What is it like to dive with Argon?

[nimoh]

if you are going to be in close to 0 c water for more than 30 mins OR in deco you need argon ...................

I have done plenty of ice dives where the water temperature was near 0 with EAN32 and filling my drysuit with back gas. Saying argon is "needed" is a bit of an overstatement. I do agree that it is better though.

---------- Post added January 31st, 2014 at 10:23 AM ----------

I think they are trying to say that the expansion and contraction experienced by Argon under pressure is less compared to your regular air. Now whether it is less to the point where you are actually putting in gas less frequently as you descent and venting gas less frequently as you ascend is something Argon users can elaborate on from their own experience.

I understand, that a denser gas wouldn't compress as much, but the difference is so insignificant that it isn't worth mentioning.

 

[victorzamora]

Well, I've done the math and even at the FAR extremes of plausibility (coldest, deepest, most poorly fitting drysuit) and the math proves out that Argon isn't ANY better in terms of compressibility. The Z-factor for Argon is .9995 while the Z-factor for air is .9987. Warming up the air a few degrees makes it less compressible than Argon. That is now, officially (as far as I'm concerned) debunked.

 

[tursiops]

I think they are trying to say that the expansion and contraction experienced by Argon under pressure is less compared to your regular air.

Yes, that is what they are trying to say. At the pressures in diving gear, it is wrong...and irrelevant. It is all about the thermal conductivity of the gas. And comparisons need to be made to Argon versus Helium, not Argon versus Air, where the thermal conductivity differences are minor......the research says Argon is a better insulator than air (in a drysuit) for maybe a 10% improvement, whereas versus Helium it is an 800% improvement. Now, you don't ever have pure Helium in your trimix, so the effects scale down.....but the effects are all due to thermal conductivity, not compression (which is the same for all of them....remember Boyle's law?). Assuming ideal gases, of course, which is OK at the 0.1% level for our pressures...

 

[PfcAJ]

I use argon nearly every dive.

In my experience, on short exposures, it doesn't matter to me a whole lot. But on the long ones where you're on the hook for a long deco or a long exit from a cave (frequently both), I want all the things that might help me stay warm and give me a edge. Argon is one of those things.

 

[mala]

if the gas temp (water temp)is below body temp then argon is the second best thing on a deep long dive.

first choice would be a rebreather.

 

[wedivebc]

I use about 1% argon is almost every dive I do and it makes no difference even when I used 100% argon. Now if you want to stay really warm use neon. The placebo effect is worth every penny.

 

[kwinter]

I have done very cold water dives with argon and with air. The only difference I noticed with argon was how much lighter I felt in my wallet.

 

[Tigerman]

if you are going to be in close to 0 c water for more than 30 mins OR in deco you need argon ...................

Really? Never noticed that I NEEDED argon when being in 0c (and less) water. Ive noticed needing proper undergarments tho..