Nitrox Course

[Diver0001]

If you go with PADI, ask your instructor to add in the concept of best mix. It's missing from the PADI text.

This is good advice. It only takes a minute to explain but for some reason it's not in the PADI materials.

R..

 

[Bobby]

This is good advice. It only takes a minute to explain but for some reason it's not in the PADI materials.

R..

A good instructor will teach it but a lot of instructors do not know the formula. The padi materials include a PO2 chart with different depths for easy reference, I am not sure how others do it but I am guessing they may only refer to the chart instead of teaching the formula.

Bobby

 

[Phish-phood]

Maybe it is just me but aren't the formulae included in the PADI course too?

I certainly had to do them when I did my PADI Nitrox recently, as well as learning about best mixes.

 

[Walter]

Have you ever determined "Best Mix" and then gone to a shop and actually got that mix based upon your request?

Just about every nitrox dive I make.

A good instructor will teach it but a lot of instructors do not know the formula.

Send them to a NAUI or YMCA Nitrox course to learn it. It's part of those courses and probably most other agencies as well.

 

[Diver0001]

Maybe it is just me but aren't the formulae included in the PADI course too?

I certainly had to do them when I did my PADI Nitrox recently, as well as learning about best mixes.

Yes they are. What you're seeing is just the usual anti-PADI undertones you see in virtually every thread.

Was best mix in the new book or did your instructor just tell you about it?

R..

 

[Phish-phood]

From what I can remember the PADI course pushes the 32% and 36% EANX but partly because they say that many places will only be able to provide one or the other and not a specific % that you might want, but I did have to work out %'s for different dive plans using the tables and the formulaes.
Not sure if it is a new thing but I had three sets of tables with my book, a 32%, a 36% and an EAD table with MOD's of different %'s and O2 pp's on it.

PADI don't teach anything about Nitrox for decompression though as they are aiming solely at recreational use but my instructor did go through some of the basics of why it is used with me.

 

[Damselfish]

ditto, when I took PADI Nitrox (2000) there were the 3 tables and it was all covered, though I'm not sure the term best mix was used. They did point out that 32 & 36 percent were most common and the only thing available many places, and that is certainly true as well.

 

[lamont]

i took an SSI nitrox course. the course material seemed to be equivalent to anything PADI or NAUI might have, but really I had taught myself everything in the book already. the best part of the course was that it was GUE-flavored, so we went over standard gases, quick arithmetic with standard gases, etc and did the rescuing a toxing diver skill for the dive portion of the class.

imo, nitrox isn't hard, and every BOW class should have nitrox as part of the materials, and people should be taught to analyze their mix and be skeptical of their tank contents right from the start. then you could rip off all those silly green stickers from scuba tanks.

(where'd i put my kool-aid?)

 

[Bobby]

Maybe it is just me but aren't the formulae included in the PADI course too?

I certainly had to do them when I did my PADI Nitrox recently, as well as learning about best mixes.

Yes the formula's are in Padi as well as the other organizations courses. I was refering to the Circle "T" and best mix. I teach padi & know the circle "T" is not in their material and don't remember if best mix is or not since I do teach the circle "T" and that covers best mix. Sorry for not being clear.

 

[Daryl Morse]

Thanks for all of the excellent advice. I'll probably take the PADI Nitrox and Wreck courses together, since that is where my interests lie. The instructor knows what my future plans are so I'm confident he'll make sure I get what I'm looking for out of it.