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When I went to South Shore Divers (www.southshoredivers.com) yesterday to get my 38% Nitrox fills, I was up for an unpleasant surprise. I was told that per their new policy, they wont fill any tank to more than 36%. The reason their banked gas is normally at 39-39.5% and they recently had someone yell at them because he got 39% instead of 40% (the world is full of jerks, don't you know :shakehead ). Apropos of this accident the owner set a strict ceiling of 36% for all fills. He further claimed that many other shops have such a policy. Of course, I found the whole thing absurd. Not wanting to support such an unreasonable and flawed policy, I decided to withdraw any future business from South Shore Divers for the good of the dive community.
Being frustrated with South Shore Divers, I set on a quest to find out if there are any other stores in the area having the 36% percent policy. It turns out that East Coast Divers (www.ecdivers.com) is the only other store in this silly category. They refuse to fill more than 36% for basic Nitrox certifications, but will go to any percentage for "Advanced Nitrox Divers". When I asked the owner about the reason for his 36% ceiling, he plainly stated that 36% is the recommended limit for recreational divers. Interestingly enough, this is the first time I hear about this recommended limit. I know that PADI puts a 40% restriction on their basic Nitrox certification cards, but thats about it. Needless to say, ECD is not getting any of my hard earned dollars any time soon either.
Contrary to the first two, North East Scuba (www.northeastscuba.com) has no problem giving up to 40% premixed Nitrox fill. Furthermore, they only take 10-15 min to fill tanks with Nitrox (a record, in my opinion). Unfortunately, their Nitrox service will run you $16 for 80 cf, $17.50 for 100 cf, or $19 for 120 cf tank. On top of this, they charge 5% sales tax for the Nitrox fills (huh since when do we have sales tax for services?!). Overall, this is by far the most expensive Nitrox fill I have seen in the whole diving world. :money:
The only other shop with premixed EANx I was able to find in the Boston area is Mass Diving (www.massdiving.com). For $12.50 they will fill your tank with any mix up to 40%. While more expensive than South Shore Divers $10 fills, they dont impose their personal views and attitudes on Nitrox on their customers through arbitrary ceilings. Overall, this is the best deal in town in my book.
For completeness, I will mention that United Divers (www.uniteddivers.com) also will fill Nitrox tanks with your desired mix (for $16, if I recall correctly). Unfortunately, they only do partial pressure fills and thus are out of reach for most divers, who cant afford the luxury of keeping O2 clean tanks around. :nonono:
So, to sum it all up
Can anybody explain to me why it is such a pain to get decent Nitrox fills around here? Why are some dive shops frivolously imposing limits (below 40%) on percentage? Perhaps they will impose a 32% limit next! Why do we have the most expensive Nitrox in the world? Why is there just one (remote) dive shop willing to do up to 40% premixed at reasonable price? I just dont get it :confused1
I believe I have surveyed al the dive shops in the area about Nitrox fills. However, Id love to know if Ive missed a dive shop here. Also, how do you people get your 36-40% with all this silliness around? :help:
Being frustrated with South Shore Divers, I set on a quest to find out if there are any other stores in the area having the 36% percent policy. It turns out that East Coast Divers (www.ecdivers.com) is the only other store in this silly category. They refuse to fill more than 36% for basic Nitrox certifications, but will go to any percentage for "Advanced Nitrox Divers". When I asked the owner about the reason for his 36% ceiling, he plainly stated that 36% is the recommended limit for recreational divers. Interestingly enough, this is the first time I hear about this recommended limit. I know that PADI puts a 40% restriction on their basic Nitrox certification cards, but thats about it. Needless to say, ECD is not getting any of my hard earned dollars any time soon either.
Contrary to the first two, North East Scuba (www.northeastscuba.com) has no problem giving up to 40% premixed Nitrox fill. Furthermore, they only take 10-15 min to fill tanks with Nitrox (a record, in my opinion). Unfortunately, their Nitrox service will run you $16 for 80 cf, $17.50 for 100 cf, or $19 for 120 cf tank. On top of this, they charge 5% sales tax for the Nitrox fills (huh since when do we have sales tax for services?!). Overall, this is by far the most expensive Nitrox fill I have seen in the whole diving world. :money:
The only other shop with premixed EANx I was able to find in the Boston area is Mass Diving (www.massdiving.com). For $12.50 they will fill your tank with any mix up to 40%. While more expensive than South Shore Divers $10 fills, they dont impose their personal views and attitudes on Nitrox on their customers through arbitrary ceilings. Overall, this is the best deal in town in my book.
For completeness, I will mention that United Divers (www.uniteddivers.com) also will fill Nitrox tanks with your desired mix (for $16, if I recall correctly). Unfortunately, they only do partial pressure fills and thus are out of reach for most divers, who cant afford the luxury of keeping O2 clean tanks around. :nonono:
So, to sum it all up
- SSD and ECD have set an arbitrary limit of 36% which I cannot tolerate so I vetoed them out. :thumbs_do
- NES charges in gold for their Nitrox, so they should only be called as a last resort. :thumbs_do
- UD does partial pressure fills, so cant use regular tanks with them. :sad:
- Mass Diving is all right no silly restrictions and reasonable price.
Can anybody explain to me why it is such a pain to get decent Nitrox fills around here? Why are some dive shops frivolously imposing limits (below 40%) on percentage? Perhaps they will impose a 32% limit next! Why do we have the most expensive Nitrox in the world? Why is there just one (remote) dive shop willing to do up to 40% premixed at reasonable price? I just dont get it :confused1
I believe I have surveyed al the dive shops in the area about Nitrox fills. However, Id love to know if Ive missed a dive shop here. Also, how do you people get your 36-40% with all this silliness around? :help: