What agency has the most technical nitrox training?

[Russoft]

Have a decompression procedures course that INCLUDES accelerated deco on up to 100%, because a separate certification for 40-100% is idiotic at best.

You know, I sort of knew that nitrox was dead simple which is partly why I haven't broken out the cash for the basic TDI or PADI course yet. Are you telling me that apart from O2 cleaning, Adv. Nitrox also doesn't really teach much more? I thought something that goes for ~$400 would offer significant knowledge in of itself without the need to combine with Deco Procedures.

(I, too, am determining what direction to go for next course, trying to find out if a basic nitrox course is worth the cost)

 

[Wookie]

You know, I sort of knew that nitrox was dead simple which is partly why I haven't broken out the cash for the basic TDI or PADI course yet. Are you telling me that apart from O2 cleaning, Adv. Nitrox also doesn't really teach much more? I thought something that goes for ~$400 would offer significant knowledge in of itself without the need to combine with Deco Procedures.

(I, too, am determining what direction to go for next course, trying to find out if a basic nitrox course is worth the cost)

A basic nitrox course is worth the cost (IMHO) if you liveaboard dive or take serious land-based diving vacations for a week or so. If you are a twice on Saturday quarry 80 foot diver, not so much.

 

[uncfnp]

You know, I sort of knew that nitrox was dead simple which is partly why I haven't broken out the cash for the basic TDI or PADI course yet. Are you telling me that apart from O2 cleaning, Adv. Nitrox also doesn't really teach much more? I thought something that goes for ~$400 would offer significant knowledge in of itself without the need to combine with Deco Procedures.

(I, too, am determining what direction to go for next course, trying to find out if a basic nitrox course is worth the cost)

Basic/recreational nitrox is absolutely worthwhile.

Advanced nitrox is part of the progress toward technical diving. Most divers get it to some degree as part of a deco course. PADI Tech 40 starts with limited deco and 02 limited to 50%. TDI offers Advanced Nitrox (to 100%) as a separate course but it is most commonly taught in a combined Advanced Nitrox/Deco Procedure course.

tbone1004 is upset because TDI does allow divers to take the AN course without the DP. Hence a diver can be certified to 100% without a formal deco course.

 

[tbone1004]

IANTD is rare to see the two courses not combined. The thought was to teach deco procedures to someone who is only interested in limited backgas decompression. TDI is also fairly common to see both courses combined *usually at no extra cost*, but advanced nitrox does not teach staged decompression, which is the whole point of taking the course anyway so you can do accelerated decompression on O2...

So yes, by the TDI course description, aside from the specifics of dealing with high O2 percentages, i.e. cylinder labeling and cleaning, valve cleaning, regulator cleaning, there is absolutely nothing different about it than regular nitrox. Deco procedures is the one you really want which teaches you about staged decompression and how you really really don't want to switch to O2 at 100 feet because it will kill you. Rumor has it that free radicals bouncing around your brain are bad for you.

Now, if TDI combined the advanced nitrox course with gas blender, and O2 service tech, then it would be a worthwhile course, but they don't. Which brings me to another point of contention with TDI which is quite possible the most bs course of all time "TDI Advanced Gas Blender". WTF does that mean? Now, Nitrox blender is the first course, which teaches you how to blend O2, which is really bloody important because that stuff explodes. It teaches you how to PP blend, which is important for decompression gasses because you can't run high FO2's thru a blend stick without risking damage to your compressor, and potentially everything around it. The "Advanced Gas Blender" is a great way for an instructor and TDI to rip you off by now teaching you how to mix helium. Ooooohhhhh scary stuff. It's completely inert, follows the same rules of PP blending as everything else, and if you can do the math on how much O2 to put into a tank to get the required mix when topping off with air or nitrox, then by God, you can do it with helium. You literally have to take an "Advanced" course to allow you to put helium into the mix.

 

[Nasser]

I can recommend TDI's Nitrox and Advanced Nitrox courses if you want to understand that stuff better. PADI and other agencies have similar equivalent courses as well. Usually Advanced Nitrox is taken together with the Decompression Procedures course, but you can take it separately to get a more in depth understanding of Nitrox use and theory.

 

[rhwestfall]

I too believe we are talking about the OP seeking the "recreational class", but with "more meat". Although it boils down to the instructor's desires, in my somewhat limited exposure to some of the "recreational" agencies, a NAUI course seems to have more theory in it.

YMMV.

 

[Lorenzoid]

My advice would be to take ANY of the agencies' recreational Nitrox courses, and then do further reading on your own to find out what, if any, gaps in the "science and math" the course may have left. Nobody intentionally leaves the "science and math" out that they feel is essential. If it's not taught, it's because the agency doesn't think it's essential. But you might form a different opinion. The only way to know what you perceive as important to know is to read more on your own. The science and math are readily found in various on-line sources, which I'm sure the people here would gladly point you to. You would be free to read as much or as little as you liked, until your curiosity is satisfied. For example, as far as I know, every agency's basic Nitrox course will teach the basic science and math of O2 partial pressure, but you could delve more into the physiology of it by doing further reading. When you get into issues like oxygen toxicity, there is more than one theory and more than one way suggested to deal with it in practice, so you could read to your heart's content.

Of course, as others have said, if you want to delve into it from the start in more detail than any basic recreational Nitrox course, you would have to take an advanced Nitrox course. But you specifically asked about "basic recreational Nitrox."

 

[tbone1004]

Basic/recreational nitrox is absolutely worthwhile.

Advanced nitrox is part of the progress toward technical diving. Most divers get it to some degree as part of a deco course. PADI Tech 40 starts with limited deco and 02 limited to 50%. TDI offers Advanced Nitrox (to 100%) as a separate course but it is most commonly taught in a combined Advanced Nitrox/Deco Procedure course.

tbone1004 is upset because TDI does allow divers to take the AN course without the DP. Hence a diver can be certified to 100% without a formal deco course.

Correct, though I think Tec40 is just as idiotic... Why bother doing accelerated deco on 50%? What's the point for recreational limits? Complete waste of money. Tec 45 is infinitely better and doesn't teach you anything worthwhile that shouldn't have already been covered in Tec40. Can you do the math? If yes, then move on. Can you handle staged decompression? If yes, then move on. There is literally nothing else to learn for accelerated deco. You can kill yourself on EAN50 just as easily as EAN100, just have to go deeper to do it. You're rated to 5.5ATA which has a PO2 of 2.8 on EAN50, that will screw you up pretty bad if you switch at that depth. Same implications as O2 at 60ft, but if you can't differentiate, you shouldn't be doing staged deco in the first place.

 

[Patoux01]

Correct, though I think Tec40 is just as idiotic... Why bother doing accelerated deco on 50%?

Dunno, ask GUE/UTD or any DIR diver...

 

[beaverdivers]

So instead of just punching buttons on a dive computer, you actually learn the science and math behind it? Something that would lay a good foundation for a possible future in tech diving? I've heard that there are significant differences between the various agencies with regards to how technical they get in training basic recreational nitrox.

To answer your question:What agency has the most technical nitrox training?

I would recommend the Technical Divining International ( TDI ) route for the most technical nitrox training. Find the best instructor that suits your needs.

BTW, as for recreational dive computer nitrox training, SCUBA Diving International ( SDI ) offers the best nitrox training.

Again, the instructor/ training facility makes all the difference.