Diving Nitrox - Do you?

[TerryH]

We've been All-Nitrox for years, well before BSAC introduced it and
before the latest syallbus it was a mandatory requirement for us
once past Sport Diver.

In that enviroment its hardly surprisng that that half the cylinders are O2
clean and we use it as and when required. In addition if we are doing
training and the Instructor is on multiple ascents, he/she will get it as
well, even if its Horsea.

Holidays coming up will be all-nitrox all the time, so you could say to put it
mildly that if it's needed, we'll use it. Cost doesnt ever come into it BTW.

[String]

Originally Posted by Richard Mason

Well if it gives you a longer bottom time without increased risk of DCS, how could it not be. All theories are just that, theories, even when they seem to work. Personally, I think you are hair splitting. Can you think of a mechanism where it could increase the risk?

Im more interested in is there any real world effect to DECREASE the risk. Nothing ive read or seen so far suggests there is.
Would love to be proved wrong- then i may even start using it despite the 2x cost per fill.

[David Tombs]

For most dives like many here I will use Nitrox 32,and time as if on air.
It makes no difference to me during the dive,but I certainly feel less tired a few hours later.

[Richard Mason]

Originally Posted by David Tombs

It makes no difference to me during the dive,but I certainly feel less tired a few hours later.

There is that too - major plus for me.

[DanTam1]

Blue Water: Repetitive diving in Egypt, 4 hours a day for 6 days ... 32% Nitrox. £60 for week... well worth it.

I'm starting to wonder why I fill my twins to 32% on UK dives, when I normally get better vis in black coffee, so my dive times are well within limits.

Dan

[NotDeadYet]

Depends on the dive, when I was OC from about 25-35m I did (sometimes) use nitrox, 0-25m usually air, 35-50m usually a heliair (17/20 or something like that), 50m+ trimix. If I was on holiday and being forced to do no-deco dives then I'd definitely use it.

I've never really used it that much since getting the cert (have to check my cert, it was either 1993 or 94). Scottish shore diving tends to be drop to 30'ish and work your way up so most of the dive was in the 15-25m range so you were getting long times anyway. Wreck diving... you could never be sure where you were going. Plus it was a hassle getting fills, at the time there were only a couple of shops doing nitrox in Glasgow, one was never overly helpful and the other a bit unreliable. When I was on a twinset then it pretty much meant 32% all the time otherwise on a 2 wreck dive day you'd invariably be ruling out one of them if you filled it with EAN36. But 32% isn't overly beneficial on shallower stuff. I always also thought the supposed added benefits of less fatigue and less narcosis were a bit of a placebo effect as well. The only thing I've noticed made any difference to both was helium.

[MonkeyPony]

Thanks for the responses all. Its good to know that our club isn't completely backwards. Seems a shame that so much time and effort is spent training divers to use something that they just aren't really going to bother with.

I'd be interested to see if people who have paid to get the ticket tend to use it more than those who got it for free.

I can feel a poll comming on.

[Foggy]

I use it whenever I can. I have found it to be beneficial, and conversely I also have suffered more acute narcosis on it too.

The problem I had was the mix was always sub-optimal... if planned site A was not possible when we got there then we'd do B, C or D - to prevent being unable to dive at all meant having a mix for the worst (deepest) possibility - approaching air, so why bother?

This is why I got adv Nitrox - pick your deco gas (even if no deco) wang it in a stage, switch at the depth you've chosen regardless of the dive, and Robert's your mother's brother.

Cheers, Paul

[MonkeyPony]

Originally Posted by Foggy

I use it whenever I can. I have found it to be beneficial, and conversely I also have suffered more acute narcosis on it too.

The problem I had was the mix was always sub-optimal... if planned site A was not possible when we got there then we'd do B, C or D - to prevent being unable to dive at all meant having a mix for the worst (deepest) possibility - approaching air, so why bother?

This is why I got adv Nitrox - pick your deco gas (even if no deco) wang it in a stage, switch at the depth you've chosen regardless of the dive, and Robert's your mother's brother.

Cheers, Paul

We tried to organise and Adv Nitrox course. Emails were circulated, no interest whatsoever (and the club is pretty big)

The DO would like to see the club take on some more adventurous or 'technical' diving and I've been tasked with developing this. Doesn't seem much point though.

[Dave Abraham]

I will use nitrox every time if it's available unless I am puddle jumping.

Like you I get free air fills but we have an O2 clean compressor at the club so no problems with contamination. At the moment we cannot get Nitrox fills from the club though.

Mostly I use nitrox for Red sea, Scapa Oban and Weymouth where fills are available on the boat or at the centre. I also do deep air dives so often have a stage filled with Nitrox for accelerated deco.

I have once used Nitrox to dive at Capernwray but that was a 6 hour dive with no deco and Nitrox was the only way to go.

My main reason for using nitrox is to reduce the cost of my diving, I am pretty good on air, a 15L will give me well over an hour in the 20 - 30m range so running out of gas rarely limits my bottom time. NDL and Deco obligation tend to be what limits me so by diving Nitrox40 I can almost double my time underwater per dive.

A typical weekend trip costs around £250 for 4 dives
On air that would give me somthing like 160mins underwater = £1.50/minute
Same trip on nitrox would give me 240mins underwater = £1.00/minute