Get Nitroxed!

by David A. Howard, PADI Master Instructor, IANTD Instructor Trainer, NAPD Instructor Trainer

As a dive instructor, whenever I tell someone that I dive with NITROX I can always count on getting the reply, "Oh, that deep diving scares me." Deep diving scares me too! When I tell them that diving with Nitrox actually limits the depth that you can go to - not extend it - they are bewildered. By the looks on their faces, I can tell they're not understanding. Isn't diving deeper better? No, you want to dive safer. Diving with regular air (referred to as NOAA Nitrox 21), oxygen percentages increase with pressure and it becomes hazardous to the diver at a depth of 218 feet of seawater. With standard Nitrox mixtures (diving with increased levels of oxygen), diving depths are limited to 114 feet or below and if you are older - or carrying a few extra pounds - diving with Nitrox is the way to go.

The military has been Nitrox diving for years. It's actually almost as old as the art of diving itself. Nitrox started to get more popular within the recreational diving community in the late 80s. By the 1990s, it took off! Now, due to the increased level of safety associated with its use, Nitrox is now a staple of scuba diving and practiced all over the world.

How does diving with an increased level of oxygen work to make the dive and diver safer? It's simple. Certified divers are well aware of the "rapture of the deep," an ailment that has plagues divers since the days of ancient sponge-diving. This condition - also known as the "bends" - is caused by the nitrogen building up in the body. When divers has too much nitrogen dissolved in their systems, nitrogen tends to bubble up. When they surface, they are "bent" due to less pressure holding the gas in the solution. So the less nitrogen you dive with, the less you absorb. Simple, huh?

To prove this point, when you refer to a standard dive table, you will see that a dive to 60 feet has a no-decompression limit of 60 minutes. Well, diving with a 36% Nitrox mix, a diver can stay at 60 feet for 120 minutes. Okay, you're right - no one in their right minds would dive that long anyway (unless they found the mother-lode of spiny lobsters) - but consider how much less nitrogen your body will absorb during a 20 minute dive.

Nitrox fills costs more than air fills, but the built-in safety of diving with Nitrox is well worth the price! The Hurlburt Field Dive Shop offers Nitrox fills at prices that are significantly less than those offered off-base. More saving can be realized by the purchase of an advantage card. The Dive Shop offers a 3-hour Nitrox class on Tuesday evenings. Once completed, participants will be certified through PADI to dive with Nitrox anywhere. Drop by Outdoor Recreation Center and sign up for the class. Find out what the Gulf has to offer!

Please send any feedback to: heyfss@hurlburt.af.mil