why hasnt nitrox replaced compressed air completely?

[Steve_C]

Off NC essentially all my dives are in the 60-105 range. Most of the stuff of interest is in the bottom 20 ft. Second dive is always NDL limited and sometimes the first is also. I always dive Nitrox.

 

[DaleC]

the major cost in diving for most of us are... air tickets/car rental,hotel accomodation/insurance/food& entertainment/gear & gear rental...

What are these expenses you refer to? I dive every week and it only costs me gas and air (and perhaps a coffee if I'm sleepy).

At 2-4 dives a week, 52 weeks a year, that's 104-208 fills a year. $5 for air, $10 for EAN32 or $520 or $1040 respectively. For the most part I can accomplish my goals in the time air allows and the only time I choose EAN is if I am doing a profile that definitely requires a longer BT.

 

[Aquavelvet]

When diving from a boat in Puget Sound, my typical profile and dive time benefit from breathing Nitrox. I'm usually down for an hour or more, with the first portion down around 24m. Several of our shore dives have fun things to see down around 30m or more. It's easy to get fills of 32%, and if I'm planning something deeper I'll ask for 28% or 30%.

I have two hp 100s that I fill with air for shore dives that won't go below 12m. My small twinset usually gets some mix of air and Nitrox from transfills, so it's typically around 28%. If planning deco, I'll sling a bottle of 50%.


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[cmulvaney]

My buddies and I dive 40% on most of our dives in South Florida. Our average profile is 65 fsw and we hit our ndl (Almost 2.5 hours) as we dive steel 130's and 149's with cave fills. Hell, I dive nitrox in the pool. lol We just adjust our mix accordingly if we plan on diving deeper. The few times I dive 21% vs 40%... and am limited to using the air ndl... I feel better with the 40%. This usually occurs on a dive boat that limits dive time. Just my perceptions of how I feel after a dive.

 

[sheeper]

Lots of people do shore dives in south Florida, if you get to 25 ft, you're digging a hole in the sand. No need for Nitrox

actually I often use nitrox on shallow shore dives. Especially when i'll have 90 minutes or so in the water. nitrox leaves me less fatigued and tired. on our deeper stuff, anywhere from 60-100 feet or so, nitrox is a must.

 

[String]

Placebo is a wonderful thing...

 

[Atom]

We were asked by the regional management about the viability of offering free nitrox. We did the maths and for us it wasn't.

Accounting for filters, electricity and everything we worked out an air fill cost us roughly £1.

Nitrox by the time we refill the Js of O2 and the extra time, tank cleaning and so on we worked out £3.50. That was without the initial outlay for blending panels, valves, replacement O2 sensors and so on.

So 3.5x the cost to us as a business to offer Nitrox vs Air. As the benefits for the customer were exactly zero we didn't bother.

Any idea how membrane systems compare in price?

 

[DuboisP]

I routinely do 4-5 dives a day. It's my job. You plan the profiles and day properly and rarely if ever come up against an NDL.

Holidays generally i'll do 5 or 6 dives a day on a liveaboard, all on air and never have an issue.

From experience most guided dives (90%+ if not more worldwide) end due to air consumption not NDLs. For these cases there is absolutely no benefit at all in paying extra for nitrox.

you're probably younger than me.
it's no a question of issue, it's a question of exhaustion.
that's also a way of diving.
as you notice it, you end because air consumption.

i often end because not enough gaz to do safely my deco stops. :cool2:
when you dive twice the Rosalie Muller a day, then a night dive, you appreciate nitrox.
and it's generally free.

---------- Post added July 10th, 2014 at 07:52 AM ----------

Lots of people do shore dives in south Florida, if you get to 25 ft, you're digging a hole in the sand. No need for Nitrox

no need to have a tank to do 25 ft, just a snorkel

---------- Post added July 10th, 2014 at 07:55 AM ----------

Just looked through my logs for 2013. I did 550 dives and used nitrox on 7 of those dives. All on the same dive site. Pretty much sums it up - needed only in very specific circumstances.

i did 10 dives in may.
9 with oxy.

 

[rivers]

If I'm diving deeper than 20m and it's in the sea, it's always nitrox (either 30% or 32% depending on depths planned). Shallower than 20m in the sea, it depends who I'm diving with as to whether I have air or nitrox. Freshwater lakes and quarries are always air, unless the sea has been blown out and we still want to go diving. Nitrox is pricier than air. My air costs are free to about £5 (twin 12L tanks, equivalent to HP 100s), whereas nitrox is £10-£15+ depending where I get the fill. I'm diving this weekend, in the sea. Between my stage and my twinset, it will cost at least £40 in nitrox. But the longer bottom times I get, it's worth the cost.

 

[Storker]

I think diving with nitrox leaves me less fatigued than diving on air.

Quite a few of my clubmates claim the same, and also that the difference has become more pronounced through upper middle age (i.e. approaching or past the big five-oh). I'd love to know if there are any systematic studies on this.