My AN/DP/Helitrox course

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Is there an advantage to taking AN/DP and Helitrox together? On here, I commonly see divers mention the first two usually together but not in combination of the third.

Seems to be fairly common here on the Great Lakes from the divers I know. A little something to take the edge off the narc we can get from the colder and darker waters we dive. A buddy in the region is taking the same combo this year. I get narced bad at 130ft, so why not have the safety margin?
 
Is there an advantage to taking AN/DP and Helitrox together? On here, I commonly see divers mention the first two usually together but not in combination of the third.

if you have interesting then yes. It's regularly combined, and helitrox basically replaces the DP portion. No extra dives, you just do the last couple of dives on trimix. Reasonably common in south florida as well
 
if you have interesting then yes. It's regularly combined, and helitrox basically replaces the DP portion. No extra dives, you just do the last couple of dives on trimix. Reasonably common in south florida as well
So price would be the same + the He?
 
So price would be the same + the He?

what @Marie13 said. It's the same number of days, same number of dives, but you have a little extra lecture or online course work, and have to register for the extra class if you get all 3 cards which is often advisable because a lot of shops don't recognize helitrox because they've never heard of it.
 
Thanks for the information. It seems like a no-brainer to do all three. Then the next class would be TriMix for hypoxic mixes with HE?
 
@rvojr not really, but sort of

So Helitrox is meant for narcosis management at "Recreational depths". Anywhere that you'd reasonably be able to dive air or nitrox, you add the helium in there for a clear head. You are probably already doing decompression so it's technical ish. It is not a prereq for normoxic trimix, nor do I believe it can count in lieu of normoxic on the path to hypoxic. It's very similar to the cavern course in the cave progression where it doesn't hurt to have it, but it's not a requirement to have it.

Helitrox is great if you never intend to go below say 150ft, but there's a lot of diving planned in the 100-150ft range. No need to really take normoxic because you could do those dives on air or nitrox, but the helium makes it better and safer. If you intend on moving into true trimix diving, then I recommend that you save the money at the AN/DP class and apply it to the normoxic course later.
 
Is there an advantage to taking AN/DP and Helitrox together? On here, I commonly see divers mention the first two usually together but not in combination of the third.

I wouldn't look too much into the "AN/DP" name. It has become colloquial to mean 'deep' tech training vs 'cave' tech training or even tech training in general.

An example would be 'Have you done AN/DP yet?' aka have you taken training past AOW level.

Truth is there is a ton of benefit to doing AN/DP/Helitrox and it is very easy to upgrade an AN/DP to a Helitrox/DP while you are still in class--When done in conjunction it is the same number of dives and required skills as AN/DP the instructor just needs to cover helium material and one or two of the checkout dives need to be done on a helium blend.

The downsides are an increased cost of using helium on one or two checkout dives (plus instructors gas). Some tech instructors may have only recently been certified or never fully progressed and can not teach using helium. I would say the issue is rare, but does pop up from time to time.

Some people know what they will be doing in the future or know what a lot of their future diving will entail and adding the helitrox upgrade may not be practical. If a person is going to do trimix relatively soon they may feel the paying the extra money for a baby upgrade it's worth it. Another factor could be that helium is prohibitively expensive (like some parts of Asia) and divers will make a cost benefit analysis on not using it.

As you are in the NE, helitrox would definitely be a benefit to you as the little bit of helium would provided a strong safety benefit and improved dive experience for some of the darker/deeper wrecks.
 
Thanks for the information. It seems like a no-brainer to do all three. Then the next class would be TriMix for hypoxic mixes with HE?

It would be normoxic trimix (O2>18%, any helium %) and then hypoxic (O2<18%,any helium %).

helitrox (advanced recreational trimix in IANTD speak) was designed as a bridge between normal AN/DP classes and an actual trimix class. Give the diver the benefit of getting a little helium without actually increases the depth he is certified to (DP and helitrox are both 150ft courses). Helitrox limites the He % to no more than 20%.
 
It would be normoxic trimix (O2>18%, any helium %) and then hypoxic (O2<18%,any helium %).

helitrox (advanced recreational trimix in IANTD speak) was designed as a bridge between normal AN/DP classes and an actual trimix class. Give the diver the benefit of getting a little helium without actually increases the depth he is certified to (DP and helitrox are both 150ft courses). Helitrox limites the He % to no more than 20%.

TDI just changed standards and He is now up to 35%.

I have a lot of diving to do in the 120-150ft range. As I’ve said, I get narced out of my gourd at 130ft. I want the safety margin. Plus, I’m very into photography. Don’t want mush brain.

No clue when I would want to do full Trimix.
 
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