Folks my posts are based on my diving education, training, experience and profession as a Diving Safety Officer; BUT they are only my views and I do not impose them on others. Each diver should be free to decide how they conduct their dives. Dialogues that exchange information are positive but criticisms are not warranted on another person's choices.
I will try one last time...if you reference Wienke, Bennett, Bove, Gilliam, Mount, Edmonds, Dueker, Barsky, Lippmann, et al, they state the benefit of using a high % of oxygen at safety stops...the 'oxygen window' benefit.....even on dives within the NDL....when a diver surfaces they will have microbubbles/nuclei in the circulatory system....removing or diminishing those 'silent bubbles' reduces the chance of asymptomatic tissue damage...using a high % of oxygen at a safety stop is a standard of practice....even shallow mandatory decompression stops use high % of 02....my use is only at a shallow safety stop....my primary gas is 21% air.
I am NOT going to use EAN as a "bailout bottle" or emergency gas supply....but only at shallow safety stops....no "lethal depths".....the concept of redundancy "at depth" is a joke to me......I dive deep but do it in 1/3s...I have never run out of gas in 69 years of diving, never....this current craze to double up all your gear does not make you safer, judgement and in-water skills makes you safer....I see the "two of everything" as just more failure points and for 'joining the club' since the proliferation of "Tech"....again only my perspectives and how you dive or the gear you use is strictly your business. No judgements on your actions or choices.
Question was asked at what depth when diving at altitude do I make a safety stop. Currently diving at 4,300ft ABSL I make safety stop of 5+mins at 15-17ffw [NOAA]. This is usually a swimming along that depth contour 'stop'. Slow swim and extending stop time when feasible. Another question....I plan to fill a 13cf pony bottle with EAN40 using a whip from a 117HPcf bottle; this will allow many sufficient fills of 13cf before pressure drops in 117 enough that I need to re-fill the 117.
Not sure why so many of these threads end up in persons not just espousing opinions or exchanging information but rather telling others that their choices 'doesn't make sense' or are wrong. Nobody has the keys to the kingdom and is truly a 'know it all'. I certainly am still learning. One size does not fit all; keep an open mind and always entertain that "I might be wrong", I operate from that premise. Out here and I will stay off this thread so as not to generate more negativity.
DSO