I just did my Nitrox cert (for which the DS included two dives) and I'm sold on this. Did two dives yesterday, 3 shore dives with long surface swims today and I feel great. No hunder and not at all sleepy. I know this is not one of the advanatges of the gas listed in the learning materials but normally I'd be napping al day. Even though I've never seen anyone dive Nitrox here in Colombia I'm going to start just so I don't get wiped out, my non-diving gf will apprecoate me not sleeping all day after my dives.
Sold On Nitrox
- Thread starter Jafo19D
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Micko1974
Contributor
Blackcrusader
Contributor
I do 12 - 14 day dive vacations where I dive 3 or 4 dives a day doing 36 - 45 dives per two week dive trip.
21% or 32% I feel no difference.
Richard Dayan
Contributor
This is my opinion on this, from my experience. It's the immersion in cold water for prolonged periods 45-60 minutes times 2 dives, with only 60 minutes to warm up in between dives, that causes that tired feeling afterwards. Just being chilled like that caused me to feel extremely tired. I upgraded to an electric heated suit (100 watts) and haven't felt tired again. Even was able to dive 5 days a week for 8 weeks on my last scuba trip.
My wife and I also noticed that we were much less tired after switching to Nitrox. This is on standard 2-tank vacation boat dives.
As you can see from the other comments, it doesn't affect everyone the same way. But you are certainly not alone in this.
As you can see from the other comments, it doesn't affect everyone the same way. But you are certainly not alone in this.
Water temps here are always 82-84F, being cold is not a thing for me.
kaylee_ann
crazy diver
I have been brutally exhausted after every dive. Not sure why though. It’s the exhaustion where you worked all day after sleeping 4 hours, and pass out right as your head hits the pillow. (Once I’m home is when it fully hits).
I’m getting nitrox certified in October and am curious to see if it’ll make me, well, at least functionally tired. LOL
I’m getting nitrox certified in October and am curious to see if it’ll make me, well, at least functionally tired. LOL
I fully agree with you. I find the cold to be a much greater cause of fatigue than depth or even time. In UK diving I am much more prone to fatigue in the winter than summer ( accepting that there is a seasonal variation in feelings of fatigue).
The Chairman
Chairman of the Board
This is probably sub-clinical DCS. I'm not a doctor, but I found that the more I increased my safety stops, the better I felt after the dive. I do a minimum of 5 minutes at 15 ft. If I can do more, I'm way OK with that. Usually, I wait for the last set of fins to get on the ladder, before I ascend slowly and pull myself in. Slow is good. When I get on the boat, I try to sit for a good five minutes and try to not shake up all the gases still dissolved inside of me.
NitrOx is a great tool to keep the N2 down, even while extending your dives a bit. The tendency is to go to bigger tanks, since the amount of gas you carry becomes more of a limiting factor. Remember that you don't HAVE to ride you NDL. The more margin you leave, the better off you'll be, especially with multiple dives over multiple days. It's a big ocean. You're not going to see it all in one dive, so don't try!
I was going to say this:
but @The Chairman beat me to it. I've also found that slow ascents from depth really help.
If I'm teaching at my usual spot, my standard plan is to start ascents when the first diver hits about 1k psi, and we do a long slow ascent to safety stop depth. Generally, that means about 5 minutes from 60 feet to safety stop depth. I know personally, that this really reduces my fatigue levels. Combine that with a 5 minute stop and I generally feel really good after exiting.
I think this works for my students too, as they rarely nap between dives these days...
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