some of your posts in other threads so I have to assume your post above was meant as humour, for a moment I thought you were talking as much twaddle as Twiddles.

 

[texdiveguy]

I was thinking along the lines of hypoxic trimix.

The helium is used to replace some of the nitrogen regardless of whether the Trimix is hyperoxic//normoxic or hypoxic.

 

[boulderjohn]

Hmmm....and I always though the helium in trimix was there to replace the reduced percentage of O2.

It replaces both.

 

[boulderjohn]

Can you honestly say that MOST divers would gain anything from Nitrox? Not divers you know, or dive with, but most recreational divers.

I am an instructor in a landlocked state who does not gt to dive nearly enough. Professional DM's at resorts blow me away.

Many divers get their OW, take a few dives on vacation every couple of years, and that's it. Many do a few dives and never dive again. Those people will not ever need nitrox.

For the rest, I would honestly say the vast majority will benefit from nitrox in time.

Many OW women can equal my air consumption rate from the very start. I have a good friend--nearly my size--who went diving with me immediately after his OW, and his consumption rate was very nearly equal to mine. I frequently dive "with the masses" on vacations, and when I am in a group of strangers, most of them seem to be doing reasonably well on air--well enough to be able to see a nitrox benefit at any rate.

 

[Leejnd]

Leejnd, I liked your first response, IT DEPENDS. I can live with that response, if you consistantly hit your NDL and you dont go OOA then its a pretty good bet that Nitrox can help you dive more. Does it extend your bottom time? Under certain conditions that do not apply to most divers it does (see NDL response above).

My problem is with telling divers to go get certified because IT COULD help, with statements like, you get more bottom time, or you feel better after etc. Instead of trying to inform you route them to the nearest register. Or statements like you have the same risk of O2 Tox with Nitrox as with air.....

Thier are exceptions to every rule, is it more accurate to say that most divers would not benefit, or I benefit and therefore you would benefit as well? I stand by my original statement MOST divers recieve NO BENEFIT.

Seriously, I find it bizarre that you seem so bent on insisting that Nitrox is of no value to "most" divers, and appear so adamantly against anyone encouraging recreational divers to get Nitrox certified. Why is that? Do you have some anti-Nitrox agenda?

You yourself agree that there are recreational diving conditions in which Nitrox CAN be of benefit. As for whether or not "most" divers might ever find themselves in those conditions, that's a matter of semantics. As you so accurately pointed out, there are many OW divers who are vacation divers -- they only dive once or twice a year, usually at resort-type dive locations where they are led by a DM and have their bottom time limited by the hooveriest person in their group anyway. Clearly those folks have no use for Nitrox.

But then those aren't the divers that are typically going to be hanging around LDS's anyway, where they might get encouraged to try Nitrox. I don't think anyone is arguing that Nitrox is of value to those folks. However, you seem to be arguing that LDS's should not be encouraging Nitrox to ANYONE who falls within the category of recreational divers! And to that, I respectfully disagree. As I pointed out earlier, it's a pretty simple formula to determine if Nitrox would be of benefit.

But beyond that, I want to point out that Nitrox does in fact have another benefit for divers who don't dive profiles that might bring them up to NDL's. We all know that dive tables are not an exact science -- that it is still possible to get bent even within NDL's. By diving Nitrox, provided the diver does not go below ox tox depths, even diving on the air tables, you reduce the possibility of getting bent. There have been several occasions when I've chosen to dive Nitrox, knowing that I probably would not be coming all that close to NDL's, but close enough that I didn't mind the extra $5 per tank for that added element of safety.

Btw, I have no agenda -- I have no connection with any LDS. I'm just yer standard recreational diver. But I think you are doing a disservice to divers by steering them AWAY from Nitrox. Let them learn for themselves and make the decision whether or not they might find it of benefit. Seriously.