ArcticDiver:-The safest way to use Nitrox is to dive it for what it is: Nitrox. It is not air so do not use air tables. That is the lazy person's way and can get you in trouble. Those who recommend using air tables either don't understand the gas themselves, or they don't think others can. Understand the gas you are breathing, or don't use it.
Good diving.
Artic,
I appreciate your repeating in so many words what I had said earlier. What you say in the partial quote above is not by any means correct, however, and needs to be amended.
The use of Nitrox on an air schedule table in recreational diving is a valid and well-established procedure. There is nothing "lazy" about it. What you are doing is simply using your air exposure times, and disregarding the fact that you have less nitrogen in the breathing gas, and therefore less inert gas loading at the end of the dive. This is where the statistical improvement of safety that I spoke of comes in. The diver who chooses this does so for reasons of personal conservatism.
Obviously, the diver who is choosing this method does so for a particular reason, understands the concept, and recognizes that the two standard mixes have depth floors or MOD's that cannot be exceeded, as I stated earlier.
I don't know when you started using Nitrox or mixed gases, but in 1995 when I took gas blending from Dick Rutkowski himself, he noted that NOAA had been doing the above since 1979, as well as using it (Nitrox) on its own schedule. I don't mean to be cynical, but I suspect Dick understands the whole concept better than you do. So, no, it is NOT the lazy man's way, and yes, people who recommend it DO understand it and do so for a reason.
To paraphrase Mr. Natural: "Get the right tool for the job, Kids!" :doctor: