NITROX for any and all dives?

[leadduck]

For local diving and single tank diving I use air. On a wreck safari with a week of 3 dives a day to 30msw with double tanks, I use Nitrox. It really pays off with double tanks.

 

[Wookie]

I never dive without it. Here's an anecdotal story for those interested.

I ran a liveaboard dive boat for 20 years. When we started, we ran 25-30 trips a year, averaging 8 dives per trip (we were a weekend boat), with 34 divers on a boat. That's about 6000 dives a year rounded.

We averaged 8 cases of bends per year, which meant the boat came home early 8 times a year. The Coast Guard was furious.

in 1998, we installed a Membrane nitrox system. It was a Nitrox Technologies system, made great 32%. We sold nitrox for $10 a fill or $60 for the trip.

We averaged 8 cases of bends per year, because the people most likely to get bent are the same people least likely to pay $60 for gas. Remember, this is in Texas. None of the divers bent were on nitrox. I noticed this.

In 2009 we moved the boat to Florida, cut 10 passengers from the boat, made nitrox inclusive, and upped the price to cover it. Now, 99% are diving nitrox. We offered a "discover nitrox" class for free. The class lasted for the duration of the trip. We rarely dove (dived?) where you could go deeper than 130 feet, so 32% was the right mix. From 2009 to 2016 when I sold the boat, we never had a case of bends again. The average depth in the Dry Tortugas is slightly shallower than the Flower Gardens, but I don't believe that is the only reason. I'm a believer in Nitrox.

 

[TrimixToo]

For local diving and single tank diving I use air. On a wreck safari with a week of 3 dives a day to 30msw with double tanks, I use Nitrox. It really pays off with double tanks.

Well, yes, but this is the "Basics" forum. Doubles are a wee bit past that. I haven't used Nitrox for anything other than a deco gas for seveal years (not due to cost, but just because it's not worth my time to mix it instead of just doing the deco).

But for recreational single-tank divers doing multiple dives per day at intermediate depths it's a great alternative for extending BT and/or reducing SITs and risk.

 

[bladder]

I'm glad to see that there was not a single post advocating the questionable and unproven use of Nitrox over 21% because it supposedly "gives the diver more energy" or "makes him or her feel better".

 

[Lorenzoid]

I'm glad to see that there was not a single post advocating the questionable and unproven use of Nitrox over 21% because it supposedly "gives the diver more energy" or "makes him or her feel better".

You overlooked it.

 

[tursiops]

I think the point being made is that NO2 absorption is not the limiting factor in many dives, it's gas remaining in the tank.

He said "most." You say "many." I say "some."

 

[tursiops]

I'm glad to see that there was not a single post advocating the questionable and unproven use of Nitrox over 21% because it supposedly "gives the diver more energy" or "makes him or her feel better".

Sorry, I do feel less tired when using Nitrox. The issue is still anecdotal; the available studies are conflicting, inadequate, and off target. Someday the science may actually get done and be compelling. Until then, and perhaps after then, I will feel less tired when using Nitrox.

 

[kelemvor]

I’m currently rereading Simon Pridmore’s Scuba Confidential and came across something I missed before. In the chapter on NITROX he states “If NITROX is so good, (and it is,) why doesn’t everyone now use it all the time?” I have been EAN certified for about a year but the only time I have really used NITROX was during a trip to Bonaire, diving 2-5 times daily. My local dives consist of depths of 45 fsw, or less, and usually only one dive per day, occasionally two.

Is there an advantage to using NITROX in my typical local dive situation that I am overlooking? My (possibly wrong) understanding has been that NITROX is best for multiple dives, especially where your gas supply would exceed your NDL if on air.

Thanks for the input,

Erik

Mods, if you feel this would be best posted somewhere else, please move it there. Thanks.

I use nitrox for any and all dives unless I'm somewhere that I just can't get nitrox. Given the cost of diving, it's dirt cheap. I'm also one of those that believes he feels better after diving with nitrox than I do after diving on regular air. I know it's supposed to be placebo effect, but I don't care. I have done a few dives in the keys where the bottom was less than 20 feet from the surface. On those dives, I thought I might as well have used air but I had nitrox in my tanks and used it anyway.

If I recall, the studies about nitrox making you feel less tired were very limited in scope. I didn't think they were the be all and end all of that topic. For now, I've decided just to use statements like "I know it's supposed to be placebo effect, but I don't care."

At home, nitrox costs me $2-$5 more than air fills. Some other locations it costs more, but it's still always quite affordable. "Local" diving for me is at least an hour drive away, usually more like 5. Boat dives cost $50-100 per two-tank trip.. nitrox is a mere drop in the buckt cost wise. Unless you're doing a blue/black water dive with an unreachable ocean floor, I see very few drawbacks to nitrox and potentially several benefits.

Also, I usually dive "best mix" so I can get as much 02 in the tank as the dive will allow up to 40%. If you're gonna go, go all out. I wish I had my own membrane system so I could extend that higher than 40%.

 

[Neilwood]

All things being equal (ie cost), I would use Nitrox on every dive. Why? The reduced nitrogen uptake for a given dive duration.

My dives are generally gas limited not NDL so tank size is the important bit not what is in it for me.
As it stands, my local club who are a couple of minutes away only do air (at the cost of running the compressor) so unless I want to go elsewhere for Nitrox and pay extra over the £1 my air fills cost (as well as the additional time & cost of travelling to the nearest Nitrox supplying shop which is about 15 miles away) it really isn't worth it for a couple of dives.

For a long weekend of diving with 3/4 dives per day, I would pay the extra & travel for Nitrox.

 

[Wookie]

Sorry, I do feel less tired when using Nitrox. The issue is still anecdotal; the available studies are conflicting, inadequate, and off target. Someday the science may actually get done and be compelling. Until then, and perhaps after then, I will feel less tired when using Nitrox.

+1