Newbie nitrox?

[eod]

Is there problems going a nitrox course for an inexperienced diver? I'm asking because one store offered me a package deal with equipment and the andi csu course. In the paper I got it said you had to be OW and have 10 dives. I only have 10 dives logged, so I wonder if i should take this deal or wait until I have more experience before I start thinking about nitrox?

 

[Diversauras]

You probably won't dive air much after the course, except when there is no choice.

 

[Walter]

Unfortunately, most OW courses aren't what they should be these days, but there is almost nothing in a Nitrox course that shouldn't be covered in OW anyway.

 

[learn-scuba]

Whether or not you should take the course depends on the type of diving you plan on doing and your own personal goals. If all you want to do is deep diving, forget Nitrox because the O2 risk outweigh the gains. If you're happy where you are, no need to take it either. However, if you want to dive more conservatively (reduce your risk of decompression illness) or you keep ending your dives with way over 500lbs in your tank because you're hitting your no-decompression limits, then Nitrox is exactly what you're looking for.

 

[Ber Rabbit]

Disclaimer: I am not nitrox certified.

Keeping that in mind, two of my newly certified students (I teach at a university) went to the LDS and took nitrox training a couple weeks ago. The only dives they had at the time (that I know of) were the certification dives they did with me. They didn't have any problems with the course and one of them commented that the other only missed 1 or 2 questions on the exam.

If you're comfortable with adding the requirements of nitrox diving to your current knowledge by all means take the training. If you're still feeling task-loaded when you dive you should probably wait a little while before adding new procedures to your diving regimen.

Just my .02
Ber

 

[learn-scuba]

Just as a matter of record...

Diving Nitrox adds NO new skills to your diving itself. Where the use of Nitrox comes into play is in your dive planning -- how deep you can dive and how long you can stay at depth. Other Nitrox related skills taught in the course relatee to the effects of differing partial pressures of oxygen in the mix, how to determine the maximum operating depth, how to determine your exposure risk for oxygen toxicity and how to use a meter to determine the partial pressure of oxygen in a tank and general safety concerns relating to the user of Nitrox. There's a few other tid bits, as well, but the above is a fair outline... it's almost all surface related knowledge and does not demand you learn any new skills ion the water itself.

Edited for glaring typos -- why do I always proof read AFTER I hit post?

 

[seanrollins]

EOD,

To answer your question, there is nothing wrong with taking a nitrox course right away. You only need to be an Open Water Diver to take the course. As a new diver though, if you decide to take it, I'd recommend that you study beyond the course curriculum what is going on in your body when you breath nitrox. The course will teach you the basics, but make sure that you understand why you're spending the money for the course.

Personally, I would recommend that you get a few more dives under your belt before you move on to Nitrox. I don't agree that you'll rarely ever dive air after you take your course. Nitrox fills are expensive, and for most dives, you don't need the bottom time. I only really use it when I'm driving quite a distance for a day of diving.

 

[learn-scuba]

seanrollins once bubbled...
<snip> I would recommend that you get a few more dives under your belt before you move on to Nitrox. <snip>

Why?

 

[seanrollins]

New divers typically suck their air back after a half hour at 60 feet. Why waste the money on Nitrox fills when you don't have the gas to meet your NDL anyways?

Nitrox is also a more advanced form of diving. New divers should get more comfortable in the water before moving on. But, this is also coming from an instructor who dislikes the fact that a person stepping out of their OW class can jump into an advanced class on the weekend and dive to 100 feet.

It was just an opinion

 

[Jonathan]

learn-scuba once bubbled...
Whether or not you should take the course depends on the type of diving you plan on doing and your own personal goals. If all you want to do is deep diving, forget Nitrox because the O2 risk outweigh the gains.

if you want to do deep diving then you will probably want to do trimix and as far as I know this would be a prerequisite for most trimix courses.....

As has been said no new diving skills it's all in the dive planning really.

Having been nitrox certified for about 4 years I have done about 25 out of 200 dives since on nitrox as a bottom gas - I just wish more live aboards had it!

Jonathan