What's the deal with the "Advanced Nitrox" certification?

[Blackwood]

Paying $36 for a set of doubles with 25/25 in them may seem excessive to other people.

It sounds unbelievable to me. That's crazy cheap!

 

[Rhone Man]

It sounds unbelievable to me. That's crazy cheap!

I was thinking the same. If it was that cheap down here I am sure a few people would take the punt with shallow Helium mixes. We pay nearly $2 a cu ft, and you have to blend it yourself.

 

[Reg Braithwaite]

'm a little nonplussed at the idea that someone who wants to keep her END at 80 to 100 feet may not be a candidate for technical diving at all.

i think the whole concept of people self-diagnosing their tolerance of narcosis is bogus, personally. A century of studying the effects of alcohol on their ability to perform the skill of driving has shown us that there is very little correlation between whether a person thinks they are drunk and whether they are impaired.

It seems that some people who report that they are "easy drunks" are actually more self aware of their impairment, but that doesn't actually mean they are more impaired than the people who self-report that they can handle it.

What happens to most people who drink regularly is that they practice performing routine skills while drunk, such as driving themselves from their bar to their home, and as that skill becomes more "unconscious," they feel better able to perform it while impaired. But in reality, they weave just as much while they drive, they fumble their keys just as much, and their reaction time is just as impaired. And of course, their judgment of what to do in an emergency is just as bad.

My conjecture is that the two things for being safer at depth are (a) hone skills. People who are better drivers while sober are better drivers while impaired. And (b) Use mixed gasses where appropriate. The safest driver is the one with the least booze in his belly.

 

[grazie42]

I took IANTD Adv. Rec. Tmx as my "intro to tech" because my instructor recomended it over Adv. Rec. Nitrox and because some of the cool wrecks were in the deeper end of the allowable depth range where I didnt feel comfortable starting out learning narced...

I can definetly see the point of using He, even for "shallower" dives (thats one of the benefits of diving CCR to me) but on OC, it doesent make sense to me to use it in a single-tank configuration...

I´d rather do shallower dives or get doubles and do them "properly"...of course whatever floats your boat...

 

[HowardE]

It sounds unbelievable to me. That's crazy cheap!

Maybe she's missing a zero at the end??

 

[ppo2_diver]

I just finished up TDI Adv Nitrox/Deco Procedures this past Aug and it only covers one deco gas. They don't currently add a second deco gas until Trimix. Maybe that varies by instructor.

It will vary by instructor. I don't put students into two bottles. Instead I teach them to consider the minimalist approach (i.e. take only what you/team needs). If students are squared away with doing 1 gas switch while keeping excellent fundamental diving skills, by the time they get to trimix a second gas switch should be that difficult. Just one of the reasons why technical training should be very rigorous, IMHO.

 

[ppo2_diver]

Paying $36 for a set of doubles with 25/25 in them may seem excessive to other people. But I can afford it, and I'd rather do twenty minutes at depth and remember them, than spend less on Nitrox and come up wondering what it was I just did.

I fill in my garage and still pay more than that. Can I get a fill over the internet from you?

 

[TSandM]

I fill in my garage and still pay more than that. Can I get a fill over the internet from you?

Remember, they're SMALL doubles

Seriously, I haven't gotten a helium fill for a couple of months, but that's what I paid. I have a yearly membership with our LDS for all the Nitrox I can breathe, and it also gives me discounts on helium and argon. I think I've mentioned before that I love my LDS.

 

[Bismark]

i think the whole concept of people self-diagnosing their tolerance of narcosis is bogus, personally. A century of studying the effects of alcohol on their ability to perform the skill of driving has shown us that there is very little correlation between whether a person thinks they are drunk and whether they are impaired.

It seems that some people who report that they are "easy drunks" are actually more self aware of their impairment, but that doesn't actually mean they are more impaired than the people who self-report that they can handle it.

What happens to most people who drink regularly is that they practice performing routine skills while drunk, such as driving themselves from their bar to their home, and as that skill becomes more "unconscious," they feel better able to perform it while impaired. But in reality, they weave just as much while they drive, they fumble their keys just as much, and their reaction time is just as impaired. And of course, their judgment of what to do in an emergency is just as bad.

My conjecture is that the two things for being safer at depth are (a) hone skills. People who are better drivers while sober are better drivers while impaired. And (b) Use mixed gasses where appropriate. The safest driver is the one with the least booze in his belly.

For someone who is relatively new to diving, you have figured out some things that divers with 30 years of experience still argue about.........most excellent.

 

[Steve SDI/TDI HQ]

I think I've mentioned before that I love my LDS.

We can see why, Lynne! The UPS truck will be arriving with my tanks sometime early next week I may follow soon after!