DIR- Generic Why use GUE nitrox only

[tursiops]

I think anyone going deeper that 100ft. should be using readily available trimix. After all it hardly makes any difference to the cost.

I assume this is sarcasm, since helium is like 4 USD per cubic ft, or 80 USD for some 21/25 in an AL 80, where I dive a lot.

 

[boulderjohn]

I think anyone going deeper that 100ft. should be using readily available trimix. After all it hardly makes any difference to the cost.

Readily available trimix?

The lack of readily available trimix was one of the reasons I stopped instructing. The only way I could get it was if I made it myself, and there was absolutely no helium available for me anywhere for a while. For a class I was teaching, I found someone who had a supply bottle in his garage, and that barely got me through the class.

As for price, the difference between air or nitrox and trimix for a 110 foot dive is huge.

 

[grf88]

I assume this is sarcasm, since helium is like 4 USD per cubic ft, or 80 USD for some 21/25 in an AL 80, where I dive a lot.

When I saw a suggestion that Nitrox should be used for a 21ft. dive I couldn't help myself. Standard gases are not the answer for all recreational divers.

 

[grf88]

Readily available trimix?

The lack of readily available trimix was one of the reasons I stopped instructing. The only way I could get it was if I made it myself, and there was absolutely no helium available for me anywhere for a while. For a class I was teaching, I found someone who had a supply bottle in his garage, and that barely got me through the class.

As for price, the difference between air or nitrox and trimix for a 110 foot dive is huge.

In many areas helium is not available at any price unless you are willing to hijack a truck on the way to a hospital.

 

[Rilelen]

I can't imagine why I would ever go into Extreme Exposure and ask for air

Me! It’s me! I sheepishly ask them for air all the time (they know why, and rib me appropriately lol!! it’s all in good fun).

 

[boulderjohn]

In many areas helium is not available at any price unless you are willing to hijack a truck on the way to a hospital.

Ah, so it was sarcasm! I should have recognized it from the wording. Sorry!

As for price, in many places nitrox prices are ridiculous. I have seen it at $35 for an AL 80.

For those who don't know what it costs to make nitrox, I will tell about making nitrox for the shop I used. They only needed it for their instructors for their occasional trips to New Mexico, so they saw no sense in having any kind of permanent setup in the shop. I would put the oxygen in the tanks, and they would top them off from their compressor. I figured it only cost me a couple bucks a tank for the oxygen, and I was usually making around 36%. I didn't charge them. I saw it as an exchange for the things I got from them (free fills, etc.) That is the most expensive way to make nitrox.

BTW, they did not do any special filtering for their compressor, but inspections showed they easily met standards for use with oxygen. I would bet that would be true of most shops.

 

[grf88]

Ah, so it was sarcasm! I should have recognized it from the wording. Sorry!

As for price, in many places nitrox prices are ridiculous. I have seen it at $35 for an AL 80.

For those who don't know what it costs to make nitrox, I will tell about making nitrox for the shop I usedL8 They only needed it for their instructors for their occasional trips to New Mexico, so they saw no sense in having any kind of permanent setup in the shop. I would put the oxygen in the tanks, and they would top them off from their compressor. I figured it only cost me a couple bucks a tank for the oxygen, and I was usually making around 36%. I didn't charge them. I saw it as an exchange for the things I got from them (free fills, etc.) That is the most expensive way to make nitrox.

BTW, they did not do any special filtering for their compressor, but inspections showed they easily met standards for use with oxygen. I would bet that would be true of most shops.

$35 for an AL 80 is borderline criminal. I made a simple Nitrox Stick for my RIX and it is less than $5, probably a lot less.

 

[boulderjohn]

$35 for an AL 80 is borderline criminal. I made a simple Nitrox Stick for my RIX and it is less than $5, probably a lot less.

The price of oxygen is ridiculously variable. The first time I opened an account, I was charged $90 for a 300 cubic foot bottle. I immediately protested that I knew someone getting it for $60. The guy said, "OK, I can do that." As time went on and I became a regular customer, the same bottle would cost me about $20--from the same company.

 

[Rilelen]

$35 for an AL 80 is borderline criminal. I made a simple Nitrox Stick for my RIX and it is less than $5, probably a lot less.

Yeah that’s wild - I usually get nitrox fills because they’re actually cheaper here than air (bc you pay nitrox by the cf vs a flat rate for air). Topping off one of my AL80s after a dive is usually about $4.

 

[NW Dive Dawg]

Why do you have to ask questions to which you already may know the answers. Based on your replies to other threads, I get that GUE, cave, and possibly tech is not what you do, and that's totally okay. There is no need to be snarky about it - again, you either get DIR, GUE or you do not.

If you're interested in GUE standards, look it up.

https://www.gue.com/files/standards9/Fundamentals-Standards-v9.1.pdf

I clicked the link and read through all the standards and don't see anything at all about GUE specifications or standards for configuring where and how to manage and stow your speargun, fish stringer, cocking device and goodie bag when shooting Lingcod and gathering crab and scallops?

Seriously.... I'm curious.... Are carnivore GUE divers allowed to hunt and gather seafood.....or does having all of that additional equipment violate some GUE rule or standard regarding equipment?