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shaun snee wrote:
> 
> One could try reading the Nitrox course material.
> 
> Nitrox is being pushed as a cure-all for nitrigen narcosis because most
> of us just do a few bounce dives over the weekend and O2 loading does
> not really come into play.
> 
> It sounds like Drew is planning a more intensive diving schedule, so the
> O2 issue at least deserves a closer look.
> 
> Ed Brakus wrote:
> >
> > So where do you get the real information?
> >
> > <snip>
> >      First, identify the real risk - it ain't decompression, it is
> > >oxygen. Oxygen exposures are cumulative without the proper intervals,
> > >and as such are the true risk - death by drowning due to toxing.
> > >
> > >      Plan your dives to reduce total oxygen exposure over the course of
> > >a multi-day series of dives, not increase it. <snip>
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List,

I got a bunch of replies to this. Gotta love a good rhubarb. George was
the first to delve into the OxTox risk of multi-day repetitive-diving.
We're taught from PADInfancy that O2 is our friend, N2 the enemy (jokes
about going down for an N2 fix notwithstanding). My impression from my
first night of Basic Eanx class is that most of my classmates could care
less about O2 tolerance limits - but the idea of longer dives with
shorter surface intervals surely appeals. Giving credit where it's due,
several attendees grooved on the safety margin inherent to diving nitrox
on air tables, or air computers. (I'm made to wonder though, how many of
these folks might be tempted to go out and bend their computers cuz
they've got an undefined margin of safety?)

One of the training aids, a transparency, had a bullet on it to the
effect that diving Nitrox could even reduce the time between diving and
flying. Our instructor (a cave diver) took issue with that, and so do I. 
Shouldn't it be necessary to quantify things quite a bit before (or
after) leaving folks with the impression that Nitrox diving is the
panacea for all of diving's inconveniences like depth/time limits,
surface intervals, and the dread lost day of diving on a holiday due to
"time to fly" limits? 

I'm not saying the course material, or our instructor, did not/do not
address these issues, but it's been pointed out on this forum numeris
[sic] times, that entry level diver training is in need of reform -
granted, O2 tox is of little concern to adherents of the traditional 
recreational NoD limits. And I know that learning has to be staged - a
bit at a time. What's your average PADI student going to do with CNS
tables? But still...looking back, I consider my OW training and
certification process woefully inadequate, and don't think my dive
education began until I said "What the Fuck!?" after my last cert dive.
But that's another story.

I donno folks. Vague impressions. Having lurked and participated in
discussion on this list and others, I guess I was a bit more prepared
for the class than most - preaware of what misconceptions I could
expect, but awed by them nonetheless. Go figure.

Drew
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