Nitrox course

[craig chamberlain]

Hi i am going to take my nitrox course over christmas and i am just wondering what exactly i am going to have to do. can you please tell me: what the questions i will have to answer in the exam are like (please give an example), how thick the book that i am going to have to read is, also what do i actually have to do in the water?

Cheers

 

[lowtech]

I took the class through PADI, and the book/DVD didn't take that long to go through,
maybe a couple of hours. I did have a working knowledge of the material, as I had talked to more experienced divers about it. If you were certified being taught NDL on tables then it's more of that. If you were taught with a computer of eRDP then you might have a bit more of a learning curve to over come. There aren't any required dives for the certification through PADI, but I believe you are required to analyze tank(s).
The test consists of about two thirds knowledge, and about one third dive planning.
I could go into more detail, but since your taking the class you'll find out soon enough.
And I'm sure others will provide more specific information.
This info is mostly from memory with PADI goggles on.

 

[TMHeimer]

Yeah, basically study the book and do the knowledge reviews ahead of time. The tables are somewhat more complicated that the Air one, if you go that route. Using a computer is no big deal that I can see--just read on how to set it for the blend of Nitrox you're using. I recall the written test was 25 multiple choice questions--2006--it may have changed.

 

[Fish in a Barrel]

I thought the course was pretty straight-forward. I took it through SSI in May. There are only a handful of new concepts to learn, but they are pretty safety-critical. At the very least you'll learn about different percentage blends, analyzing tank O2 content, partial pressures of oxygen, equivalent air depth, maximum operating depth, CNS clock time, and oxygen toxicity. Individually they're pretty simple concepts and very inter-related.

The hardest questions on the quiz involved planning repetitive dives using the nitrox tables. They wanted to make sure you really understood the tables backwards and forwards.

 

[robbcayman]

I'm about to take the course locally. I asked the same questions and I was told I could just use my computer for the course. They said if I won't be diving with the tables then I wouldn't have to worry about the tables.

Not that I was worried about doing the tables. The instructor said it's just not a big deal to worry about the tables when you have a computer. He said the primary focus would be making sure I understood how to use my computer in nitrox mode. After thinking about it that does make sense. I will still have him go over the tables, so I can fully understand that as well.

 

[tstormdiver]

I would say the course content will depend on the instructor & the training agency. Most recreational based Nitrox courses are not too bad, with a few new concepts to learn-How gas mixtures can affect the diver, Partial pressures & their importance, Maximum Operating depth (MOD) based on partial pressures, procedures for analyzing cylinders & determining MOD, how to read & work Nitrox dive tables & work a computer. Some courses will go into much more depth. I took an IANTD Nitrox course. I was interested in eventually going into technical diving, so went this rout. It was still a recreational Nitrox course, but went into great detail & lots of formulas. We did not even look at any Nitrox tables the entire course. We started with how to determine depth & the partial pressure we wanted to dive under (by the standards), find the best mix for the determined depth chosen, based on partial pressures, then went as far as using air tables with an Equivalent air formula to determine, using the air tables to find out how long we could make our dives. It was a difficult course, but worth it, for the additional information I picked up on the topic.

 

[Dive Bug Bit Me]

My wife just took the internet version of the Padi course. It has changed a lot since I took it a few years back. You can probably knock off the course in a couple of hours in the evening if you really wanted to. (I do advise paying attention as some of this is important).

As was said there is no table work as you are expected to use a computer and really just need to know how to input Nitrox mixes into the computer. (it is optional to ask your instructor about tables). You also just touch on long term oxygen exposure at high PO2 (you will be told the computer calculates the exposure limit) and are told (wisely) to keep your PO2 below 1.4.

There are no obligatory dives and my wife just went to the shop to demonstrate use of the O2 analyzer and logging the use of Nitrox.

I guess that as with all courses you get out what you put in. If you just want the C-card, a couple of hours and a demo of the O2 analyzer will do it. If you want to understand a bit more (possibly to move onto other gas mixes later), slow down, ask more questions. Insist on seeing and using the tables, also ask to be shown how to calculate EAD (again not necessary any more) and to see and understand the O2 exposure table.

 

[Rythmmaker]

I didn't think it was particularly difficult. If you used tables to get your OW cert, you will just be doing more of the same. You have a couple of new variables thrown in - most specifically learning about O2 toxicity and its effect on the central nervous system. I took the course as taught by TDI. In actual practice, I use a dive computer and as long as I set my computer up for the correct gas mix and the target PPO, then the only difference between diving nitrox and air is testing and confirming my gas fills with an O2 tester, and making sure in my dive planning that I know what my maximum operating depth (MOD) for the blend I'm breathing.

It makes it very important to plan your dive and dive your plan, but the benefits are well worth the extra effort to get EAN certified.

 

[Nflor001]

Thats weird, I thought you had to do two dives using nitrox. That's what I did recently to get my Nitrox cert with padi. I don't know if it matters but I got my Nitrox cert in Curacao. If the dives were not required, it was still fun though.

 

[String]

None of the major agencies have had mandatory nitrox dives for a nitrox course for a while. They were pointless. Most places offer 1 or 2 "free" nitrox dives after certification though.