To nitrox or not

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George Scherman

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I have a chance to take a Nitrox class locally. I am an inexperienced diver (around 20 dives). Should I wait to get more dives under my belt before I pursue Nitrox?
 
I say go for it...Nitrox is more of a math skill than a diving skill, and will benefit you in several ways.
 
Aquanaut4ata:
I say go for it...Nitrox is more of a math skill than a diving skill, and will benefit you in several ways.

well said, nitrox is all theoretical and can be put to good use once you obtain the knowledge. now if you were talking about aow id tel you to wait and get more dives..good luck
 
George Scherman:
I have a chance to take a Nitrox class locally. I am an inexperienced diver (around 20 dives). Should I wait to get more dives under my belt before I pursue Nitrox?
I would go for it.

If your depth control is not what it should be, there is a danger of going too deep for a given mix. The answer to that is to not use hot mixes until you are ready. It would take some doing to get yourself in trouble with EAN32.

Nitrox starts to be worthwhile at about fifty feet for most applications and at about forty feet if you are diving three or four times a day.
 
I would go for it... but I would also ask myself...

Do I end dives because of NDL's or because of Air Consumption. If Air Consumption is the main reason you are ending dives, rather than NDL, you may want to wait to actually dive nitrox until you need it.

Or not... You can dive it anyway, even if you're sucking it up quickly... You just pay a few bucks more per tank.

Either way... take the training.
 
I guess a Nitrox course will make you more conscious and confident about scubadiving. I go a little deep into gas theory, physiology and so on.
I don't think it is a question of being experienced as a diver. And taking classes make you a more experienced diver... go for it

ciao
 
There are OW classes out there that offer Nitrox as part of the course, the second day of diving is done on Nitrox. Like Don Burke said, you'll have to make sure you can monitor your depth but again most of the Nitrox class is math and table use as well as learning to analyze the contents of the tank.
Ber :lilbunny:
 
When considering getting a nitrox certification diving nitrox there are a few things one should keep in mind.

The average recreational diver will almost always dive an aluminum 80 cubic foot tank. With a SAC rate of about .6 cf/min an aluminum 80 gives the diver the following dive times at the respective depths (with 500 psi reserve)
50' - 42 min. NDL (air) = 80 min. NDL (EAN32) = 155 min.
60' - 38 min. NDL (air) = 55 min. NDL (EAN32) = 90 min.
70' - 34 min. NDL (air) = 40 min. NDL (EAN32) = 60 min.
80' - 31 min. NDL (air) = 30 min. NDL (EAN32) = 45 min.
90' - 29 min. NDL (air) = 25 min. NDL (EAN32) = 35 min.
100' - 26 min. NDL (air) = 20 min. NDL (EAN32) = 25 min.

If you compare the numbers you can see that your dive times don't really get extended because of the limited supply of breathing gas.

Nitrox can, however, shorten your surface intervals and, if dived on air tables, provide a buffer of safety by reducing the amount of nitrogen taken up in the blood stream.

Nitrox fills generally run about 3 times the cost of an air fill, at least in the southeastern U.S.

The cost of the class is not exorbitantly high.

In my opinion, just having the added knowledge of how breathing gasses work and having the ability to dive nitrox makes the venture worthwhile.

the K
 

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