I've been sport diving since the early eighties and have been very resistant to new ideas but after a three tank boat dive I realized that I may have been able to make these dives safer with the use of a dive computer, possibly with different breathing gas, and by taking the courses that go along with different dive gases. First of all, I would like to find out what everyone thinks about sport diving gases, what types are available, and the benefits of these gases. Then I am looking for a simple, easy to read dive computer. Thanks
Sport diving gases
- Thread starter Coldiver1
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Taking a recreational Nitrox course is easy. A computer that that understands it can be had for well under $400, although you can use tables too. Nitrox can extend your bottom times, shorten your surface intervals, and at least anecdotally, make you feel better. It won't minimize narcosis and is probably most useful in the 60-100 foot ranges. Adding helium to the mix will reduce narcosis and let you go deeper, but the training is quite a bit more lengthy and involved, since it pretty much mandates formal decompression diving.
Penguinboy
Guest
My 2 cents:
Normal air and nitrox are recreational gases, with the first available everywhere and the second a little bit less common. Another gas mix, Trimix, is more for technical dives and contains helium, furthur reducing the amount of nitrogen.
Nitrox is just normal air with an increased percentage of Oxygen (I believe - I haven't done the course yet). Nitrox, I'm told, reduces the risk of DCI and Narcosis because it contains less nitrogen. If you use it diving air tables, it is an extra safety precaution. However it can have an increased risk of Oxygen Toxicity, as there is more Oxygen.
My favourite Dive Computer is the Suunto Gekko. It's good value for money at £150, around $250-300 I would guess. It has been great for me as a beginner diver as its user-friendly and fairly idiotproof. It activates automatically on entering water and will tell you dive time so far, time, depth, and temperature, as well as time remaining before NDLs. At the end of the dive it shows temperature, max depth, and length of dive for filling in your log. It also works on both Nitrox and Air. Easy to read, user-friendly and value for money. Great computer.
Should be interesting looking at other replies though!
Normal air and nitrox are recreational gases, with the first available everywhere and the second a little bit less common. Another gas mix, Trimix, is more for technical dives and contains helium, furthur reducing the amount of nitrogen.
Nitrox is just normal air with an increased percentage of Oxygen (I believe - I haven't done the course yet). Nitrox, I'm told, reduces the risk of DCI and Narcosis because it contains less nitrogen. If you use it diving air tables, it is an extra safety precaution. However it can have an increased risk of Oxygen Toxicity, as there is more Oxygen.
My favourite Dive Computer is the Suunto Gekko. It's good value for money at £150, around $250-300 I would guess. It has been great for me as a beginner diver as its user-friendly and fairly idiotproof. It activates automatically on entering water and will tell you dive time so far, time, depth, and temperature, as well as time remaining before NDLs. At the end of the dive it shows temperature, max depth, and length of dive for filling in your log. It also works on both Nitrox and Air. Easy to read, user-friendly and value for money. Great computer.
Should be interesting looking at other replies though!
duckster3d
Contributor
Coldiver1:
I've got to ask where have you been diving? diving since the early 80's, and has no idea about nitrox? makes we wonder.:devil_2:
You've been breathing nitrox the whole time you've been diving- air is nitrox 20.9. Enriched air/nitrox is a breathing gas containing nitrogen and oxygen with greater than 20.9% oxygen. Enriched air is used by many recreational divers to extend bottom times. It's another tool in the toolbox and a very informative class to take. It really starts to make a difference below 50 ft or so.
Clearwater
Contributor
An EAN (Enriched Air Nitrox) course is a logical step for a lot of divers, since you can increase your bottom time or increase your safety margin. Some feel it helps reduce fatigue (hence the moniker "geezer gas"). I took the SSI EAN course which consisted of only two nights of classroom work; some agencies might require a dive or two. If you haven't had any refresher training, you might want to bone up on your tables or take a course. There was an older fella in my class who had been diving since at least "the 80s" but the poor bloke was really lost when it came to doing basic air table work. In the real world most folks probably don't use tables and just get a Nitrox-capable computer (I did), but the tables and basic calculations are required for the certification course.
I agree with rongoodman. Take the Nitrox course, great for multiple dive days. There are many good computers. I like the Suunto's because they are easy to read and easier to use. Very intuitive. They'll get bashed a lot here on SB for being conservative.
JR
JR
Great info! I have known about Nitrox, Heliox ect. because in the late 80's I was a commercial diver in California and North Carolina and had a few chances to dive these mixes under "working" conditions. Although I didn't get a chance to mix the gas-or understand the concept fully, basically I was a working "monkey" on the end of a surface supplied hose. The reason why I put this to the Board was that I wanted a well rounded opinion relating to Sport Diving gases before I approached my LDS with my notions. I wasn't really sure if I needed to go in this direction. As an old guy I have felt the fatigue a lot more and I know that even though I am in decent physical shape I am a lot more susceptible to diving illnesses. (and by the way, "Geezer Gas" is exactly what I am looking for!) Plus I have been hesitant to buying a load of new gear because I wasn't sure if it would make a difference or not. (I'm 50 years old and bought my first home computer last March!!!!) Now is Eanx the same as Nitrox? Eanx "enriched air" is a greater percentage of O2 with a lesser percentage of Nitrogen am I correct? Thanks to all of you that posted responses. This will be of great help to me when it comes time to make the commitment.
<< Now is Eanx the same as Nitrox? >>
Not quite. Nitrox is ANY blend of nitrogen & oxygen, including a blend with less than 21% oxygen.
<< Eanx "enriched air" is a greater percentage of O2 with a lesser percentage of Nitrogen am I correct? >>
Yep. That is, less nitrogen than is found in air.
Not quite. Nitrox is ANY blend of nitrogen & oxygen, including a blend with less than 21% oxygen.
<< Eanx "enriched air" is a greater percentage of O2 with a lesser percentage of Nitrogen am I correct? >>
Yep. That is, less nitrogen than is found in air.
Coldiver1:
Nitrox is a good course to take. PADI no longer requires dives to be done for the card. It's all mental work anyway. The diving part of it doesn't involve anything other than a dive. Kind of like the Altitude specialty, only for some reason they still require dives for altitude. As a DM, you should at the least be familiar with nitrox. I'm not sure where you DM, but if any of the divers you are DMing are diving nitrox, you need to be familiar with it.
The 2 most common mixes of nitrox are 32% and 36%, 32 being the more popular of the 2. 32 allows you to dive to a max depth of 110 and extend your bottom time, air permitting. Or you can dive the air tables and decrease your decompression risk. Depending on the kind of diving I'm doing, I may reduce the setting a couple/few points just to be more conservative.
There's no definitive studies about whether geezer gas does make you feel better and more energetic, but I know that it does make me feel better. And when I'm breathing 100% at 20' for several minutes, I feel even better. That's enough for me.
You don't need to buy new gear for recreational levels of nitrox (up to 40%). All the gear you have is compatible. If you have titanium regs (I doubt that based on your post), then there is some controversy about the use of titanium and nitrox. I have some that I got a really great deal on and dive 32% with them on a regular basis. No problems.
Even if you own tanks, if your LDS fills from premixed banks, then they don't even need to be specially cleaned. Only if they are doing partial pressure blending do you need to have the tanks oxygen cleaned. It's not difficult to do and shouldn't be very expensive for aluminum tanks, but some LDSs take advantage of those who don't know any better.
Where are you in Nevada? I come up to Lakes Mohave and Mead on a regular basis and am planning a trip to Tahoe in 2007.
Almost forgot, look at the DiveRite Duo or Tusa IQ700. They're the same computer with a different name stamped on it. Tusa does sell for a little less and includes a display guard and 2 year warranty. Big display, big buttons that are easy to depress with gloves on, you can program nitrox into it and if you ever decide to go beyond that and do some basic decompression diving, you can program a decompression gas into it as well. It's also not too liberal.
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