Wanting to do a liveaboard

[tstonedvr]

Look into going out of Ft. Meyers to the Dry Tortugas on the http://www.ultimategetaway.net

 

[timle]

Lack of Nitrox would be a deal-killer for me. I think it's pretty much crazy to do that much repetitive diving and square boat profiles on air. Why risk it?

Risk what? Within No Decompression Limits there isn't a significant DCI rate difference with Air versus Nitrox.

To the original question - I'm doing a blackbeards from February 25th - March 3rd. That fits your dates perfectly - maybe I'll see you aboard - if they still have room.

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

Blackbeards = camping at sea.

Unless you go with the aquacat or Cat Pplau, those have individual cabins.

 

[Humuhumunukunukuapua'a]

Risk what? Within No Decompression Limits there isn't a significant DCI rate difference with Air versus Nitrox.

Uh huh. Tell that to all the folks with "undeserved hits". As long as your profile keeps you shallower than the MOD, nitrox will be safer and you're less likely to get bent on a given dive. Plus, the powers that be really don't know much about the effects of day after day of repetitive diving (and NDLs are all just estimation anyway).

I think you're grasping at straws to say that diving 5 dives per day on air is just as safe as Nitrox. It is not.

No way I would plan to do 5 dives a day on air. You'd be riding the edge of NDL the whole time. Bad idea.

 

[vertaqua]

I definitely wouldn't do a liveaboard without nitrox, any time you decrease how much N2 your body absorbs you decrease your risk for getting bent. Just because you follow your tables or computer to the letter doesn't mean you can't get DCS. DCS is like an
STD the only way to totally prevent it is abstinence, there are ways to prevent both but neither have 100% effective methods to do so. Besides the decreased risk of
DCS your also less tired after diving EANX versus regular air because your body doesn't have to work as hard to off gas your N2 load.

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

Diving with Nitrox should be safer than diving on air. Of course I will dive 5 or more dives a day on air if Nitrox isn't available only because it ain't a perfect world

 

[adrisen]

I booked Blackbeards. I wish they had Nitrox but I don't expect to do 5 dives a day, I would be exhausted regardless. But It should be great fun

 

[timle]

I've not seen any statistics showing a significant lower rate of DCS in nitrox versus air divers - however I've seen three sources citing a non-significant change in accident rate of air versus nitrox.

http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/news/article.asp?newsid=75 - states "no evidence was presented that showed an increased risk of DCS from the use of nitrox versus compressed air." This was actually trying to determine if nitrox was less safe than air when DAN had a workshop to discuss Nitrox usage in rec diving.

The PADI Enriched Air Diver manual states there isn't a significant reduction in the chance of DCS when using Nitrox versus Air. I don't have the manual in front of me so thats not a direct quote nor a page number to give - nor do I know what numbers they used to assert this.

http://www.divefortyoung.com/whatisnitrox.html - This web site took some DAN statistics and drew the conclusion that the rate of DCS is slightly lower but there are other accidents with Nitrox - oxtox, blending, etc that add to the total accident count. Unforunately they didn't gather statistics on these types of accidents.

I'm enriched air certified and I've got nothing against Nitrox. I love what it does to your allowed bottom times. However I don't assume its safer until presented with real evidence that this is so. Would I use nitrox if available - sure I want more bottom time. Will I worry if its not - no way - just dive a safe profile within NDLs.

And if you are on the Feb 25-Mar 3 Blackbeard - see you on board!

 

[cinder4320]

Besides the decreased risk of
DCS your also less tired after diving EANX versus regular air because your body doesn't have to work as hard to off gas your N2 load.

Not everyone feels a difference after diving nitrox. Also once you hit the surface your off-gassing rate is the same regardless of what you were breathing underwater. You were ingassing less N2 at a given rate versus what you would have been on air. Therefore, its true that you should have less N2 in you to off gas if you did the same profile on air vs. nitrox. The problem is that many people take nitrox to the limits too. Its only much safer for repeat dives if you follow the same profiles as you would have on air. If you could for example stay at your depth for 30min on air and 55min on EAN and you dive EAN and stay down 50min you are no better off than the diver who dove air for 20some minutes. You just got to stay longer.
I don't buy the safer thing. I dive EAN simply because of bottom times.

Miranda

 

[caymaniac]

There may be other variables when thinking about EAN. The variables would be "age" and "physical shape". Since I'm past 40, and even though I'm in decent physical condition my metabolism may change the rate that I off gas. To be safer when diving 5 times a day I would use Nitrox, and this is what I recently did while on the liveaboard Star Dancer. While I was diving I used a air computer as well as a Nitrox computer to see if my bottom times (even though I was on Nitrox) would be calculated on the air computer as too long (in the red). I observed that my bottom times on the air computer were constantly bumping up against the red while I had plenty of dive time left while using 31% or 33% or whatever the tank meter read.
I was a-long long ways from a hyper baric chamber as well as home, why not be more safe. Having done 5 dives a day on Nitrox, I'm not sure I was any less tired, but I sure felt much safer.