One other reason not mentioned here is that if you are prone to the symptoms of non-clinical DCS (Extreme fatigue / tiredness after diving), nitrox tends to alleviate the symptoms.
Nitrox Common Mixes
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One other reason not mentioned here is that if you are prone to the symptoms of non-clinical DCS (Extreme fatigue / tiredness after diving), nitrox tends to alleviate the symptoms.
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A far more effective way to control post-dive fatigue is to control your ascent rate ... particularly after your safety stop.
Based purely on my own observations, the majority of people who feel post-dive fatigue inflicted it on themselves in the last few seconds of the dive. It's not uncommon to watch divers dutifully perform their 3-minutes at 15 feet, give each other the thumb, and hit the surface 5 to 10 seconds later ...
... that's an ascent rate of 90-180 feet per minute ... :shocked2: ... at the part of the dive where it's most critical to keep your ascent speed within the recommended rate of 30 feet per minute.
If you're taking less than 30 seconds to ascend from your safety stop, you are likely to give yourself post-dive fatigue regardless of what gas you're breathing ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
Absolutely!!!
I also do half- deep- Pyle stops, and set my micro-bubble level to "5" to do all the intermediate stops.
I figure, if I am "prone" to sub-clinical symptoms, then I just not ought to push that envelope. Therefore, Nitrox, usually best-mix.
It's true that different computers will have different limits, but they will be a whole lot closer than the computers of a diver on air and a diver on 32%.
blue steal
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Has worked for me.
ianr33
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Absolutely!!!
I also do half- deep- Pyle stops, and set my micro-bubble level to "5" to do all the intermediate stops.
I figure, if I am "prone" to sub-clinical symptoms, then I just not ought to push that envelope. Therefore, Nitrox, usually best-mix.
How do you feel after deco dives with O2 or 50%?
I've never felt bad after using high O2 mixes for deco. Have had the subclinical exhaustion on air.
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I get sub-clinical exhaustion reading ScubaBoard sometimes ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
DaleC
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In honour of Bob I'd like to kick this up a notch and compare the risk of diving nitrox recreationally vs air.
On the Pro side we could say that nitrox decreases nitrogen loading so that one can dive more conservatively (if using air tables) or gain more bottom time (if using adjusted tables).
On the Con side one has increased cost of gas, the cost of training, the need for nitrox serviced equipment, the use of an oxidizing agent, increased risk of fire/explosion during filling, the need to analyze mixes, the need to mark tanks, possible MOD's below recreational depths, the possibility of oxygen toxicity, the possibility of team members diving different mixes, the need to adjust computers (if varying mixes)... I think that's all.
Everyone is different but I have found that the Pro's of reduced nitrogen loading and/or extended NDL's are usually not worth it; I can live without them or adjust my dive plan accordingly and still achieve my goals. On those occasions that it is worth it I prefer to get the most bang for my buck (no pun intended) by using best mix. In the technical realm there may be an environmentally induced imperative towards standardizing gas mixes but that same imperative doesn't exist in the recreational realm. Recreationally, gas mix is a want, not a need.
On the Pro side we could say that nitrox decreases nitrogen loading so that one can dive more conservatively (if using air tables) or gain more bottom time (if using adjusted tables).
On the Con side one has increased cost of gas, the cost of training, the need for nitrox serviced equipment, the use of an oxidizing agent, increased risk of fire/explosion during filling, the need to analyze mixes, the need to mark tanks, possible MOD's below recreational depths, the possibility of oxygen toxicity, the possibility of team members diving different mixes, the need to adjust computers (if varying mixes)... I think that's all.
Everyone is different but I have found that the Pro's of reduced nitrogen loading and/or extended NDL's are usually not worth it; I can live without them or adjust my dive plan accordingly and still achieve my goals. On those occasions that it is worth it I prefer to get the most bang for my buck (no pun intended) by using best mix. In the technical realm there may be an environmentally induced imperative towards standardizing gas mixes but that same imperative doesn't exist in the recreational realm. Recreationally, gas mix is a want, not a need.
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That's not at all why I dive nitrox. One of my favorite dive sites is a bottle field that exists between 80-95 fsw. I like to go down there and just hang out looking in the bottles to see who's home. Nitrox lets me stay there far longer than air before pushing NDL's. I still frequently go over NDL's, but usually by such a small amount that a reasonable ascent up the slope takes care of it. If I were to use air, my dive would be much shorter ... or my safety stop would be much ... much ... longer.
A bit overstated there, Dale. Nitrox training is the easiest, cheapest scuba class there is. Nitrox serviced equipment amounts to getting your tanks cleaned and a few o-rings replaced in your tank valve. I'm not quite sure what oxidization has to do with anything at the level of recreational nitrox ... certainly never noticed any oxidization on my equipment caused by using it, and I use a LOT of it. Fire/explosion is only a concern if you're partial pressure blending ... AND if you're blending your own ... and if that's the case, it's an easily avoidable risk. Analyzing and marking tanks takes maybe a minute per tank. Oxygen toxicity is an overstated risk at recreational depths, unless you're a complete moron ... in which case you're in far greater danger of drowning from other causes. Team diving with different mixes is a non-issue. You simply identify the person with the lowest mix ... that's the person who will control NDL for the team. Standard mix means you don't need to adjust your computer ... mine is set for EAN32, and I haven't adjusted it since the last time I did a trimix dive.
As you say, everyone is different. I'll pretty much adjust my dive and my preferences to those of the person or persons I'm diving with. These "my way is better than your way" discussions wear me out ... as long as we're enjoying the dive, everything else is just a parameter to be factored into the dive plan.
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
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