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> We've been talking about nitrox for a few weeks now. We might break this down > into 2 topics: > > 1. Our input to the people trying to set up the rec community. It's no good > for us to just say "You can't teach technical diving to the masses," because > we and they mean different things by that. They are going to teach EAN32, at > least, to the masses. We can't stop them. I'm not sure we want to. Given that, > how much further should the masses go? what does the rest of the curriculum > look like? My concern with Nitrox for the masses is: What, exactly, are they [the cert agencies] going to teach the masses? Are they going to teach PO2's, O2 toxicity, convulsions, the dangers of CO2 buildup, O2 exposure limits, Pulmonary O2 toxicity, etc? Are they going to teach that depth limits should be scalled back under exertion? Are they going to teach the reality that straying 20 fsw too deep on a wall dive now carries the potential punishment of death? (Afterall, if they are saying MOD for NOAA I is 130 fsw (1.6 PO2), that's already pushing it.) Somehow, I don't think so. I think Nitrox for the masses will be presented as "use this, its safer: there is less risk of DCS and it lets you play with the fishies longer." To me, that is criminal. Witness the ad copy in a current ad from _Scuba Diving_ for Dive Dive Dive (Nassau, Bahamas, and ANDI facility): "Here's your chance to step into the future. With enriched air nitrox and your "Introduction to Nitrox" Certification [free with any 3 night stay] you can actually "ride the diving wave of the future". Diving enriched air here in the Bahamas gives you _more_ _bottom_ _time_ [emphasis theirs] at our world class diving sites. It gives you access to places others only dream about." When I called for more info, they went on an on about more bottom time, less DCS risk, leaves you feeling less tired, etc. Even when I pushed and hinted about O2 tox, they did not mention any risks. Granted, the call is still in a sales forum, but I really wonder how much they will cover in the brief course. > One bit of discussion in that Technical Diver was on use of a new > fitting for EAN fills. So I guess the way you regulate techdivers, the way you > make a line to cross, is by using a new fitting. I guess it makes sense. I > hope that our existing DIN fittings would be considered; I don't think there > in really wide use yet. The TD did recognize that some of us making our own > mixes know what we're doing. The people present were, after all, our kind of > people. There was a push to use a left-hand thread DIN fitting, which is already alvailable for other (non-diving) uses. However, IANTD is very much against this, and I think they have managed to kill it. -frank -- fhd@pa*.co* | Sure there is a chance I might be killed. But in exchange, 1 212 559 5534 | I have such a powerful sense of being alive. 1 917 992 2248 | -- Bruno Gouvy on snowboarding 1 718 746 7061 | (Died during an extreme snowboarding descent of Chamonix.)
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