Should I use Nitrox on liveaboard?

[TommyBoyIreland]

Hi,

I am due to go on a weeks liveaboard in the Red Sea soon. I had a similar trip last year and paid to use Nitrox throughout the trip.

Due to the profile of the dives and my own air consumption I never got any extended bottom time benefit from using Nitrox. However, I was told I would have got some benefit from breathing Nitrox in that I would have been less fatigued. We generally dived 3-4 times a day, and I completed all dives during the trip

Also, while we were supposed to get a 32% mix, it never measured much more than 29% when I tested it.

So I am wondering if it is worth paying for Nitrox this time around, or if I just stick to regular air

 

[Addicted2H2O]

The real benefit of nitrox, as I'm sure you know, isn't so much the less fatigued feeling, but more the shortened surface intervals due to less nitrogen buildup in the body. Not that I've done an abundance of nitrox dives myself, but I've never noticed a difference in how I feel after a couple of dives compared to how I feel after diving regular air. And we just covered this in classroom for an OW class I was helping with yesterday. It's my understanding that just doing a couple of dives on nitrox won't really give yo much benefit from it other than the shortened SI, but if you're diving over several days and a good number of dives, nitrox will leave you feeling less fatigued and not as worn out after your trip. But it still stands that if you breathe a tank of air in a certain time at a given depth, you'll generally breathe down a nitrox tank at the same rate. It just extends your NDLs. I hope that helps.

And please, if I'm wrong and providing incorrect information, someone correct me. That way when students ask me (as a DM) during OW class, etc. I can give them the proper explanation.

 

[snowdog61]

For me, I don't consider doing EAN until depths hit 60+ fsw. I personally feel a bit 'better' and a little less fatigued doing nitrox on 4/day dives but can't really say it's a real measurable thing. That said, I know people who dive nitrox no matter what the depth (20-30 fsw). If you're not bumping up to your NDL even with 29% at depth, I'd save the money.

 

[stepfen]

4 dives a day for several consecutive days is considered aggressive for your body's nitrogen loading. I think even padi suggests a day off every few days of intensive diving. Assuming your dive profiles don't change, nitrox helps ease that stress.
Just my 2 cents. BTW I haven't dived nitrox yet but I haven't done more than 3 dives a day either...

 

[JohnnyC]

Nitrox for the decreased inert gas loading, especially considering the number of repetitive dives you will be doing.

 

[tursiops]

Nitrox puts less nitrogen into the body than air does, per minute. That translates into some combination of::
1) longer NDLs than air on the same dive. It is like breathing air at a shallower depth.
2) shorter SIs before the next dive.
3) less fatigue after repetitive dives/days. Not everyone feels this....people are different.

Some think if you don't need more bottom time, why bother with Nitrox?
Most think it is a good idea to take on less nitrogen.
Everybody would like to feel better, if possible.

Liveaboard? Yes, Nitrox, absolutely. If only for (3) above.

 

[victorzamora]

The less fatigue thing isn't really agreed upon. I believe I feel better on the same profiles on EANx than on Air. If you push your NDLs on EANx the same as on Air it won't matter, but you'll get longer bottom times.

I believe that, especially for 3-4x dives per day over the course of a week, Nitrox is WELL worth it.

Liveaboard diving is EXACTLY the type of diving that benefits the most from EANx. Having said that, it's a question of: "is it worth that price to you?" I don't know what the price difference is, but it can't be much relative to the cost of the trip.

 

[Lorenzoid]

On liveaboards, especially in places far from a recompression chamber, they tend to schedule dives conservatively for you, with generous surface intervals, etc. Also, I'm rarely the first diver in and the last out or the one who goes deepest--I dive conservatively. And I myself have never noticed any reduction in fatigue from Nitrox. All of that said, and so even assuming that the likelihood of me getting DCS or any sort of niggles is vanishingly low, I ask myself, "Do I want to be the guy who gets symptoms against all odds and has to sheepishly admit he declined the Nitrox option to save a little money?" So I pretty much always go for the Nitrox option.

 

[tursiops]

The less fatigue thing isn't really agreed upon. I believe I feel better on the same profiles on EANx than on Air.

Agreed. It depends on the person. I'm old and probably experiencing subclinical DCS after deeper dives and/or repetitive dives. I am certain Nitrox helps me....but I do not dive it to the increased NDL limits, so I am experiencing less nitrogen uptake than I would with the equivalent air dive. This is an individual thing; YMMV. Frankly, I get a lttle tired of people telling me Nitrox does nothing for my fatigue. That is kind of like telling me that I like Arugula; it doesn't change my attitude toward Arugula.

 

[AdivingBel]

LOL...Zoid, you are a very nice guy. I dive nitrox on LOBs for much more selfish reasons (but I like your reasons too).