Breathing nitrox after the dive???

[E Rick]

Is that a good practice to continue breathing from a nitrox tank after the dive. Exemple: i saw divers after a nitrox36 dive when returning on the boat finishing thier EAN36 thank...? It makes sense but is that ok?????

THANKS!!

 

[Orlando Eric]

Is it okay? Sure, no worries about hurting anything. Finishing a tank could be bad if you mean "Good to the last drop." You should always leave positive pressure in the tank.

Is it good for you? Well the difference of 15% more O2 at the surface is probably an unmeasurable benefit.. but if it makes you happy and you think it makes you feel better.. Just do it.

 

[TwoBitTxn]

It won't hurt you. It could have been an attitude of I paid for it, I'm gonna get it.

There could be a myriad of other reasons, but I don't know of any tables that shows the wash out of nitrogen from breathing a mix at the surface for the benefit of longer dive times on subsequent dives.

TwoBit

 

[utnapistim]

Actually I think it helps with removing excess nitrogen.

The first aid for DCI is pure O2; If O2 is unavailable, then enriched air should do it; I think it's the same principle even in the absence of DCI: less N2 percentage in the air should help after a dive.

 

[Rick Murchison]

Unless you're really pushing your oxygen clock it won't hurt...
- but -
From a purely personal perspective...
I'd rather use the gas under water, and,
There are generally more useful things I can do with my time.
Rick

 

[Seadiver5]

Remembering the law of partial pressure it would make sense that the added oxygen would allow for additional off gassing of Nitrogen.

If it were my tanks I would also prefer to save the gas for diving but if they felt like they were pushing their luck then breathing it on the surface would be fine.