Common reasons for diving nitrox

[CBulla]

Bling bling dude! If it wasn't for the 55# wing and lift bag I shoot for the cross, I'd never surface!

 

[rhephburn3900]

I dive nox 32 and use air tables for the
extra margin of safety!
R.H.

 

[caymaniac]

I do not dive nitrox but I wanted to hear why everyone does. These are the most common answers I have recieved.

I think you left out a category that has been the most important, and that would be ..........SAFTEY.
When doing multiple dives per day on a dive vacation I do like the extended bottom time but most of all the saftey factor. When you are on a liveaboard far away from a chamber facility the idea of using Nitrox alone for saftey should make sense to everyone.

 

[CBulla]

Right on caymaniac! It was easy for me to see the benefits of EANx once I compared the recreational dive tables vs. the EANx recreational table.

 

[do it easy]

I think you left out a category that has been the most important, and that would be ..........SAFTEY.
When doing multiple dives per day on a dive vacation I do like the extended bottom time but most of all the saftey factor. When you are on a liveaboard far away from a chamber facility the idea of using Nitrox alone for saftey should make sense to everyone.

You mentioned longer time and safety in the same sentence. If you max out the extended bottom times, is nitrox still safer? Up to a point, I think that you can get more bottom time than air and still be safer, but if you hit a limit, I don't think it makes a difference.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

For me when I first got the nitrox cert it was what i wanted to dive exclusively for everything. Now I'm more selective as to when I use it. The last few dives I've done have been on air due to the depth(EAN32=110 ft) involved and time spent. Even did the required short deco on air. Now when I'm assisting with classes especially ow I use nitrox for the shorter surface intervals. At 30 ft depths or so that is typical for ow we have at times had to split up larger groups when an assistant did not show or when the people in the group needed more intense supervision. I once did 8 dives in one day averaging 30-35 min. The shorter surface intervals came in real handy. Also regardless of what many say i just plain feel better after diving it on days when alot of work is involved. Just doing 2 or 3 pleasure dives with no students does not seem to have the same effect and don't really notice a difference. Those dives are when I use it for the extended bottom times when I'm working on my skills, doing nav exercises and mapping, or looking for a specific item, place, or fish. And while I like diving it it's not as important that I do as it was when I first got the cert and even tho now it's free as one of the bennies as a shop employee. It will become more so shortly as I start using it for deco gas.

 

[teknitroxdiver]

Everything but the third option. Oxygen is almost as narcosic (is that a word?) as nitrogen. Sure the last one hasn't been proven, but I don't need a book when I can feel it. Even if it's placebo, that's fine too (sounds like a good opportunity for a double-blind test).

As for increased safety, that really only works if you dive air tables. If you take both air and nitrox to the limits of the tables/computers, you aren't gaining much if anything.

 

[WarmWaterDiver]

I dive Nitrox for reduced nitrogen uptake on a given profile, IF the profile lends itself to such - otherwise I use EAN21, and if doing a dive with planned deco obligation, and enriched deco mix.

Not every location we travel to has mixes with > 21% O2 available - I don't let that dictate my choice of dive locations. The more 'out of the way' spots appeal greatly to us, and often do not have Nitrox capability / availability.

Typically, for rec 'fun' dives using single tanks, my dives are gas supply limited rather than N2 load limited when sticking to > 21% O2 mixes, which I find prudent for multiple dives per day over multiple days.

 

[Darnold9999]

For longer bottom times and safer diving doing multiple dive days.

I take a middle ground, with Nitrox I will exceed the bottom time I would have doing the same dive on O2 21%, but not go anywhere near the limits on O2 32%. i.e. longer bottom times and safer diving. Diving air I am more likely to get closer to the NDL limits on a multiple dive day.

 

[dandrian]

I wouldnt say that it is just a goal of longer bottom time or shorter surface interval. I use nitrox as part of my planning stages as well. I look I what I want to accomplish or what I know will be available to me on any given dive day and I see if nitrox is an option to help me manage my dive plans. Sometimes dives are too deep so Nitrox is out, other times there will be multiple dives where nitrox makes sense. I don't just use nitrox because I can, if it helps my overall dive profile great, if not air is fine too. I personally don't go to the extent of planning an air dive but using Nitrox for the extra safety factor. I think the RDP works well enough so that isn't needed. But that said, you have to be a person who REALLY looks to plan their dive day, even if it is just in and outs for classes or equipment checks.

Having a Nitrox cert though is something that is worthwhile to have. Its just another aspect that can make your diving both saver and more enjoyable.