I have a Nitrox question?

I dive with ScubaPro minigauges (no computer).

In considering taking a Nitrox class do I need to have a computer or are the gauges OK?

I have not yet discussed with the instructor. Sorta wanted to know what I was talking about!!!

Guages are fine ... just go by the tables. Some people even prefer not to use a computer, but the choice is yours.

DeputyDan once bubbled...
I dive with ScubaPro minigauges (no computer).

In considering taking a Nitrox class do I need to have a computer or are the gauges OK?

I have not yet discussed with the instructor. Sorta wanted to know what I was talking about!!!

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No. You do not necessarily need a computer. In your Nitrox class, along with the other physiological information that you will learn will be the use of dedicated RDP's for Nitrox use. They work just like te ones you have learned to use on air, but are usually set up for the two most common standard mixes, NN32 and NN36.

These mixes, along with the whole use of Nitrox in civilian diving, were brought to you by Dick Rutkowski and Morgan Wells, then of NOAA. Hence the "NOAA NITROX 32 or 36"!

Give yourself some dive time on the gas, discuss with other divers why they like the computer they use, ask your instructor for recommendations, and when you feel you are ready, purchase the computer you want!

Or NOAA I and NOAA II for you veterans out there...

I dive nitrox (and trimix) without a computer.

The advantage of Nitrox is in the reduced fraction of nitrogen in the breathing gas.

This advantage can be used to lengthen bottom time as opposed to diving air at a given depth or to reduce nitrogen loading for the same bottom time as air at a given depth.

(Surface intervals can also be shortened... and there are disadvantages to Nitrox but these are ancillary subjects that you will learn about in a nitrox class.... hopefully.)

So there is a trade off of advantage that can be had: greater bottom time vs greater safety. You can't have max of both but you could have a little of each.

Dive computers are designed to give you maximum bottom time. A brain using gauges can decide to maximize safety at the expense of the extra bottom time.

A brain using gauges could also decide to maximize bottom time (using Equivalent Air Depth) or even split the difference.... taking a little more bottom time and also having some increased safety margin.

So I would say that if you are getting along fine without a computer now there is no reason you will need one to dive nitrox.

You will need the class though.

I would have said "deadly voodoo gas", but even in the old days I knew Karl Shreeves was full of it when he stood up on stage and said that kind of stuff!!!!

Uncle Pug once bubbled...
---Dive computers are designed to give you maximum bottom time. A brain using gauges can decide to maximize safety and the expense of the extra bottom time.

A brain using gauges could also decide to maximize bottom time (using Equivalent Air Depth) or even split the difference.... a little more bottom time and some increased safety margin..

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Actually, Uncle Pug is not quite correct there, although I hate to correct my elders.

A wet computer can be set (depending on the model) to either maximize bottom time or "safety" depending upon the parameters the operator sets.

For instance, diving nitrox and setting the computer to an air setting, for example, will provide a statistically greater safety margin according to DAN research, however, it is so small that it is not worth decreasing your bottom time for, according to that same research.

Also, a wet computer can process the variables involved, such as varying position in the water column versus time, etc., and run those computations much faster than any human alive, even our beloved Uncle Pug!:book2:

is true unless you are taking your Nitrox course through SDI, they only teach the beginning Nitrox with a computer only. I think they are the only ones doing this but I'm not positive.

BigJetDriver69 once bubbled...
diving nitrox and setting the computer to an air setting, for example, and it will provide a statistically greater safety margin according to

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You can trick the nitrox computer by not giving it the correct information.

You could do the same by diving nitrox using a plain old air computer... without tricking yourself into spending the extra on a *nitrox* computer.

Uncle Pug once bubbled...

You can trick the nitrox computer by not giving it the correct information.

You could do the same by diving nitrox using a plain old air computer... without tricking yourself into spending the extra on a *nitrox* computer.

Click to expand...

You don't have to "trick" the computer. You can set it properly to gain its benefits!

You don't have to "trick" yourself. You can, as I said, get the right computer and it will be flexible enough to, for instance, use other nitrox mixes.