Just Started Diving Again and Found out I'm an Idiot ?????? Need advice.....

[burjee1]

Hey Everyone,

I just started diving again this year after some years off and need some advice.

I recently went on a spearing trip that would be 5 dives of 100-150 ft. I brought HP120's with 28 and 40's of 36 and 30's with 80/20 for deco.

I was promptly told that only Idiots dive 80/20 anymore and I might as well deco on air. I found that hard to believe but everyone on the boat was in agreement. The last time I dove - the 80/20 was said to be a good idea.

So, What is the 2013 Consensus - I want to be as safe as possible, the cost of the extra 20% of O2 is no object and I dont want to be the donkey on the boat next time.

Thanks!!!

Steve.

 

[Wookie]

I happen to like 80% (80/20 is a mixture of 80% helium and 20% oxygen, but I get what you're trying to say) for deco. It lets me stop at 20 feet and not worry about being too deep. Or too shallow. Even spearing, why so much gas? Usually the spearos I know bounce on a NTX bottom gas and "clean up" on O2 (or in your case 80%) without the intermediate gas.

What did you shoot?

 

[Captain12Pk]

If someone told me they had 80/20, What that would mean to me is that their mix was 80% Oxygen, 20% Helium. Where I dive that would be a very odd mix. I would immediately start asking questions.
We dive what I'll refer to as more "standard" deco gasses. 100% oxygen and 50% oxygen being the most common in the depths you're referring to.

 

[Wookie]

If someone told me they had 80/20, What that would mean to me is that their mix was 80% Oxygen, 20% Helium.

If they said they had 21/35 or 10/50 what would you think? I know, you'd think that the 10/50 guy was on a rebreather.

 

[Captain12Pk]

21/35 and 10/50 are both properly denoted and common tx mixes.
80/20 sounds to me like some type of heli-ox. Definately not a common mix in these parts.

---------- Post added August 12th, 2013 at 02:41 PM ----------

If they said they had 21/35 or 10/50 what would you think? I know, you'd think that the 10/50 guy was on a rebreather.

Out of curiosity, If/when you dive an EAN 50 mix, do you refer to it as 50/50?

 

[burjee1]

Hi,

Yes, I meant to say 80% O2 for Deco. The others were all on 50% or 100% and I guess I don't see the foul in being in between? It was all the talk on the boat for two days though. I guess I will keep quiet or go 100% next time.

Wookie - I shot 2 good Carbo's, a Gag and 1 true black that I had to dig a hole to get under the ledge to get to after 2 spears. That was worth about 1500lbs of air by itself.

 

[Wookie]

Out of curiosity, If/when you dive an EAN 50 mix, do you refer to it as 50/50?

Nope, I refer to it as 50 or 50% or deco 50, just so I don't confuse anyone with a 50% O2/50% He mix. I do have a customer that dives 10/90, so there are lots of weird mixes out there, but the convention I've most seen and read about is to call a deco mix, or any mixture of O2 and N2 by it's percentage of O2 only, and to call a trimix by it's O2 mix first with a slash and the He mix second, so that a recreational trimix might be 25/20.

Hi,

Yes, I meant to say 80% O2 for Deco. The others were all on 50% or 100% and I guess I don't see the foul in being in between? It was all the talk on the boat for two days though. I guess I will keep quiet or go 100% next time.

Wookie - I shot 2 good Carbo's, a Gag and 1 true black that I had to dig a hole to get under the ledge to get to after 2 spears. That was worth about 1500lbs of air by itself.

Nice shooting. On one dive? That's some serious shooting. In the keys we call black grouper carbos also. What is the difference between your carbo and a black grouper?

 

[rongoodman]

If they said they had 21/35 or 10/50 what would you think? I know, you'd think that the 10/50 guy was on a rebreather.

I've never seen it any other way than %O2/%He.

 

[burjee1]

no - thats 3 dives - Carbo = rusty belly

 

[Wookie]

no - thats 3 dives - Carbo = rusty belly

Still great shooting. Rusty belly. <scratch scratch> Nope, the only rusty belly I can find is Amphilosphus atromaculatus which is a cichlid tropical fish. Got another common name?