Nitrox

[HowardE]

I would say...

If you are sucking air quickly, why would you want to spend the extra money for a tank filled with nitrox, when you would suck that down quickly too?

I would say that once you can stay down at 60' for about 45 minutes or more on an 80 Cu Ft tank, should you take the nitrox course.

The NDL (based on the PADI RDP) for air at 60' is 55 minutes... For Nitrox 32 it's 90 minutes, and with EANx36 it's 115 Minutes...

If you're not even approaching your NDL's because of air consumption, then wait to use nitrox... It costs more money to breathe it.

 

[mcclete22]

I took the Nitrox cert right after my Open Water becuase I wanted to continue to learn, and it adds to your diving experience over all. Maybe I bought in to heavily with the book, but I think the more classes that you take, the more involved you are going to be. Also it also adds knowledge and experience to your diver profile.
After diving Noitrox I felt better, not as tired. The book says it has no real psyiological benefit, but after the dive I personally felt better. My instructor told me that he usually feels better after a Nitrox dive as well.
I think that one of the best things we can do is try to improve ourselves and our abilities. Getting additional certifications helps you be a better, more experienced diver.

 

[Daryl Morse]

The main advantages of nitrox are longer NDL and shorter SI. The differences can be dramatic. I just got back from a week of diving and I used 38% nitrox for a couple of days. It really extended the dives and reduced the SI.

If you're running out of air before you run out of NDL, then IMO, nitrox is a waste of money. However, even if you aren't running out of NDL, if you're doing multiple dives per day, nitrox can be a benefit.

I don't think there's any evidence that nitrox reduces SAC. Your body can only metabolize so much O2 per breath. Any extra O2 will just be exhaled.

 

[Don Burke]

Im new to diving obviously if im in the forum but anyways im thinking of taking nitrox because im a big guy and really suck the tank dry fast will nitrox help with this problem and is it worth the money for the class and tank fill prices

Thanks

I saw one test where shallow fast swimming showed a very slight consumption advantage for nitrox. For everything else, it was about even.

You can go ahead and take the course but not actually use nitrox until your gas consumption comes down. This way you have time to shop around for the course. There is one shop around here that has very low off season rates.

A short term answer would be to rent bigger tanks until you get more comfortable.

 

[Diver Dennis]

When I dive Nitrox for less than 2 dives a day I find that there is no difference from air. Even after 3 or 4 dives I don't feel a lot different than air. Now physiologically I might be better off but I don't know enough about the science to say for sure.

 

[Diver Dennis]

I'm curious as to whether a deep breather on air is better off or about the same as a shallow breather on Nitrox?

 

[Don Burke]

I'm curious as to whether a deep breather on air is better off or about the same as a shallow breather on Nitrox?

My initial reaction would be that the body is going find a way to get rid of the CO2 and take in the O2. Nitrox does not make CO2 go away faster.

However, I am not a doctor and do not play one on the web. Your mileage may vary. Use only as directed. This is not tax advice. For external use only.

 

[UnixSage]

The main advantages of nitrox are longer NDL and shorter SI.

I have seen this written several times in several texts. I assumed that the tables would look different not only from the NDL standpoint but also from the surface interval side of the table. From the tables I have seen this is not the case. The Air, Nitrox I and II tables all show the same times for off gassing. Which after the fact makes sence because you off gas at the same rate no matter what you were breathing. How it shows up is that you are not as a high of a pressure group when you came out of the water.

I think that the statement could be better summed up as saying:
The advantage of nitrox is longer NDL and becase of that you can do shorter SI.

Then again maybe I am the only one that was confused by the statement.

 

[Don Burke]

I have seen this written several times in several texts. I assumed that the tables would look different not only from the NDL standpoint but also from the surface interval side of the table.

If you were to continue breathing the same mix on the surface, the offgassing _would_ happen faster.

From the tables I have seen this is not the case. The Air, Nitrox I and II tables all show the same times for off gassing. Which after the fact makes sence because you off gas at the same rate no matter what you were breathing. How it shows up is that you are not as a high of a pressure group when you came out of the water.

Since the diver does offgass at the same rate, the diver can switch between different Nitrox mixes during one sequence of dives without going through some odd tables contortions.

I think that the statement could be better summed up as saying:
The advantage of nitrox is longer NDL and becase of that you can do shorter SI.

Then again maybe I am the only one that was confused by the statement.

Perhaps, but it is a good point and the SI advantage could be explained better.

 

[Daryl Morse]

I have seen this written several times in several texts. I assumed that the tables would look different not only from the NDL standpoint but also from the surface interval side of the table. From the tables I have seen this is not the case. The Air, Nitrox I and II tables all show the same times for off gassing. Which after the fact makes sence because you off gas at the same rate no matter what you were breathing. How it shows up is that you are not as a high of a pressure group when you came out of the water.

I think that the statement could be better summed up as saying:
The advantage of nitrox is longer NDL and becase of that you can do shorter SI.

Then again maybe I am the only one that was confused by the statement.

You're being pedantic, but you're making a valid point. It's not that you off-gas more quickly with nitrox. As you point out, there is no difference in off-gassing if you start from the same pressure group. The point is that since you take on less N2, there is less N2 to off-gas, therefore, shorter SI is possible.