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---- Microsoft Mail "VMS Mail" message ---- From: HeimannJ on Thu, Feb 25, 1993 2:15 PM Subject: RE: Put Another Dollar In? To: techdiver Response to a note sent out by Bill Mayne, responding to my note questioning the safety record of IANTD: I perhaps unfairly maligned the reputation of IANTD or its instructors. What I am really trying to do is solicit information on risks and benefits of mix, so I can make my own decision about mix diving. I have taken nitrox from Steve Gerrard & Randy Bohrer, and technical nitrox from Billy Deans, and all were first rate. I am signed up for a mix class, but am thinking hard about the safety and logistical issues associated with mix diving, especially since getting serious about mix is a significant financial investment (of which the course fee of $500-$1000 is by no means the major component). Now I am already pretty comfortable air diving to about 170 in cold water (deeper in warm), and dive deeper on occasion with varying degrees of narcosis-induced apprehension. I am sure that mix will reduce my narcosis level and, if all goes well, reduce the apprehension level. In theory, it would permit much deeper dives, although with the open water conditions we have up here I'm not sure I'd ever go below 250 or so, even on mix. The principal concern I have about mix diving is that it allows very little flexibility. If I am diving deep on air, get tangled up inside the wreck and exceed my planned bottom time, or need to ascend more slowly than planned, or I can't find the anchor line, or my O2 stage malfunctions, I have contingencies which allow me to work around all of these. The planning and logistics for mix seem much more rigid. If I can't get at my nitrox or O2, I am bent. If I deviate significantly from my plan, I may not have any way to recalculate my deco schedule. For dives down to 200, air seems like a much more forgiving mix. Beyond that, mix is probably a good idea, because narcosis and O2 tox make air risky. What disturbs me a little is that some people seem to be promoting mix for intermediate depths (in my book, 150-200) without explaining that there are associated complications and drawbacks.
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