To Nitrox or not to nitrox ,Why and how ?

[AfterDark]

Anecdotal evidence only based only on my personal experience: When I started diving safety stops were not used. Some dives would kick my butt. Ever since I started doing safety stops (= more N off gassed) these same dives don’t leave me as drained and I’m a lot older. So I’m willing to believe the fatigue fighting influence of lower excess N levels in the body. I think it’s important to remember any more N than normal is excessive it’s just a matter of amounts.

 

[k ellis]

Anecdotal evidence only based only on my personal experience: When I started diving safety stops were not used. Some dives would kick my butt. Ever since I started doing safety stops (= more N off gassed) these same dives don’t leave me as drained and I’m a lot older. So I’m willing to believe the fatigue fighting influence of lower excess N levels in the body. I think it’s important to remember any more N than normal is excessive it’s just a matter of amounts.

Funny you mentioned that. I do usually a little more conservative but 5 minutes at 15 feet usually does wonders as far as off loading nitrogen.

 

[daniel1948]

... I wonder why breathing more oxygen with each breath would not have any effect on muscle...

I've thought about this also: I wondered if the possible fatigue-reducing effect of nitrox might be due to the greater amount of oxygen. But if that were the case, a deeper dive on any given mixture would be less tiring than a shallower dive on the same mixture, because the deeper you go, the more gas you inhale with each breath, and therefore the more oxygen. The greater partial pressure of every gas in the mix means more of that gas absorbed. But the observed effect is that deeper dives are more tiring than shallower ones. Oxygen is continually burned off by the body, while nitrogen accumulates. So it would appear to be the nitrogen that's the difference, though I don't know why that would be. Nitrogen is a relatively inert gas. Maybe it's the microbubbles?

Next time I go diving, I think I'll try 5-minute safety stops. It can't hurt anything if I'm not the last person back on the boat. (And I always use nitrox if available, for the increased bottom time on those multi-dive days.)

 

[EastTNDiver]

Right now, I'm beyond caring what's been proven, and what hasn't...I'll be enjoying my placebo in Roatan at CoCo View by tomorrow afternoon. Schweeeet!

 

[herbdb]

Say hello to the big moray that hangs out on the fantail of the Prince Albert for me. We will be diving on Bonaire tomorrow, our first trip. Have fun!

 

[EastTNDiver]

Thanks herbdb...will do...and, you guys have fun too. We're talking about making Bonaire our "big trip" next year.

 

[Reef]

Without going in details I'll just say this. I can dive all day on Nitrox, and feel great at the end of the day.

I did a 7 tank day in Bonaire recently, and I didn't feel beat at all.

 

[Puffer Fish]

I suspect part of the problem is that many of the nitrox dives are dives that one cannot make on air. My typical dive profile involves making two dives to end of the no deco limits with nitrox between 34 and 36%. Do I feel better than if I used air.. don't know. Do I feel bad, no. Could I have made the same dives on air? No, not without a lot of deco time, which the boats don't have time for.

Nitrox and slow accents are somewhat linked in time, and both could result in reduced microbubbles.