How Deep on Air

[Alex@nder]

I think the effects of nitrogen narcosis can be compensated by being well trained and TDI does offer in extended range diving on air to depth you called. However, the real issue is Oxygen CNS toxicity. That killed many rebreather diver and plenty of decompression divers using O2 or EAN 50 at depth. It hit's from one second to the other by developing convulsions leading to drowning if not wearing full-mask. The oxygen toxicity has been long disregarded as being the real killer. Therefore IANTD and GUE to have limits of pO2 at 1.2 or 1.3 at TOD, MOD 1.4 and for deco w/o physical activity 1.6 atm.


Regards
Alex@nder

 

[nimoh]

Worst means the worst (there are no others that are worse). It's a noun, as in: it's the WORST pie I've ever eaten. Worse is a comparative

It can be a noun, but in your example, it's an adjective

Incidentally, it seems that deep air is a very broad topic. So much so, that you never hear a mod tell people they are off topic in these threads

 

[victorzamora]

It can be a noun, but in your example, it's an adjective

Incidentally, it seems that deep air is a very broad topic. So much so, that you never hear a mod tell people they are off topic in these threads

Hahaha, you're right....I meant to say "can be" and then put "pie I've ever eaten" in parentheses. Firday afternoon has my brain all frazzled. Point is, "worse"/"better" is to compare. "Worst"/"Best" is an absolute statement.

But yeah, deep air threads always wander. Part of it is the difficulty in defining deep air and getting everyone to agree on it. Some say it's below 187ft/56m due to PO2>1.4, some say it's below 130ft, some say triple digits. I think most agree "deep air" is bad, it's just how "deep air" is defined. I don't think deep air is good, but I don't mind doing a deep air dive to 150ft. GUE guys disagree and think 150ft IS deep air.

 

[rhwestfall]

I can't remember.....:loopy:

 

[nimoh]

Hahaha, you're right....I meant to say "can be" and then put "pie I've ever eaten" in parentheses. Firday afternoon has my brain all frazzled. Point is, "worse"/"better" is to compare. "Worst"/"Best" is an absolute statement.

But yeah, deep air threads always wander. Part of it is the difficulty in defining deep air and getting everyone to agree on it. Some say it's below 187ft/56m due to PO2>1.4, some say it's below 130ft, some say triple digits. I think most agree "deep air" is bad, it's just how "deep air" is defined. I don't think deep air is good, but I don't mind doing a deep air dive to 150ft. GUE guys disagree and think 150ft IS deep air.

Actually with GUE, the surface is as deep as you can go on air. Anything below that requires ean32 or helium

 

[Pavao]

But yeah, deep air threads always wander.

Because it's deep air! See what I did there?


When I did 200' on air, spearfishing, I was on top of my game, I knew exactly where I was, "fully aware" of everything, never had any problems I couldn't deal with it myself.
But here is an interesting fact, my buddy kept saying, "one of these days I'll hand you my reg", when I was there in one of those dives, where I was sure I had full control and fully aware, then your buddy hands you a reg and you start to breath 18/45, it doesn't take long for you to realize how "out there in space" you were.
After that, saying I could mitigate the risks, "control" my narcosis, I would only be lying to myself.

To clarify, I was also one of those that "worked up to it", progressively going deeper, and although I was spearfishing, It was full tec/deco dives, not quick drops in and out.

 

[DaleC]

Nimoh,
That one always gets me. I understand standardization well enough but the strength of a rule is measured by how willing people are to break it. I think many people understand the He argument and are willing to accept it the deeper/longer they stay down, because it addresses a real concern. But the non air< 100' is completely artificial and I think almost anyone would do a 50'-60' reef dive on it if that's all that was available.

The negative in that case is non standard gas mixes, not air itself.

 

[nimoh]

Nimoh,
That one always gets me. I understand standardization well enough but the strength of a rule is measured by how willing people are to break it. I think many people understand the He argument and are willing to accept it the deeper/longer they stay down, because it addresses a real concern. But the non air< 100' is completely artificial and I think almost anyone would do a 50'-60' reef dive on it if that's all that was available.

The negative in that case is non standard gas mixes, not air itself.

I think the reason for not using air is just that the standard gases (32, 30/30, 21/35...) work well for minimum deco and ratio deco calculations.

I doubt very much you could find a GUE diver that would pass on a 60' dive because air was the only gas available, but most likely they put in some planning for the dive and arrive at the site with 32%.

 

[DaleC]

Sometimes I forget to show up with my fins...

 

[Michael Guerrero]

Ahhh it has been awhile since we had one of these gems

I actually didn't start this poll to fan the religious flames. And I was hoping to keep the tourists out by posting in the tech forum.

I'm genuinely interested in how many people are diving on air to the various common depths/limits, understanding of course this is a small subset of the diving community.

And perhaps I should have worded it differently, like "How Deep Do You Feel Comfortable Diving On Air?". But I think the results are interesting nonetheless. The comments and bickering mostly just make me laugh.