My AN/DP/Helitrox course

[Marie13]

First Lake Michigan charter of the season today. It was OK. I just did the first dive. Bad viz maybe 15 ft. 2 ft chop which is bad. I got doubles partway up the ladder and needed help the rest of the way. Back to singles for the lake. Many more squats. Not having access to the gym means I lost some of the gains from the winter. Grrrr

 

[MichaelMc]

First Lake Michigan charter of the season today. It was OK. I just did the first dive. Bad viz maybe 15 ft. 2 ft chop which is bad. I got doubles partway up the ladder and needed help the rest of the way. Back to singles for the lake. Many more squats. Not having access to the gym means I lost some of the gains from the winter. Grrrr

I've taken to doing really horrible Tai-Chi *like* moving/flailing about while watching the evening news. It has gotten me in better shape than pre-covid. Plus less food to just munch on. Nothing fancy, or good. Just pick this leg up, move to side, around back, sweep over that table, keep both arms in the air while doing that. Wave them about in a coordinated manner. Squat down on the supporting leg while doing that. Forward/back bends. Etc etc. I want to be in shape for shore diving once some work is done and I and the county feel good about leisure travel.

About to order AN book and workbook. The dives for that seem odd, as in more like intro to tech lite, with I think no extra bottles. My motivation is for having an O2 tank on land, and eventual DP/Helitrox.

 

[Marie13]

I've taken to doing really horrible Tai-Chi *like* moving/flailing about while watching the evening news. It has gotten me in better shape than pre-covid. Plus less food to just munch on. Nothing fancy, or good. Just pick this leg up, move to side, around back, sweep over that table, keep both arms in the air while doing that. Wave them about in a coordinated manner. Squat down on the supporting leg while doing that. Forward/back bends. Etc etc. I want to be in shape for shore diving once some work is done and I and the county feel good about leisure travel.

About to order AN book and workbook. The dives for that seem odd, as in more like intro to tech lite, with I think no extra bottles. My motivation is for having an O2 tank on land, and eventual DP/Helitrox.

Taking AN by itself really doesn’t make much sense. All it gives you is O2. Makes much more sense to do all 3 courses together.

I have some videos on YouTube I like to workout to. Took some doing to find stuff that doesn’t aggravate the knees. I have dumbbells at home. Need heavier ones than 12lb but I can’t get them for the time being. Most workout gear is sold out due to gyms being closed and folks working out at home.

I miss the recumbent bike at the gym something awful. Got my hands on a friend’s extra bike and go ride in the local forest preserve, but the weather was awful this spring and now it’s too damned hot and humid most days to go. Or storms or too windy. I’m lucky if I can ride once a week!

 

[Marie13]

I’m losing weight/lead in two ways.

I’ve been doing keto for about the past month or so. Lost about 10lbs so far.

Since switching to the thinner undies, I’ve been able to drop lead. Down to 10lbs on top of my 5lb steel BP. Hope to take off some more.

 

[Manatee Diver]

I was told that AN alone is typically only for CCR divers before they started to do dedicated CCR programs.

 

[MichaelMc]

Taking AN by itself really doesn’t make much sense. All it gives you is O2. Makes much more sense to do all 3 courses together.

The main reason is for O2 on land without dealing with all the deco stuff for now. So adding DP makes that harder. Tech lite for the dive portion of AN is fine for me.

Once back in the water, I'll likely take a 50% bottle sometimes for handling practice. And after reading the DP book, but NOT doing deco dives. Yeah, that could be a slippery slope. But my dives are above 50' and I'm reasonably mature. Many sites here are shallow. My intent is not a back door to deco dives.

It's unclear what gas or tanks stand-alone AN involves. SDI nitrox is single gas. TDI AN examines optimal mixes and is no required staged deco. But there are no (required) water skills on gas switches. Yet they discuss 50, 80 and 100 deco and multiple gas switches. To me, taking it with an AL40 of 50% makes sense. Like TDI sidemount + optional additional cylinder.

 

[Marie13]

All I want is the O2 on land, and to not deal with all the deco details for now. So adding the deco makes that harder. Tech lite for the dive portion of AN is fine for me.

Once back in the water, I'll likely take a 50% bottle sometimes for handling practice. And after reading the DP book, but NOT on deco dives. Yeah that could be a slippery slope. But my dives are > 50' and I'm reasonably mature. Many sites here are shallow. My intent is not a back door to deco dives.

AN page describes:

1. Alternative second stage octopus attached to a primary regulator or a redundant scuba unit; 1.9 litre / 13 cu ft minimum

But little other mention of if that is used.

@lowviz might be of assistance. He took just AN. Never took a Deco course. He’s said before he loves breathing 100% on the way home from diving.

 

[RainPilot]

I have known folks to do a "clean-up" dive on high FO2 gases (shallow) before they fly home to reduce residual inert loading. Same with folks who need to cross some mountains on the drive home. If that is their purpose then AN would seem to cover it.

 

[lowviz]

@lowviz might be of assistance. He took just AN. Never took a Deco course. He’s said before he loves breathing 100% on the way home from diving.

A bit of clarification on this:

I took IANTD's Advanced EANx Diver as a stand-alone course as my shop agreed with my intended use of pure oxygen. I have been known to breathe O2 on the way home from a hard day's worth of ocean wreck diving, but it was never something I did routinely.

@MichaelMc: I limit myself to best-mix and 100% O2. It is best to stay off the slippery slope of staged decompression, especially if you only know how to conduct a basic deco dive (and you will have that knowledge after taking AN).

I have no problem with 'deco lite' meaning less than 15 minutes of deco on my conservatively-set dive computer. And I do the deco on back gas. Yes, I see why you want AN as a stand-alone course, so did I. No regrets, oxygen is great on the surface and you will gain valuable knowledge about oxygen.

 

[100days-a-year]

On that fine edge between NDL and light deco computer choice can make a huge difference. I have literally got out of the water cleared on my computer and had other guys who had done similar or less aggressive profiles all day have 15+ minutes hang left. I just considered those long safety stops for them but they were rec divers used to NDL on charters and were super stoked and a bit anxious to have seen deco on their computers.