OW training & cert on Nitrox?

[awdemeo]

padi nitrox class is a 3 hour class no diving required to get the certification can easaly dedicate a class to the use of nitrox during the class and pool sesions of the padi open water class

 

[hypertech]

I did nitrox a week after OW. In my not so humble opinion, I think they should be taught together. Rather than tell people to just stay away from green/yellow stickered tanks and charge them for another class, explain what it is and what the issues are. At most it would add a little time to the classroom portion and it makes people better prepared to use a gas option that is available just about anywhere you would want to dive.

 

[gsk3]

Reading about nitrox helped me understand a lot about the way that air works. If they're taught well, I'm all for it.

 

[japan-diver]

A well taught OW course would only have to add a few hours in the classroom to add nitrox- O2 toxicity is already introduced in the basic open water course - (at least in all the ones I have taught) so you just have to go a little more indepth on that and the few ohter things in a Nitrox course- adding a day in the classroom is not tak loading I think. Adding testing your mix and the few other academic requirements is very easy since Nitrox dives the same as air, especially at OW level where 60ft is the max depth. Where is the additional task loading?

 

[Crowley]

Well here are the obvious answers you are looking for:
- Why is this not a bad idea (exception granted for handicap mitigations). because the dive shops make more money and so does PADI
- Why does it exist at all? What's the benefit? Again so that the dive shop and PADI can make more money off of you at the time you do open water. They tell you that everyone dives Nitrox and you should too. Being a new diver you dont know or have a clue so you say ok and pay them.

Absolute crap. By integrating part of the Enriched Air Nitrox Diver course into the Open Water course, er - well that actually means that the customer is paying less overall to obtain both certifications. At least - at all the shops that I have known this is this case.

Also - if the nitrox training was being combined with the open water training well - this is not rocket science. Some people are perfectly capable of dealing with the extra knowledge as they learn to dive. As an aside - I have actually tought a genuine rocket scientist - currently employed by Nasa! - anyway - here is a direct quote from the PADI instructor manual:

However, to avoid task-loading student divers ... you should evaluate each diver’s ability to complete the performance requirements for both courses without becoming taxed.

as the above quite explicitly states - if your students can't do the math then the isntructor shouldn't be teaching it.

Some of you may be interested to know that PADI have recently changed their standards to allow the teaching of dive computers in place of tables. Most dive computers are Nitrox compatible and therefore there are two birds to be struck with one stone here.

I have to point out that other agencies have integrated both enriched air and dive computers into their courses for some years. It's nothing new.

I also have to point out to the OP the potential possibilty that the dive shop had no other tanks available at the time. I've filled nitrox tanks with air for exactly that reason. We needed 6 extra tanks, the other 130 were all occupied, so we filled a few nitrox tanks with the air from the nitrox station - note that this air passes through an extra filtration system beyond regular compressed air, and even though the tank might have a green sticker, doesn't mean it requires any extra training to use.

Hope that helps put things into perspective somewhat

Safe diving,

C.

 

[rstofer]

I'm going to come out in favor of combining Nitrox and OW. There is a tendency in OW classes to skip the tables and use the eRDP. Since I am not a fan of skipping the tables, I like the idea of adding Nitrox because if forces the use of tables (as it is taught today). I suspect that OW/Nitrox students are going to know a lot more about the tables as a result of the integration.

I will not be a proponent of skipping the tables/eRDP in favor of teaching only computers. I don't think that we can roll back the use of computers nor do I think we should. But I do think a beginning diver gets a better sense of nitrogen loading (pressure group) and off-gassing (SIT) and repetitive diving (RNT) by thoroughly understanding the tables. Adding the concept of EAD and MOD isn't that much of a stretch.

Richard


Richard