NITROX for any and all dives?

[CWK]

I use nitrox whenever I can as I tend to go deeper than 25m. Given two divers, one in air and the other on Nitrox, the diver on Nitrox will have less nitrogen in his/her system and should be at lower risk of DCS.

Most divers take their regs out of their mouth as soon as they hit the surface. When diving on Nitrox, I tend to keep mine in my mouth until I’m back on the boat. There are times when the time interval between hitting the surface and getting onto the boat exceeds 10mins. Off gassing is more effective with Nitrox so I think of this as doing a safety stop at the surface to off gas and bring nitrogen levels down. Because I know that I will be doing this ‘surface safety stop’, I am more comfortable pushing NDL limits at the bottom. I also tend to go into deco (and I have tec certification) so I try to off gas as much as possible, and especially after going into deco.

 

[bladder]

How can you say this?

I think the point being made is that NO2 absorption is not the limiting factor in many dives, it's gas remaining in the tank.

 

[northernone]

I am happy with a rebreather to mix nitrox to the exact amount o2 I'd want.

However...

Scuba tanks... I'm happy with 21% most of the time if there's not a hard bottom I can count on. Elevated amounts of Oxygen (ppo2) gets dangerous at depth (over time), I'd rather deal with gas narcosis than gas nacrosis PLUS increasing the probability of oxygen toxicity related symptoms.

Today I had an excursion to 168ft to ready to assist a buddy having complications while caught in a downwelling. Quite happy I didn't have 36% nitrox (The best mix for the planned dive profile) as my only gas. (The hypothetical PPO2 of 2.2 makes me nervous)

Some divers I know feel significantly better on higher levels of oxygen and the reduced nitrogen load for the identical dive profile adds a safety factor. These are good things.

Addressing why I do not think nitrox is the appropriate gas for all recreational dives, depending on environment.

Regards,
Cameron

 

[CWK]

Certainly one should consider ppo2. In any assistance situation, one should not put oneself at risk. I'd be happy to push ppo2 to 1.6 in order to reach someone below, but probably not to 2.2 or 2.0. So on EAN32, I'd go to 40m but would be reluctant to push below that. Given recreational limit of 40m, I'd consider EAN32 appropriate. Tec to 50m has different considerations altogether.

 

[RayfromTX]

I bank 32% and it cost me about a buck a tank. I use it on every dive at home. I will change that only when deeper dives begin to demand it.

 

[rabe]

Depends on the availability sometimes, sometimes it's just the price, or sometimes is just the fact that the dive won't be deep enough to justify the use of nitrox.

I use it all the time if I can, and it can really make the difference...

 

[Magnus Lundstedt]

How can you say this?

If your Airtime is shorter than your NDL time, then you don't get any longer bottomtime.

Thats why I try to get a bigger tank when diving with Nitrox, at home i use my 15l tank for nitrox and my 12l tank for air.

 

[Storker]

I would use it all the time if cost were not a factor.

My club charges the same for either air or EAN fills (zero, by the way). Unless I have to fill out of town, I always use EAN32. When you've passed the big five-oh, it's quite nice to avoid riding the NDL.

 

[RIHappyDiver]

Thanks for all of the responses. It’s comforting to know that I didn’t miss something crucial in class (or just completely forget).

 

[LordElrond]

I use it whenever it's available without too much hassles... No downsides, less nitrogen and in many places it's free or at negligible upcharge like 2 euros.