Nitrox on OW Cert Dives?

[dflybldr]

I'm the student that was offered Nitrox on the SSI OW cert dives. I can't remember if we discussed wich of the four dives were air and whick were Nitrox. My impression was that Nitrox was taught as part of the course to all studends, but maybe only offered to ones that were up to speed on the basic skills. We were lucky in that it is the slow season. My class only had six students and all but one were very comfortable in the water and we all mastered the skills on the first pass. We also had two instructors in the pool, one being a divemaster.

I also thought that introducing Nitrox while still talking about decompresson sickness and the discussions that followed really drove home compressed gas nitrogen absorption.

I know, don't forget O2 toxcicity (sp?)

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

I'm a ssi instructor and while I can teach nitrox during the open water class I haven't done so. No particular reason not to, I just haven't and I don't pursue it.

 

[Chad Carney]

In 1995 TDI approved teaching nitrox concurrently with open water. I've been teaching it ever since, doing dives 3 & 4 on EAN.

I switched to SDI when Barsky's "Easy Nitrox with Computers " book hit. They require computers, and using them is a big bonus.

I've never had a student find it too task loading. Shallow water skills don't vary on nitrox.

Chad

 

[duckster3d]

as an instructor, I'd say one of the main reasons for not including the nitrox into the ow course is that the shop looses.

There is no real task loading to breathing nitrox, there is a little bit of understanding how nitrox works and the dangers of breathing it to deep, but on the whole there isn't anything different about breathing it. breathe in breathe out. where is this mysterious task loading?

 

[dl348]

Some agencies teach nitrox as part of their OW class. Whether its a good idea depends on how tuned in the student is, and whether the course is more than a 3-day certification give-away.

What exactly is a certification give-away??????????

 

[daniel f aleman]

What exactly is a certification give-away??????????

Not sure about "3-day certification give-away".

But,

In many areas the course is a loss leader, priced under the actual cost of the class to entice students; not refereing to the quality of the course. In this case, adding an additional course would raise the "price point" of admission to the sport. Pricing the OW course very low is standard for LDSs in competitive areas.

 

[sewcopp]

dflybldr
Are you going to finish your OW cert.? I'm assuming you've completed the pool sessions and just haven't gone open water yet.

Personally I'm an advince and rescue diver (ACUC) and going to do Nitrox cert this week. I agree it's not rocket science. I've finished the home study portion and other than the ACUC tables being more conservative than the ones quoted in the examples (USN) all notrox does is allow your body to absorb less nitrogen and therefore for you to dive longer - not deeper.

Yes and watch that PO2 - CNS toxicity is not something you want to tangle with.

Sue

 

[dflybldr]

We are scheduled to do our ocean dives Feb 23rd and 24th in San Carlos Mexico. They said we can do a night dive Saturday night after we are certified, but I have a great respect for the ocean and fatigue, so I don't want to get hurt on the first time out.

Live to dive another day good advice I think ...

 

[vkalia]

I agree there is little/no task loading in the water, but this is another thing that students have to learn about while doing the OW theory. Something to think about when deciding whether or not to teach the course, that's all.

I have had a few students who would have breezed through this content, and a few who I wouldnt *ever* consider certifying in nitrox. The vast majority probably fall in the middle.

Vandit

 

[pj5]

It is possible in NAUI to do that. Just a bit of extra classroom time. The way it went for my class was that we completed all the OW class and pool work (6 nights), then whoever wanted Nitrox did an extra night of class work. Then everyone did the OW dives at the same time, with the folks who took the Nitrox class using Nitrox on the first two. Had to analyze the tanks and figure out maximum depth for the instructors, don't remember if there was anything else skills-wise. We were diving in a limited depth environment (lake), so no real danger of going too deep.