I think that a lot of the supposed strange rules about nitrox certification are indicative of the dramatic changes that have taken place in the thinking about nitrox over the years. It was not all that long ago that some recreational scuba agencies refused to teach nitrox at all because it was considered too dangerous for recreational diving. It was not all that long ago that DEMA refused to allow any presentations on nitrox diving at its annual convention for the same reason. Entire agencies were created to deal with this, and they put nitrox in their names so that people would know that unlike other agencies, they would teach you how to use nitrox. The now defunct IAND agency was created to teach the use of nitrox. ANDI originally stood for American Nitrox Divers, Inc. IANTD stands for the International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers. When I took my PADI nitrox course, it was still a new and daring adventure. The course was quite complicated, with lots of mathematical calculations on the final exam.
That attitude changed fairly quickly as people realized it was not nearly as dangerous as was originally thought. Courses became much easier, and most or nearly all of the math disappeared.
We are still in a state of transition. Some people still have old school ideas about it, and will scream in threads that today's nitrox divers are inviting death because they are simply writing down the MOD off a chart or reading it from a computer and don't know how to compute it using the correct equation. In contrast, others don't know why it is not included routinely in the OW class. In other words--some people say modern classes are dangerously short and incomplete, while others say there is no point in having the classes at all, since it is all so easy.
Having the class separate is thus not a new money grab--it is a vestige from the days it used to be considered absolutely necessary.
That attitude changed fairly quickly as people realized it was not nearly as dangerous as was originally thought. Courses became much easier, and most or nearly all of the math disappeared.
We are still in a state of transition. Some people still have old school ideas about it, and will scream in threads that today's nitrox divers are inviting death because they are simply writing down the MOD off a chart or reading it from a computer and don't know how to compute it using the correct equation. In contrast, others don't know why it is not included routinely in the OW class. In other words--some people say modern classes are dangerously short and incomplete, while others say there is no point in having the classes at all, since it is all so easy.
Having the class separate is thus not a new money grab--it is a vestige from the days it used to be considered absolutely necessary.
