Nitrox course questions

[got2av8]

So, my instructor's "encouraging" me to take a Nitrox class next month. I just finished paying off all my gear, and I'm thinking that this might be the sort of course I can put off until I have a little more experience (and cash). My questions to you all:

1) Do you personally regularly dive nitrox after taking the class, or is it a "special occasion" sort of thing?

2) If I'm usually doing dives in < 60 ft of water, does nitrox make that big a difference in bottom time? Mostly my diving schedule is a once a week sort of thing, usually no more than 3 dives with reasonable SI times, and I haven't really felt inconvenienced to date.

3) Is it something that someone with < 40 dives nedes to be concerned with? I have a fair grasp of fundamentals, but my inclination is to continuie to gain experience on air before moving up to Nitrox.

Any and all opinions welcome, thanks!

 

[mossym]

well, are you coming back up because of low air or because you're out of no deco time? if it's air then nitox can wait..

 

[jbd]

So, my instructor's "encouraging" me to take a Nitrox class next month. I just finished paying off all my gear, and I'm thinking that this might be the sort of course I can put off until I have a little more experience (and cash). My questions to you all:

1) Do you personally regularly dive nitrox after taking the class, or is it a "special occasion" sort of thing?

2) If I'm usually doing dives in < 60 ft of water, does nitrox make that big a difference in bottom time? Mostly my diving schedule is a once a week sort of thing, usually no more than 3 dives with reasonable SI times, and I haven't really felt inconvenienced to date.

3) Is it something that someone with < 40 dives nedes to be concerned with? I have a fair grasp of fundamentals, but my inclination is to continuie to gain experience on air before moving up to Nitrox.

Any and all opinions welcome, thanks!

Doing the kind of diving you are doing nitrox can wait IMHO. Develope your skills at planning and executing your dives. Master your buoyancy control to the point you can move either up or down by no more than 4 inches. Master the ability to hover motionless for several minutes. It helps when you want to set up a photo op. Master compass navigation. Practice your mask and regulator skills while remaining neutral buoyancy. Spend the money the nitrox course would cost on air fills and actual diving.

Later on , when you decide that you are going to go a bit deeper and would like to stay longer then take the nitrox course.

As you may have guessed I don't dive nitrox very much even though I'm certified. I do use it when doing 4 deeper dives in one day.

 

[got2av8]

well, are you coming back up because of low air or because you're out of no deco time? if it's air then nitox can wait..

So far, neither. My regular buddies and I are fairly low-time divers, so we're a little on the conservative side when we plan our dives. The last one of the day is almost always less than 20 ft & 20 minutes to stay within the no deco limits, and we're pretty careful about monitoring time. As an added "safety" incenive, the shop charges less for air fills if there's more than 500 PSI in the tanks when we bring them in...

 

[tfunk]

That's a sweet air fills deal. But my LDS gives $2 for fills, so I don't think you can beat that.

If you're crazy about Dive theory then the Nitrox class is an excellent class to take. I had a lot of fun doing it. The thing is, Nitrox is $10 a tank, probably more expensive at other places, and unless you'd like to spend the cash for the air then you may want to wait on it. It all depends on how much cash you got, and how much you want to spend.

Tyler

 

[DandyDon]

So, my instructor's "encouraging" me to take a Nitrox class next month. I just finished paying off all my gear, and I'm thinking that this might be the sort of course I can put off until I have a little more experience (and cash). My questions to you all:

You'll get different opinions on this, but it's a good idea. Having the training and cert before you need it for some dives. Say you suddenly get an opportunity to make some juicy dives that you are qualifed for, but no one wants to buddy with you as you're on air...?

1) Do you personally regularly dive Nitrox after taking the class, or is it a "special occasion" sort of thing?

As indicated. At least half of my dives, though; more if it were always available.

2) If I'm usually doing dives in < 60 ft of water, does Nitrox make that big a difference in bottom time? Mostly my diving schedule is a once a week sort of thing, usually no more than 3 dives with reasonable SI times, and I haven't really felt inconvenienced to date.

No, not for those dives. But when you are presented with other dives possible below 60 feet, it helps a lot more. 50% more bottom time at 100 feet matters a lot.

3) Is it something that someone with < 40 dives needs to be concerned with? I have a fair grasp of fundamentals, but my inclination is to continue to gain experience on air before moving up to Nitrox.

It's a bottom time tool that will not be a distraction for other principles.

As soon as convenient, then use it any time you can below 60-80 feet. I've done a lot of Calf dives to 100 feet on air, but wished I'd had Nitrox.

 

[Northeastwrecks]

So, my instructor's "encouraging" me to take a Nitrox class next month. I just finished paying off all my gear, and I'm thinking that this might be the sort of course I can put off until I have a little more experience (and cash). My questions to you all:

1) Do you personally regularly dive nitrox after taking the class, or is it a "special occasion" sort of thing?

I haven't done an air dive in more than 2 years.

2) If I'm usually doing dives in < 60 ft of water, does nitrox make that big a difference in bottom time? Mostly my diving schedule is a once a week sort of thing, usually no more than 3 dives with reasonable SI times, and I haven't really felt inconvenienced to date.

It allows longer bottom times. The difference above 60 feet is not particularly great.

However, there is another benefit. Diving Nitrox reduces your nitrogen uptake. In other words, if two divers have an identical profile, but one dives Nitrox while the other dives air, the Nitrox diver will have less nitrogen in their system. Since Nitrogen causes nothing but problems, why would you want to voluntarily have more in your system.

3) Is it something that someone with < 40 dives nedes to be concerned with? I have a fair grasp of fundamentals, but my inclination is to continuie to gain experience on air before moving up to Nitrox.

IMHO, 99% of the planning with Nitrox happens before the dive. You select your dive, select your blend (32% is the only non-He blend I use, so that is easy), analyze your tank, mark it with PO2 and MOD, set your computer (or use your table) and go. All of these are easy to do and won't interfere in the slightest with your in-water skills. Indeed, once in the water, the only additional task load is making sure that you stay above your MOD.

Any and all opinions welcome, thanks!

Short version, get certified and use it whenever you can.

 

[mempilot]

So, my instructor's "encouraging" me to take a Nitrox class next month. I just finished paying off all my gear, and I'm thinking that this might be the sort of course I can put off until I have a little more experience (and cash). My questions to you all:

Go for it! It's a very useful certification and you can get it at any time in your diving experience.

1) Do you personally regularly dive nitrox after taking the class, or is it a "special occasion" sort of thing?

It's just breathing a different gas, so where you are in the PADI chart doesn't really matter. I'd actually recommend taking it before you move on to the more advanced certs. You can utilize nitrox on every one of your dives. The benefits are there and you'll learn all about them in the class.

2) If I'm usually doing dives in < 60 ft of water, does nitrox make that big a difference in bottom time? Mostly my diving schedule is a once a week sort of thing, usually no more than 3 dives with reasonable SI times, and I haven't really felt inconvenienced to date.

It makes a difference in bottom time or in safety. You can choose to dive to the limits of the NDL tables and get lots of extra bottom time, or you can dive the same bottom time and come up with less N2.

3) Is it something that someone with < 40 dives nedes to be concerned with? I have a fair grasp of fundamentals, but my inclination is to continuie to gain experience on air before moving up to Nitrox.

Nitrox is an easy course, and you shouldn't have any problems. You'll learn to use another set of tables and the risks/benefits of breathing the higher O2 blends.

 

[mempilot]

PS. If you can learn to fly, you can learn to dive Nitrox in your sleep!

 

[metaldector]

If you're young and in great physical shape, don't smoke, and have great lungs, you probably can wait on Nitrox. If your aging (I am, and I don't remember how that happened) your metabalism is slowing down, and out gassing is not as quick or as efficent as when you're younger. All things considered Nitrox gives us older guys less fatigue, less chances of DCI and more bottom time. I dive it exclusively, and a fill at my shop is $6.00. Air fills are $3.25. For the difference I dive Nitrox.