Is there any advantages of using AIR for Deco?

[Don Burke]

advantages of using air for deco:

1 you can get it anywhere

If one is diving in a place that does not have nitrox, maybe he should take some measures before decompression diving. Most places have some sort of welding industry, so oxygen is not that hard to come by.

2 it is cheaper than nitrox or O2

Lord knows how someone would pay for the rest of the trip if the few dollars for oxygen are too much.

3 no Oxygen toxicity problems

That is not the case for many deep air dives.

4 no need for gas analysis

I put that in the same category as "Air is easier to spell."

5 less tanks

There is actually more gas involved due to the longer decompression times. The number of tanks could go either way.

6 no gas switching errors (primary cause of death in tec divers)

I have not seen any of those in years.

7 simpler decompression planning

Now we are back to spelling. If the planning is too tough, switch to checkers.

 

[Curt Bowen]

Oh give me a break....... divers have been decompressing on air since the year dot and quite successfully too. It is only over the last few years that nitrox has become readily available in some places and been de mystified that it is now seen as an advantage because of the shorter stop times etc.

advantages of using air for deco:

1 you can get it anywhere
2 it is cheaper than nitrox or O2
3 no Oxygen toxicity problems
4 no need for gas analysis
5 less tanks
6 no gas switching errors (primary cause of death in tec divers)
7 simpler decompression planning

.

I think we are talking about physilogical advantages and not ease and costs. And I have been using nitrox and oxygen for decompression for over 14 years, so its not new.

Before it was ever available in the dive shops we mixed in our garages.

 

[Curt Bowen]

I still use just air for diving and decompression when I dont give a crap about how much time I spend in the water, such as a deep wall dive in the Caymans and nice reef to look at from 200 to zero, clear warm water.

But when deco starts racking into the hours and the water is cold, strong currents, bad vis I plan my dive to exit as soon as possible by using choosen deco gases I use all the time 50% and 100%

Why do I use these mixes, because I have over a thousand decompression dives with them. They work! Plus I have dedicated MARKED cylinders just for these mixes. No other mix is EVER in these cylinders.

 

[Mako Mark]

If one is diving in a place that does not have nitrox, .

Like a pearl farm in the Pacific?

I still use just air for diving and decompression when I dont give a crap about how much time I spend in the water,
.

Thank you Curt,

clear warm water.

Like a pearl farm in the Pacific?



I am not saying that there are no advantages to decompressing with EANx (dont be silly), I am just saying that you can deco perfectly well on air and that there are valid reasons to do so.

I was answering Jean Eve's question with information rather than dogma.

 

[Don Burke]

Like a pearl farm in the Pacific?

You got there. Your dive gear got there. The oxygen for emergencies got there. A cylinder of oxygen for mixing can get there.

I am not saying that there are no advantages to decompressing with EANx (dont be silly), I am just saying that you can deco perfectly well on air and that there are valid reasons to do so.

... and I am saying that it is not a good idea and should not be plan "A" or plan "B".

 

[Mako Mark]

You got there. Your dive gear got there. The oxygen for emergencies got there.

I think you are talking to the wrong person dude, stop being so negative, I have never been to Tahiti nor has my dive gear, and I have never worked on a pearl farm.

Perhaps we should be asking Jean Eve as to why they are NOT using nitrox to deco?

Is it economic?
Is it logistical?
Is it lack of knowlege or training?

My question for Jean Eve, is what kind of profiles are you doing?

My knowlege of mussel farms in NZ is that shelfish are grown pretty close to the surface, so I would think that a pearl farm would be shallow too. So unless you are doing five hour dives, you should be able to plan no deco dives, or am I way off base here?

 

[Don Burke]

I have never been to Tahiti nor has my dive gear, and I have never worked on a pearl farm.

Neither have I. The video I have seen of pearl farms showed all work being done from the surface once the oysters were gathered.

Actually, you are the one who introduced pearl farming to this discussion. I have no idea where the diving is to be done.

 

[Mako Mark]

Neither have I. The video I have seen of pearl farms showed all work being done from the surface once the oysters were gathered.

Actually, you are the one who introduced pearl farming to this discussion. I have no idea where the diving is to be done.

Jean Eve works on a pearl farm in Tahiti and has posted some very interesting threads on a number of issues and shows a genuine thirst for information and advice on dive practices elsewhere.

The perspective and questions from someone far removed from the armchair experts and recreational pro's that normally post on this board is refreshing and we should all take note of other parts of the dive industry. It puts us in our place and makes us realise that what we do is not the be all and end all of diving.

I learned that the first time I saw a Philipino fisherman at 45m holding onto a large rock towed behind the boat, breathing from a plastic air hose shoved into his mask, looking for a fish trap. Who am I to say that he was not doing it right? What works works right?

 

[Don Burke]

Jean Eve works on a pearl farm in Tahiti and has posted some very interesting threads on a number of issues and shows a genuine thirst for information and advice on dive practices elsewhere.

The perspective and questions from someone far removed from the armchair experts and recreational pro's that normally post on this board is refreshing and we should all take note of other parts of the dive industry. It puts us in our place and makes us realise that what we do is not the be all and end all of diving.

I learned that the first time I saw a Philipino fisherman at 45m holding onto a large rock towed behind the boat, breathing from a plastic air hose shoved into his mask, looking for a fish trap. Who am I to say that he was not doing it right? What works works right?

I agree to all of the above.

In regard to your last paragraph, in "Down Time", there is a story titled "Compressor" that is worth a couple of reads.

 

[Kim]

I believe that the pearl farming comes from the fact that the original poster has made many references to it in other threads - so it's fair to assume that he has something to do with it! If you read all of Jean Eve's threads it becomes quite clear that he's been having some problems with DCS due to his work - and is trying to find the best solution to the problem - IN TAHITI.