Enriched air course PADI

[oldschoolto]

Typical litigation crazy American.

That is "used" not "sued" typo for sure...

Jim...

 

[boulderjohn]

Yes, it was intended to be "used," not "sued."

 

[JBRotten]

I'm doing the PADI Nitrox course right now with my wife. The current version includes a DVD which is basically a narration of the book with bad acting. I found the DVD useless. I was disappointed at how simplistic the book was - basically referring you to your computer to determine MOD for any given gas mix. I realized quickly, however, that the course really isn't for me and is instead for someone like my wife. For me, the math and science is basic so I want to learn all of it. I spend my free time on SB and elsewhere learning diving physics. For my wife, the math and science is challenging and she'd rather be diving and photographing fish than learning equations. As long as she knows how to analyze the gas and set her computer, she's happy. We haven't done the gas analysis or exam, but so far I feel that the course at least equips the "average" diver with the knowledge and skills required to dive Nitrox. I understand the ridicule leveled against the course, but it's all coming from the sort of people who would spend time on a diving forum (I'm the only one out of the five divers in my family, for example). For us, I guess there's TDI Advanced Nitrox.

Oh, because other prospective students may care to know: We are paying $100 each for Nitrox as an add-on to our AOW cert. That excludes the course material (purchased for $45 on Amazon). We could have done eLearning, but that's an additional $160/diver which seems rather ridiculous.

So I am curious. Doe the exam not include and calculations since they are not include any of the dive planners?

 

[rsingler]

The current PADI Nitrox Course Exam comes in two flavors: with and without EANx Dive Table questions. Very few instructors I know use the tables other than as discussion items, and as noted elsewhere, PADI supposedly doesn't market the EAN32/36 tables any more. Everything is oriented around the computer, and the main body of the exam has no questions requiring calculations.

There is an Appendix to the Nitrox Exam which includes ten optional questions requiring calculations. The questions include determining oxygen partial pressure at a given depth, determining MOD and questions on pressure groups. Almost no one does the Appendix exam officially, though students will often ask about the questions afterwards and the calculations are discussed with the two students that hung around to learn.

 

[Diver2018]

My wife and I were charged 20$ each plus the PADI fees for our Nitrox cert. It was done by our DM in Mexico and we learned what was needed to ace the test and do the dives. We spent the time we needed to learn on our own. For the math whiz it was minutes to learn and for the math challenged, it was hours. Once we both had it, he went over it and gave us the test. He did the paper work and it didn't take long for the whole process. The cost seemed reasonable. The fees charged at our LDS (225$) seem quite outrageous. PADI has nothing to do with the difference in cost between the two.

DMs can teach Enriched Air?

 

[TMHeimer]

DMs can teach Enriched Air?

Not to my knowledge.
I took Nitrox in '06. Tables only of course. I still review them every other day--not sure why as I rarely dive nitrox. Back then the two real dives were required. You made your dive profile, showed the instructor then did the dives. Then told him they went well. Of course it's been a while since they eliminated the required real dives. I wondered back then why the instructor wasn't required to accompany you on the dives. How did he know we even did them (well, why wouldn't we, but still)? I guess there has been a lot of change. Still seems to me it's learning how to analyze and a few important rules--not really the same as some other courses, like Deep or Wreck with limited penetration. From what I've read here over time, it seems the course fee varies a lot.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

DMs can teach Enriched Air?

DM's cannot. But I wonder if they just used the words of "dive guide" which is ambiguous. My understanding is that most dive guides are instructors. Though this obviously is not always the case. YMMV.

 

[Diver2018]

The original post said DM. But I get that he might have meant dive guide (who of course could have been an instructor)

 

[RayfromTX]

He's an instructor and a guide.