Nitrox the Wonder Gas

[skynscuba]

Nitrox is good for breathing after the dive as you climb the stairs at 1000 Steps in Bonaire. It also keeps me warmer in my dry suit, since I use oxygen activated chemical heaters in my boots and gloves. Oh, and it increases my NDL time too.

 

[do it easy]

Nitrox is good for breathing after the dive as you climb the stairs at 1000 Steps in Bonaire. It also keeps me warmer in my dry suit, since I use oxygen activated chemical heaters in my boots and gloves. Oh, and it increases my NDL time too.

How deep have you gone with the chemical heaters and what percentage of nitrox are you using? Have you ever noticed that it gets too warm?

 

[bmemike]

That's a lot like the argon arguments ... to which I respond, I don't really care if it's all in the mind. After all, it's MY mind ... so if I feel less tired (with nitrox) or warmer (with argon) then whether the effect is real or imagined is irrelevent ... I'm getting what I paid for.

I'm not going to claim that you don't experience what you experience, but you can't claim that "feeling less tired" is a "benefit" if it's not something that can be qualified through testing as a viable side-effect.

At the very least, you would want to say "some people claim to be less tired, but this hasn't been verified".

I think it's great that you have this as a benefit, but isn't it disingenuous to tell everyone that they _will_ experience it?

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I'm not going to claim that you don't experience what you experience, but you can't claim that "feeling less tired" is a "benefit" if it's not something that can be qualified through testing as a viable side-effect.

Actually, I'm not going to claim it either ... nor have I. Perhaps you read something in my comments that weren't there ... read on before responding, please.

At the very least, you would want to say "some people claim to be less tired, but this hasn't been verified".

This is, in fact, EXACTLY what I say when I teach the class.

I think it's great that you have this as a benefit, but isn't it disingenuous to tell everyone that they _will_ experience it?

It would be if that's what I said ... but it's not. Go back and read what I wrote (the text you quoted) again ... where in there do you see me talking about what anyone else experiences?

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[NJdiverTony]

Claim #1
Nitrox reduces narcosis. This sounds reasonable. If nitrogen causes narcosis and you're breathing less of it, you should have less narcosis. The trouble is, the depth range where you start worrying about narcosis (100 to 130 feet) is also where you have to stop using nitrox because of the risk of oxygen toxicity. Dr. Peter Bennett, who co-edited The Physiology and Medicine of Diving and wrote the chapter on inert gas narcosis, says the preventive value of nitrox is "very small, so marginal that I think it should be discounted."

Now that's a dumb statement... Why do you have to stop using Nitrox when diivng at depts of 100 to 130 ft??? That just doesn't make any sense. You can modulate your EANx mix down to an appropriate percentage and you can dive at those depths safely. As long as you use the appropriate mix and stay within a safe PPO2, you don't have to stop using Nitrox at those depths.

At 100 ft, you can get an extra 10 to 15 minutes of NDL time on 32% or 36% Nitrox and still be at a safe PPO2. I'll admit that at 130 ft, and using 28% nitrox the amount of bottom time you'll gain is small (around 3 or 4 minutes... I can't remember exactly at the moment) but when air is only giving you 10 minutes total bottom time, why not use 28% Nitrox if it's safe, in order to gain that extra few minutes of bottom time? As long as you stay within a safe PPO2, you shouldn't have to worry about CNS toxicity.

 

[1Scubagirl]

That's a lot like the argon arguments ... to which I respond, I don't really care if it's all in the mind. After all, it's MY mind ... so if I feel less tired (with nitrox) or warmer (with argon) then whether the effect is real or imagined is irrelevent ... I'm getting what I paid for.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Ditto.

 

[DandyDon]

Originally Posted by Twiddles
Claim #1
Nitrox reduces narcosis. This sounds reasonable. If nitrogen causes narcosis and you're breathing less of it, you should have less narcosis. The trouble is, the depth range where you start worrying about narcosis (100 to 130 feet) is also where you have to stop using nitrox because of the risk of oxygen toxicity. Dr. Peter Bennett, who co-edited The Physiology and Medicine of Diving and wrote the chapter on inert gas narcosis, says the preventive value of nitrox is "very small, so marginal that I think it should be discounted."

Horse manure!
1 - What Tony said ^^^^^
2- Oxygen is narcotic at depth, too.

 

[Wildcard]

It's funny to see the hotshots show up flashing there nitrox cards and demanding it's use, then they suck the bottom out of there tanks in less than half the NDL bottom time. it very much has a place but most dont use it there, it's just an ego thing for them, an expensive ego thing.

 

[mstevens]

I use nitrox simply to provide me with a greater margin of safety. I don't use it to prolong bottom times compared to using air. My personal experience is that I often, but not always, feel a little less tired after using nitrox after some repetitive dives. This is especially true of long or cold dives or those involving heavy currents. My belief is that the difference reflects something akin to very mild subclinical DCS after the air dives that is not as noticeable after the nitrox dives. Even if true, this would not be an adequate reason for me to use nitrox since it's been so unpredictable for me.

What I am absolutely convinced of is that as long as I'm mindful of PO2 and the MOD for my gas, there is no convincing reason for me NOT to breathe what I want to breathe. It often pleases me to breathe nitrox. I don't much care what others breathe as long as they stay safe.

 

[AggieDiver]

I agree mstevens. I use nitrox as much as possible, because it is simply a way to give me a little extra margin of error. I don't dive differently on nitrox than on air...I stay relatively shallow on most dives on either one and as a result rarely brush up against a no-deco time. I just look at it as taking in less nitrogen during my 60 minute dive than I would breathing air, so for me it is about pushing back (however slightly) the risk of getting bent. Over the course of 18 dives in a 6 day period, that little margin undoubtedly adds up, and for me $5-10 per tank is a cheap price to pay for it. I pay thousands of dollars for gear, travel costs, etc., so paying $100 bucks a trip to improve my safety by some fractional amount is a no brainer.