We package our our nitrox with the OW course at the dive shop that I work with. Although no dives are required, our OW students do the last two dives on EAN36.
Good advice! The SSI course is designed to teach safe use of nitrox with very little additional information. It is adequate for the recreational diver as it pounds in how to figure PO2's and I can't recall if it requires one to figure EAD's. In any case I learned that in my IANTD Adv. Nitrox which is a different course. The combined SSI tables cover Air, EAN32, and EAN36, so it makes figuring EAD a little less necessary. We also cover the O2 clock only to demonstrate that you have to be a diving fiend at recreational limits to push that, LOL.
Another important issue is tank marking and analysis. As my shop uses premix EAN36, you don't know how many times I have to explain to fill station operators at other shops that 1) Yes, my tanks are marked for nitrox and 2) NO, you can't take my eighties and hook them up to an O2 line to partial pressure blend them as they are NOT O2 clean. So that is covered fairly well too.
Oh, and the cute stuff in the books... we teach the course to a great many 12 twelve year old divers diving with Mom and Dad.
Having said all of this, I would imagine that IANTD would offer the more complete Nitrox class and given a choice, that is the one that I would take.
Good advice! The SSI course is designed to teach safe use of nitrox with very little additional information. It is adequate for the recreational diver as it pounds in how to figure PO2's and I can't recall if it requires one to figure EAD's. In any case I learned that in my IANTD Adv. Nitrox which is a different course. The combined SSI tables cover Air, EAN32, and EAN36, so it makes figuring EAD a little less necessary. We also cover the O2 clock only to demonstrate that you have to be a diving fiend at recreational limits to push that, LOL.
Another important issue is tank marking and analysis. As my shop uses premix EAN36, you don't know how many times I have to explain to fill station operators at other shops that 1) Yes, my tanks are marked for nitrox and 2) NO, you can't take my eighties and hook them up to an O2 line to partial pressure blend them as they are NOT O2 clean. So that is covered fairly well too.
Oh, and the cute stuff in the books... we teach the course to a great many 12 twelve year old divers diving with Mom and Dad.
Having said all of this, I would imagine that IANTD would offer the more complete Nitrox class and given a choice, that is the one that I would take.
