Nitrox lessons $150 bucks--Why?

[mrnelson]

My wife and I converted to dive computers three years ago, and the dealer promoted the units which would convert to Mixed Gas/Nitrox. He said it would be the future of diving. We have used them for about 50 dives and they are great.

This year on my birthday, my wife bought us Nitrox classes at our local shop. $150.00 each. (I thought we must be running out of SCUBA gifts, as this is all we can come up with.) We will take the class in January before our trip in March.

Other than the Blue Hole, our computers have only been used around 80' to 100' max, in waters in Cozumel, Roatan and Belize. Only once did anyone on our boats use mixed gas, and it was a pain in the ass for the rest of us as this guy would stay down, and make us drift until we had to get back in the water to take a leak.

I am just venting, but, does this Nitrox thing have any advantages? Our class is set up for January, and I would like any comments to see if this is just another way our local shops pay their rent taking advantage of us poor soles who want to smell the combination of chlorene and neophrene.

Something just smells a little fishy for us to spend $300 bucks to learn how to learn new dive tables, and then set up the computers to do the same.

 

[eod]

If you don't want to use the option to get longer bottom time you can use your regular air table/computer and get a even better margin against getting bent. You can also use nitrox to get less nitrogen narcosis at depths around 30m.

If it is worth $300? Well, maybe not. The theory is quite basic (don't go deeper than the max operational depth), but if you want to dive nitrox (to get longer bottom times and so forth) you must have a cert.

 

[roakey]

Nitrox has three distinct advantages, in order:

1) Multiple (more than two) repetitive dives in the intermediate depths, say 60-100' where you might bump up against an NDL with air.

2) One or two intermediate to "recreationally" deep dives 80-130' when you've got your SAC down to something that'll allow you to bump up against an NDL with air.

3) A rare reason, but applicable to you if you're into Colorado mud diving like I am, is to mitigate the effects of altitude and give you a better safety margin especially if you have to drive over high passes after diving.

Roak

Ps. Having been forced out of the water with over 2000 psi left in my cylinder due to a bunch of Hoovers on the boat, you've got the PITA thing backwards...

 

[MikeFerrara]

Nitrox has less nitrogen. Nitrogen has no advantage as long as PPO2 is at a safe level. Well not until you get down to 450 or so where you have to worry about HPNS.

As for the price. Of course they're trying to pay the rent. They're going to give you a class in exchange for the money though so I don't think you could say they're taking advantage.

Are you just taking advantage of the company you work for so you can pay your mortgage and eat? LOL

I have a situation at work and it looks like I need to bring in an expert. There's a company that wants to charge me $115/hour to look things over and see if they can come up with a proposal. No promisses at all, just a look.

I'll make you a deal, I'll teach your class for $80/hour and we'll go through it as fast as you're able.

Rally though get the nitrox class from a good instructor. $150 is about what it runs. It's no where near the ripoff that a Chevy that doesn't last as long as it takes to pay for it is. But...if you've been doing 100 ft dives on air with a single 80 and don't know how nitrox can can help, you might see about getting a partial refund on your OW class.

 

[ScubaK-Dawg]

eod said "If you don't want to use the option to get longer bottom time you can use your regular air table/computer and get a even better margin against getting bent. You can also use nitrox to get less nitrogen narcosis at depths around 30m."

I was always instructed the Nitrox has no significant advantage on reducing Narcosis at depth over air. If you want to reduce narcosis, use Trimix, where the He is a much less Narcotic gas then Nitrogen. I have never noticed a difference on Nitrox. What were others taught?

 

[Don Burke]

ScubaK-Dawg once bubbled... eod said "If you don't want to use the option to get longer bottom time you can use your regular air table/computer and get a even better margin against getting bent. You can also use nitrox to get less nitrogen narcosis at depths around 30m."

I was always instructed the Nitrox has no significant advantage on reducing Narcosis at depth over air. If you want to reduce narcosis, use Trimix, where the He is a much less Narcotic gas then Nitrogen. I have never noticed a difference on Nitrox. What were others taught?

The Advanced Nitrox course from TDI teaches that Nitrox is less narcotic.

That was one of the portions of the course that I disregarded.

 

[redacted]

If you don't do more than a couple dives a day and are satisfied with your bottom times and NDL safety margins; then probably not. I am nitrox certified but only use it for live-aboard diving (TX Flower Gardens) where safety limits are easily pushed. I find it unnecessary for typical land based, couple dives a day trips and for local diving. But it's nice to have an option if you ever decide to push a "no-fly" time or something like that. There is no doubt in my mind that it makes me feel much better (less tired) when you are doing 4 to 5 dives a day with profiles that are NDL limited on air.

$150.00 sounds a bit high but if it includes books, tables, and dives; it's not unreasonable.

 

[Northeastwrecks]

ScubaK-Dawg once bubbled...
eod said "If you don't want to use the option to get longer bottom time you can use your regular air table/computer and get a even better margin against getting bent. You can also use nitrox to get less nitrogen narcosis at depths around 30m."

I was always instructed the Nitrox has no significant advantage on reducing Narcosis at depth over air. If you want to reduce narcosis, use Trimix, where the He is a much less Narcotic gas then Nitrogen. I have never noticed a difference on Nitrox. What were others taught?

I believe that you are correct. Nitrox does not decrease Narcosis significantly.

The narcotic effect of a gas is a function of its solubility in lipids. Nitrogen and Oxygen have similar solubilities. Accordingly, there is a similar narcotic effect.

As for the comment about the Carribean divers who had to wait for the Nitrox diver, I fail to see a problem. This diver paid for Nitrox and was entitled to use it. Anyone else who had the training could have done the same. After all, why should a Nitrox diver be forced to abide by air tables?

When we travel to the Carribean, we routinely use Nitrox. I haven't done an air dive outside of a swimming pool in a couple of years.

On a happier note, once you've taken the course, you will be able to dive to the Nitrox NDL's, thereby eliminating the problem.

As for the price, the PADI course takes about 4 - 5 hours of lecture, followed by two OW dives. That's not an inconsiderable amount of the instructor's time.

 

[eod]

ScubaK-Dawg once bubbled...
I was always instructed the Nitrox has no significant advantage on reducing Narcosis at depth over air. If you want to reduce narcosis, use Trimix, where the He is a much less Narcotic gas then Nitrogen. I have never noticed a difference on Nitrox. What were others taught?

You are probably right, I'm just passing on the info I was told at my basic nitrox course. Not much (almost none) experience comparing nitrox to air.

 

[Warren_L]

Yes, I believe that to be true too ... I got narced once on EANx30. Nothing on regular air so far.