----- Original Message -----
From: Shimell, David (shimell) <shimell@se*.co*>
Subject: RE: rec trimix


DS> I understand and agree with the sentiment.  However, a balance is
needed.  It
DS> is generally safer to avoid the deco in the first place than to incur it
and
DS> require a deco gas off gas effectively.

I have made a reversal on this issue.

Jim's comments and Stuart's reference to "people who need a specialty course
to change a fin strap"  pretty much brought me back to reality.

While I believe the rec use of Nitrox is an overall good thing, rec trimix
would cause more problems than it would fix.

My reasoning is pretty simple:

Helium is only an asset deeper than about 80 feet or for diving (deep or
shallow) with signifigant deco obligations.
Neither is a place to encourage lightly trained divers to loiter.

Getting no stop bottom times better than air with trimix involves jacking up
the oxygen levels at precisely the depths it is most dangerous to do so.  It
is deep enough to make a swimming ascent a challenge and shallow enough to
make a ten foot depth excursion result in a signifigant change in PPO2.
Again, no place for lightly trained divers.

The mixes discussed here _have_potential_ for use by _properly_trained_
divers:

     a. Weather becomes less of an issue if you know you can go from bottom
to ladder in about three minutes.

     b. Hypothermia isn't such a problem if you can be moving the entire
time in the water.


If the path to trimix training needs to be unscrewed, do _that_, don't
bypass it.

We've lost enough people in "wrong gas" incidents.

Don Burke
Chesapeake, Virginia


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