Nitrox and Fatigue: the Evidence

[ChuckP]

I personally feel no different air verses nitrox on a one off dive. If I dive daily, I choose some nitrox - If it's a one off dive with my son, I'll breathe air....

Now, dive daily twice a day or even more extreme, a liveaboard schedule and that's when I feel it makes a difference.

I know it's not the same but maybe it is: Carry one bag of concrete up some stairs, how do you feel? Now, carry four bags up the steps, how do you feel?

 

[Storker]

????????????????????????????????????????

Why not all three of them?

Why Not Both? / Why Don't We Have Both? | Know Your Meme

 

[Dan]

I’ve been in about 20 liveaboard trips with 3-5 dives/day in 2-12 continuous diving days. About half of the trips were with Nitrox. On those trips where we only had air on the boats, I often skip the 4th or 5th dive of the day due to feeling tired & ended up snoozing. On those trips where Nitrox was available on the boats, I dove with Nitrox and hardly missed a dive. I remember doing 40 dives in 10 straight days with Nitrox. It may be a placebo effect, but it works for me and I’ll always dive with Nitrox if it’s available.

 

[BRT]

¿Por qué no los tres?

Porque aborece nitrox.

 

[tursiops]

Both slower ascents and longer safety stops are cheaper than nitrox, and no cert. required.
As a plus you get to spend more time in the water!

And less time on the bottom.

 

[AfterDark]

Why not all three of them?

Why Not Both? / Why Don't We Have Both? | Know Your Meme

If you're asking me because air costs less; my LDS blends, so tanks need to be O2 cleaned post hydro which costs more than the hydro.
I don't spend money lightly or on things I can get along without unless its a "toy" that I can enjoy. However if there is tangible / objective evidence that something will improve my diving experience then I'll spend the money. Nitrox doesn't meet that threshold, yet.

Nitrox was something I broke this rule on. In an attempt to get more BT diving some of the deeper wrecks around here I took the class which was a waste except for learning how to use the tables for odd mixtures like 28% for example. Of course either one of my two PDCs can handle that task quite well but tables are good to know. It is the only thing I can say I got from the class besides the card.

So I threw just short of $500.00 usd in the sea on a class, O2 cleaning, and nitrox fills for all my tanks. How's that go? Never again.

I dive air only and I love it..

 

[ThatDogDontHunt]

Would it help to also consider the science behind the situation? We seem to be discussing cause and effect with no science to link the 2.

I know nothing about the science involved, but would be interested to learn.

 

[AfterDark]

And less time on the bottom.

I get some of my best pictures hanging at 15FSW. All the action is not on the bottom. That's why snorkeling is popular. Besides for people like me the only way to get more BT is doubles.

@JoeFriday, there are some studies posted in this thread, I guess you can call science, a scientist posted it.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I “think” I “feel” better using EAN but it might all be in my head.
I do know that when I used to use nitrox on multi day charter boats I had some crazy dreams whilst snoring away in my bunk.

 

[Storker]

If you're asking me because air costs less

Price is always an issue, and every diver has to find out if the (perceived) advantage is worth the cost. For them.

Me, I'm so lucky that my club offers nitrox for the same price as air (included in the membership fee), so the marginal cost for me to fill nitrox is zero. Given that I believe that I get some advantages from using nitrox, I get a perceived advantage for no extra cost. So, rather naturally, I've standardized on EAN32 for all my dives unless I'm travelling to dive.