Hydro Atlantic Incident 9-30-2012

[Wayne at DiveSeekers]

"Just in case I did not make my message on this clear before, I am VERY AGAINST divers running above a 1.4 PO2 level, with us knowing what we know today. I am also dead set against divers using Nitrox for dives to 120 or 130 feet or deeper.. I think that is something that does need addressing, because there are Nitrox divers that think this is a good practice."

Dan,
You are spot on with the 1.4pp, no good reason to go higher!!! With Trimix I actually teach 1.2pp! Locally we do have some wrecks in the 120'-130' so divers use 28% (stays within 1.4pp) so recreational divers can get a little extra bottom time with out going into Deco. In your opinion, for a recreational dive, you still would not use 28% for this dive? Always curious to hear opinions!

 

[Johnoly]

My apologies, I was trying to oversimplify my post and explain that the Helium will leave the tissues rapidily. Dan pretty much straightened it out below.

.... On air, this diver may be able to instantly drop straight back down to 100 feet, and never feel any symptoms of bubbling (DCS) because the nitrogen was BEING HELD IN SOLUTION) ... it was super saturated, but had not yet begun leaving solution( forming bubbles).

In contrast, the Trimix diver with 30 to 50% helium mix, would experience massive bubbling by the time they reached the surface, and they may not have even been physically capable of returning to 100 or 200 feet to get the bubbles to resolve.

 

[danvolker]

"Just in case I did not make my message on this clear before, I am VERY AGAINST divers running above a 1.4 PO2 level, with us knowing what we know today. I am also dead set against divers using Nitrox for dives to 120 or 130 feet or deeper.. I think that is something that does need addressing, because there are Nitrox divers that think this is a good practice."

Dan,
You are spot on with the 1.4pp, no good reason to go higher!!! With Trimix I actually teach 1.2pp! Locally we do have some wrecks in the 120'-130' so divers use 28% (stays within 1.4pp) so recreational divers can get a little extra bottom time with out going into Deco. In your opinion, for a recreational dive, you still would not use 28% for this dive? Always curious to hear opinions!

Wayne, it will be hard for you to get a straight answer out of me on this
With the availabilty of helium for me and my buddies, running 21/30 is more likely to be my direction...Also, it is where we dive....In PAlm Beach, once you go north of the inlet, the deeper recreational dives are on either 70 foot reefs, or 90 foot, a few as deep as 100. Even on the 100 footers, you are really more like 95 to 98 most of the time....So Nitrox for here.
But the next big series of deeper reefs gets us to 125 or 145. For this, like the Hole in the Wall ( technically done to 137 to 150), 21/30 is a much better mix. What we do here, has a lot of impact on the gas choice.

 

[Wayne at DiveSeekers]

I am right there with you! 32% 100' & Shallower and I am personally running 21/35 on those dives deeper then 100'!! Considering NE viz, water temp and penetration, I like a clear head! We got some good wrecks that are 120'-130' locally so just wanted to hear what you had to say. For those wrecks at those depths, a lot of recreational divers are checking them out and using 28% when doing it. Me and you may not agree but at least they are not exceeding 1.4pp!

 

[billt4sf]

I posted this to change my options from "respond immediately" with new posts. I'm afraid I don't know how to do this otherwise. Sorry for the spam.

- Bill

 

[John C. Ratliff]

I talked about the U.S. Navy doing oxygen tolerance testing on us in a chamber, but forgot to say that if my memory is correct (what is that, 45 years later) we spent considerable time breathing pure oxygen through a mask at 66 feet. I think it was either 15 or 30 minutes.

Again, for sport diving I see no reason to change from air to nitrox. It is more expensive, and while it gives more time at certain depths, to me it is not worth the risk of other problems.

SeaRat

 

[HowardE]

Again, for sport diving I see no reason to change from air to nitrox. It is more expensive, and while it gives more time at certain depths, to me it is not worth the risk of other problems.

SeaRat

Maybe you should try diving in Florida sometime, where you can get Nitrox fills for the same price as air... and for less than $10 a fill.

 

[John_B]

Again, for sport diving I see no reason to change from air to nitrox. It is more expensive, and while it gives more time at certain depths, to me it is not worth the risk of other problems.

For those of us who periodically do 25+ dives per week, Nitrox can make a huge difference vs. diving air. You just have to know what your doing, and never allow yourself to get in such a hurry where you start to take shortcuts.

 

[tracydr]

There have been a couple of deaths recently, including especially the incident in the Maldives reported earlier, an incident that made ScubaBoard famous among online discussion areas for a while. There have been a couple of other cases just in the last year.

I think there was a cave diver in Florida as well. Not all that long ago, maybe the last few years or less.

 

[pensacolaracer]

I dove the miss dania beach wreck today (off the Hollywood area). There is a small monument for the diver that passed up near the wheelhouse. I noticed a dive light, a slate and quite a few laminated photos of him and his friends. Who ever put it there, you did a nice job. I did not know Jeff but was diving today to look at the monument with someone who did.


Sent from 115 FSW.