Reason for Rec Triox?

[Dive-aholic]

First, this is not a troll. I'm truly interested in knowing the answer.

I've been following TSandM's thread Two HOURS??????? and it got me wondering about the purpose of this course. I did some research, visited GUE's website, downloaded the standards, etc. According to GUE, the depth limitation for Rec Triox is 120 feet. My question is why bother with helium at such a shallow depth? I used to dive in the 95-100' range on 32% but have recently gone to doing those dives on air. The deco obligation has only increased by 7 minutes for my dive profiles and I'm no more impaired.

Before the comments on that one start - I've done the same dive on 32% in September and 21% last month and during the 32% dive I couldn't turn my camera on. Later at home I realized I was pressing every button but the power button. During the 21% dive, I turned the camera on and got about 13 minutes of pretty decent video footage.

Is it worth the added disadvantages of helium to dive it at such shallow depths?

 

[nadwidny]

Tell us the disadvantages first. After we correct those misconceptions we can work on the rest.

Helium in the 100-120 range? Absolutely worth it. Try it. There is nothing that myself or anyone else can post on the internet that can demonstrate the difference besides personal experience. I can tell you all about my hundreds of dives on air or nitrox in the 100+ range then I can tell you about my hundreds of those same exposures that I've done on mix and how much better it is. But in the end you'll won't believe a word I say because of all the crap you've been fed from the time you were certified. Until you try it.

 

[onfloat]

Channeling JeffG?

 

[Dive-aholic]

Tell us the disadvantages first. After we correct those misconceptions we can work on the rest.

Helium in the 100-120 range? Absolutely worth it. Try it. There is nothing that myself or anyone else can post on the internet that can demonstrate the difference besides personal experience. I can tell you all about my hundreds of dives on air or nitrox in the 100+ range then I can tell you about my hundreds of those same exposures that I've done on mix and how much better it is. But in the end you'll won't believe a word I say because of all the crap you've been fed from the time you were certified. Until you try it.

Disadvantages - way more expensive than nitrox or air. That one aside, because I know the next response will be about being willing to spend the money on the dive. I don't want to hear that. I'll save my helium money for the deeper stuff.

Increased risk for DCS

Longer decompression


I've tried it. 21/30 with an average depth of 95'. I didn't feel any more clear minded. In fact, maybe a little more narced. But that's all subjective. And my deco obligation was longer than if I had done the dive without the helium.

Look, I'm asking a question to which I'd like a serious response. I'd like helpful responses. I believe there are disadvantages to diving helium in general. Sometimes the benefits outweigh those disadvantages though and that's when it makes it worth it. What I'm trying to find out here is what those benefits are. My personal experiences haven't shown me any benefits. But then again, I don't have hundreds of dives on mix in the 100' range. If you don't have a helpful response, you don't need to bother responding.

 

[Johnny Richards]

Tell us the disadvantages first. After we correct those misconceptions we can work on the rest.

Helium in the 100-120 range? Absolutely worth it. Try it. There is nothing that myself or anyone else can post on the internet that can demonstrate the difference besides personal experience. I can tell you all about my hundreds of dives on air or nitrox in the 100+ range then I can tell you about my hundreds of those same exposures that I've done on mix and how much better it is. But in the end you'll won't believe a word I say because of all the crap you've been fed from the time you were certified. Until you try it.

Ok, now correct the misconceptions without all the "crap you were fed from the time you were certified".

A valid question was asked with the only response being a personal attack on the poster.

Please, for my benefit as well, tell us why helium at shallow depths is beneficial.

Johnny

 

[smellybear]

Ok, now correct the misconceptions without all the "crap you were fed from the time you were certified".

A valid question was asked with the only response being a personal attack on the poster.

Please, for my benefit as well, tell us why helium at shallow depths is beneficial.

Johnny

I had the same impression as Johnny Richards that respone from nadwidny is not very nice........ please tell us the benefits...if u know that is

Joe

 

[rsdancey]

Longer decompression
...


And my deco obligation was longer than if I had done the dive without the helium.

RecTriox is for divers who are not planning on mandatory deco. GUE trained divers using minimum deco procedures use an essentially identical profile to that they would use on nitrox. Comparing your deco dives to RecTriox dives is making an apples to oranges comparison.

There are divers (I am one) who are sufficiently impaired below 90fsw to benefit from trimix. The issue of the narcotic effects of oxygen under pressure are debatable, but I know from personal experience that my body reacts quite differently when using a trimix blend vs. a nitrox blend vs. air at those depths.

For various reasons, my dive team limits depth to 100fsw +/- 5fsw. If I was planning dives below that depth I would plan to get trained and then use 30/30 mix on them as SOP.

Ryan

 

[Dive-aholic]

Good point, Ryan. And I actually knew about the no deco rule from reading the course standards. I added that at the end to illustrate the disadvantages of helium in general. I appreciate your response. But are there any other reasons? It looks like Rec Triox is required for all GUE divers wanting to get training beyond that. That's what I'm not really understanding. I, for one, don't feel the need for helium at 100'. 120' is about where I think I start to need it, but that's the Rec Triox max depth limit.

 

[SDAnderson]

Personally, the benefits of He in the mix at 100 feet are very marginal and not worth the various costs. By 130 feet my cost/benefit equation pretty much reaches equilibrium and whether or not I'll use it often depends upon what gas I have left from the last dive and whether or not I feel the need to be "sharp" on the next dive. At 150 feet, I'd much rather dive TMX.

I don't think GUE is doing wrong by introducing He mixes in shallow NDL situations. Actually, it makes sense - it's probably better for students to take baby steps and learn to dive TMX on "easy" dives to recreational depths, then add the deep decompression dives in the next class. It's ironic that GUE would take this path, after all, breaking the learning down into bite-size chunks is what made PADI so successful and lead to the "put another dollar in" jabs. GUE: Gouging Unsuspecting Esthetes?

 

[wb416]

Anecdotally, the dark cold Great Lakes wreck dives I've done on helium in the 100-130 ft range rendered more detail than those same dives on air or nitrox.

If price is a concern, lease some helium bottles from your local supplier and either find someone that will let you partial pressure blend or go in with some buddies and get yourself a compressor (it's hard to put a price on the convenience of having your own (or shared) fill station!)

Being a diver is like being a home owner.... "...never having to say you're done pouring money in!!"