Do you think Nitrox is a deep diving gas?

[rstofer]

You can reach the recreational limit of 130' with EAN28 and extend the NDL somewhat. I guess that qualifies as a 'deep diving' gas within recreational guidelines.

Richard

 

[diverdowndude]

lets keep the discussion in the 99fsw-140fsw range. Divers choice of O2 with no He

 

[MaxBottomtime]

One of the benefits, often overlooked, of using EAN, at any depth, is the likelyhood of getting DCS is significantly reduced.

There are no good arguments for NOT using Nitrox.

Statistics prove that there has been no reduction in DCS cases when using Nitrox. Theoretically, you stand a better chance due to less nitrogen, but air tables and computers are so conservative that the risk of DSC is already low.
As ptyx said, cost, availability and training are good arguments. The majority of dives I make are beach dives in less than seventy feet. I'm not going to spend more than twice the cost of air for those dives. When I make wreck dives I'm usually deeper than Nitrox allows, so I use 50% and 100% O2 for deco gasses.
The only dives I use Nitrox on are working dives such as net removal when I want to spend more time on the bottom with less deco.

 

[Rhone Man]

Surely Nitrox is a mandatory gas for serious deep diving?

Just obviously not for use as a bottom mix.

 

[Rhone Man]

Statistics prove that there has been no reduc[t]ion in DCS cases when using Nitrox.

I have heard this many times before, and I have also heard that dive computers have not produced a noticeable decrease in incidents of DCS.

I am reminded of a report I once read about child injuries in road traffic accidents in the UK. When car seats became mandatory the incidents of death and serious injury remain roughly constant. The theory is that the same drivers who used to be very careful with kids in the car suddenly felt much more comfortable about overtaking or exceeding speed limits because they now believed that their child was safely strapped in.

 

[String]

Nitrox is a shallow diving gas. The deeper you go the less and less useful it becomes until there are no advantages to usingit over air. As a back gas anyway

As a deco gas it has a place in deep diving.

 

[Thalassamania]

Kinda depends on your definition of deep.

 

[Marvel]

I'm not going to spend more than twice the cost of air for those dives.

Pity you don't have a Fill Express nearby. Same price for air or Nitrox.

 

[Thalassamania]

Statistics prove that there has been no reduction in DCS cases when using Nitrox. Theoretically, you stand a better chance due to less nitrogen, but air tables and computers are so conservative that the risk of DSC is already low.
As ptyx said, cost, availability and training are good arguments. The majority of dives I make are beach dives in less than seventy feet. I'm not going to spend more than twice the cost of air for those dives. When I make wreck dives I'm usually deeper than Nitrox allows, so I use 50% and 100% O2 for deco gasses.
The only dives I use Nitrox on are working dives such as net removal when I want to spend more time on the bottom with less deco.

I'd be interested to see those statistics. Do they indicate that diving EAN on air tables is a waste of time, or that pushing EAN to on EAN tables has the same level or risk as pushing air to air limits? Two rather different issues with understandably different answers.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

From the PADI Enriched Air Diver Manual;
"the DCI incidence rate is already so low in recreational diving that simply reducing nitrogen is unlikely to produce a meaningful safety improvement. Although there's been no experimental study of this, statistical estimates suggest that using enriched air within normal air limits only reduces the incidence rate a fraction of a percent. There is some risk reduction (mathematecally) if you use enriched air within air no decompression limits, but probably not a realistic, significant safety improvement from a practical point of view."