What do veteran divers think about Air vs Nitrox

[HowardE]

You're limiting yourself to 45 minutes at 1.6. 1.6 is generally reserved for deco gas where you are not exercising.

I don't spend my whole dive at 1.6 - but I plan my dive so that I'm not going to exceed it. If I know the sand to be at 132' I'd probably use EAN 32. If I know the sand is at 110' I'd use 36 or 37% - Generally for me, on dives to these depths, It's to a wreck, and there's not MUCH to see in the sand. I may spend a minute or two at the max, then work up.

Like the Spiegel Grove is at 132 FSW to the sand, so I dive 32% - but I'd probably spend the most amount of time on the dive between 90 and 110 FSW.

 

[mccabejc]

The way I look at it is I DON'T CARE what is the risk to the overall diving community. Doesn't matter. What I do care about is the risk to me. I'm selfish that way. And I have no clue whether I have some predisposing factor that, under some conditions, is going to result in me getting DCS. Maybe my age, or maybe I have a PFO, or maybe something about the way my body deals with excess nitrogen, or maybe I have some kind of DCS cooties. I'm gonna dive as safe as I possibly can, and follow all the reasonable precautions I can find, but that may not be enough. And whether only 1 in 10,000 dives results in a DCS incident in the general community doesn't matter whatsoever.

So based on that I'll take nitrox as just another thing that might help. Because if I didn't use it on a dive where it would have prevented DCS I'd be mighty pissed. And isn't that what dive safety is all about? Erring on the side of caution? We all talk about how we'd cancel a dive on a hunch, when things just don't feel right, just to minimize the risk of a problem. So why is nitrox any different?

 

[Peter McGuinness]

and I don't pay a penny more for any recreational nitrox mix (22-40%) than I would for air.

Under those circumstances it's a no-brainer (unless you're paying $10 for an air fill).

Where can we all get that deal? - do tell! :lol:

Peter

 

[Peter McGuinness]

Cervical spine, the 7 vertebrae that hold your head on the rest of your body.... you are thinking of the cervix.....I am also trying to imagine the result of titanium plates nad screws in a cervix....yikes

Whew - that's a relief!
Peter

 

[HowardE]

Under those circumstances it's a no-brainer (unless you're paying $10 for an air fill).

Where can we all get that deal? - do tell! :lol:

Peter

Fill Express in Florida. I pay between $4 and $6 for a "top off" fill - It would cost me $7 to fill my 100's from empty.