You are right, Nitrox 32 has a particular sweet spot where it extends NDL limited dives or reduces stop length.
Shallower, if gas limited, it reduces DCS risk which I think is valuable. Also for repeat dives NDL can become important even with shallower dives.
Deeper, weaker mixes help too, although not so dramatically. Once NDL becomes irrelevant it still reduces the stop length.
My default fill is 32%. I don’t bother with 36, maybe I would on holiday places where a second dive is certain to be shallow enough and it was a zero overhead choice with a dive op.
In the BSAC system every diver is taught to use nitrox from the first level. Initially just 32 or 36 but Sports Diver includes anything up to 36. There are tables for 27, 32 and 36 as well as air.
As a club we keep a few cylinders O2 clean for training and for loan for dives where it makes sense. We take every opportunity to get students to test their gas.
The difference in NDL between air and 32% at 30m is the equivalent of doing about 5 minutes of stops, and extends bottom time by 40 to 100% depending on model. Those stops are not much for a deco trained diver (like a BSAC Sports Diver) but is beyond the scope of typical commercial agency trained divers who must stay within the NDL.
In the world where stops are the work of the devil, Nitrox is an extremely useful aid. In the world where stops are the price to pay for bottom time, nitrox is also an extremely useful aid.
Once you get too deep for nitrox 25 you probably ought to be putting your nitrox in a third cylinder and dealing with a whole lot more complication.
Shallower, if gas limited, it reduces DCS risk which I think is valuable. Also for repeat dives NDL can become important even with shallower dives.
Deeper, weaker mixes help too, although not so dramatically. Once NDL becomes irrelevant it still reduces the stop length.
My default fill is 32%. I don’t bother with 36, maybe I would on holiday places where a second dive is certain to be shallow enough and it was a zero overhead choice with a dive op.
In the BSAC system every diver is taught to use nitrox from the first level. Initially just 32 or 36 but Sports Diver includes anything up to 36. There are tables for 27, 32 and 36 as well as air.
As a club we keep a few cylinders O2 clean for training and for loan for dives where it makes sense. We take every opportunity to get students to test their gas.
The difference in NDL between air and 32% at 30m is the equivalent of doing about 5 minutes of stops, and extends bottom time by 40 to 100% depending on model. Those stops are not much for a deco trained diver (like a BSAC Sports Diver) but is beyond the scope of typical commercial agency trained divers who must stay within the NDL.
In the world where stops are the work of the devil, Nitrox is an extremely useful aid. In the world where stops are the price to pay for bottom time, nitrox is also an extremely useful aid.
Once you get too deep for nitrox 25 you probably ought to be putting your nitrox in a third cylinder and dealing with a whole lot more complication.
