How Much More Would You Pay for Nitrox?

[djtimmy77]

Thankfully nitrox is cheap here in SoFL so it is a no-brainer to keep our big steels full of 36 to suit 95% of the dives we do. Sure I'll end up using them on shallow BHB dives <20' but the convenience of having full tanks ready to go is worth overpaying by a couple bucks for those dives.

If you pre-pay for 100 fills, you can get nitrox fills for $5.

If we need to adjust the mix for a planned deeper dive, simply bleed off a little and add some air.

When we go to Bonaire we use Nitrox simply to reduce our nitrogen absorption, even though we rarely go past 50'. Can always sling a bottle if extra gas is needed such as on a planned deeper dive. Sure you end up paying ~$5 more per tank if you end up doing 20 dives but again to us, it is worth it.

 

[Steve_C]

If you manage your depth air works just fine. In my experience there is lots to see at all depths. No need to bury the needle of your depth gauge.

Depends on where you are diving.

If I am diving a NC ledge it is all between 80 and 105. Managing depth is staying at 80-90 rather than 90-100. Same for a dive like the Gill one of my favorites. Bottom is at 90. Wreck is somwhat broken. Whole dive is between 70 and 90.

Now on a wall or coral reef I can see, and agree with your point. (I use 30% which covers me for any dive I want to do locally and keeps the PO2 below 1.3)

 

[Storker]

Isn't 15L equivalent to over a 120cf tank? I think 12L was 100cf.

Depends on the pressure rating. You can't say crap about capacity unless you also cite the pressure rating.

The most common singles are 15L 200bar, 12L 232 bar, 12L 300 bar and 10L 300 bar. The 15x200 and 10x300 both have a nominal capacity of 3000 L·bar, about 106 cu.ft. The 10x300 has a real capacity some 10% lower due to compressibility. The 12x232 has a nominal capacity of about 2800 L·bar (about 99 cu.ft), and the 12x300 ("long twelve") has a nominal capacity of 3600 L·bar, between 125 and 130 cu.ft. And like the 10x300, the real capacity of the 12x300 is some 10% lower than nominal due to compressibility. 120cf is 3400 L·bar, i.e. close to the real capacity of a 12L 300 bar.

tl/dr version: The 10x300 and the 12x232 hold just below 100 cu.ft, the 15x200 holds between 100 and 110 cu.ft., and the 12x300 holds about 120cu.ft.

 

[BRT]

When I figure the total cost of each dive I make, not enough dives obviously, the cost of the nitrox becomes pretty small. It bothers me when I pay $12 extra for nitrox, just because I know how much it costs me extra to pump it, and I hate being ripped off. I still buy it. I kind of wonder if some of the people who say they don't use it because their bottom times are gas limited not deco limited would recommend pushing the deco limits if you didn't need to. As I get older I'm really happy to come up with lots of remaining no deco time instead of a little. That may save me an "undeserved" hit someday. Want to put a price on that? Throw in my perception that I feel better after the dive with nitrox and it becomes a no-brainer. I only pump 32% with my compressor. I'm not interested in going below 111 here in the PNW at this point. Honestly even in Coz I'm happy to stop at 110. At times we have made dives that 32% wouldn't have worked on. If I do that again I'll breath what is appropriate for that.

 

[Dr. Lecter]

... it's not air territory either ... but that's another discussion entirely ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

The Hell it isn't

As to the OP's question: I pay $75 a year for two fills a day, every day, of whatever tanks I want. Air, 32%, or 36%. So if I'm on OC, the only question is what gas is right for my plan.

 

[whitefang21]

I dispute your premise. For my style of diving (lazy, slow, deep or shallow!) there is no advantage to Nitrox. So I am not willing to pay an extra cent for Nitorx. It actually becomes a depth limitation on lots of dives...

And I always get a laugh every belize liveaboard trip when the voodoo gas divers have to completely purge their nitrox tanks, fiddle with their computers and move to "safe" air for the dangerous "deep" dive.

If you manage your depth air works just fine. In my experience there is lots to see at all depths. No need to bury the needle of your depth gauge.

They are different mix of nitrox, you order what you want , 22%, 24% , 30%, 40% just depending on your MOD so i can not see how it will limit your bottom time, it more likely extend your bottom time. If you switch your computer to nitrox more than a few times it becomes a part of you like assembling your gear. If you on a liveaboard, and you are diving frequently nitrox is good to have not a requirement, also for some dive computers once you switch to vodoo it wont allow you to switch out of vodoo for 24hrs so if you on a live aboard you not going to be programming your computer every time just confirming the mix

Now to address the cost, is it worth it Hmmmmmmmm for some dives it is worth it. The best thing you can do is make a deal with the shop to get your fill price reduced to like $10.

By the way if you bawling about nitrox now, wait till you get the tri-mix bill.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

What?! HUH?

I am from this area you just recently visited and dove... cloud sponges start at 70(ish) ft which is plenty of territory for a nitrox dive (no matter what blend you were on) and nitrox would give you more bottom time at those depths for your photographs.

I asked the Captain about cloud sponges and he said they were found below 130 feet in Browning Pass. I guess I need to learn the area more. Our dives were limited to sixty minutes due to tides, so nitrox didn't matter anyway. My deepest dive was 100 feet and all of my dives were just under an hour. I would have done the same profile on air.

 

[jodylynn007]

I asked the Captain about cloud sponges and he said they were found below 130 feet in Browning Pass. I guess I need to learn the area more. Our dives were limited to sixty minutes due to tides, so nitrox didn't matter anyway. My deepest dive was 100 feet and all of my dives were just under an hour. I would have done the same profile on air.

You were on the Nautilus Swell huh? Freaking limiting of the dives onboard there drove me crazy and it was 50 minutes for the night dives - BS.


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[MXGratefulDiver]

Crazy limits considering what it costs to go there.

If you want to see cloud sponges, Browning Pass ain't the best place to see them anyway. Way too many other things to see there to worry about it though. But they're right ... the sponges are pretty deep on Browning Wall.

Head across the straits to Sechelt Inlet and you can find them on Agamemnon Wall or Captain's Island in 75 feet of water ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[DogDiver]

I haven't breathed compressed air in over 15 years. Down here in cave country banked Nitrox is Cheeper than air. Check Amigo's Site for prices.

Heck, I inflate my tires with Nitrox. [emoji2]
Real divers have either Nitrox or Trimix in their tires.

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