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> There's no real need in open water for nitrox, except for commercial > commercial or teaching exposures. I don't know how much money you earn, but *I* notice the (combined) $100-$150 that my wife and I occasionally spend on water taxis. When *I* dive, *I* want to spend my money and time "wisely". If *I* can sometimes spend significantly more time in the water doing whatever it was that prompted me to ride a boat in the first place, then the $5 extra for an EANx fill might just be worth it to *me*. Alternatively, if I'm not stretching my bottom time, but I *am* reducing the number of silent bubbles in my bloodstream, then it might also be worth it to *me*. How many divers do you know that are DCI-proof? On the other hand, maybe you feel that there's no real need for anyone other than commercial divers to go diving in the first place, right? > The mixtures you're taking about aren't enough for deco. "All dives are decompression dives." -- anonymous, Internet sig > It is, however, quite useful in cave diving for both shallow long > dives, So cave divers are the only divers who might want to do shallow long dives? Are you the person who coined that empty-headed "NO PRETTY FISHIES" slogan? > and for deco, and its especially useful to the guys that teach it - it > produces a distict swelling of the wallet. The following is not meant to be an ad--merely a very specific response to a sweeping generalization: *If* I heard him correctly, John Comley (TDI #4) said--at a recent talk on our campus--that he charges $200 for his EANx course, and that his course includes the requisite info on custom blends. $200 is less than what you pay for a *single* credit these days at most colleges. $200 is also less than the overall cost of most entry-level scuba courses. > The problem is that those who teach it don't bother to tell the > whole story, or require the kind of examinations that would > shed some light on one's ability to tolerate the stuff, Comley's talk--which was given at a seminar that was sponsored by a new dive shop that hoped to attract customers--*began* with a discussion of the hype surrounding EANx and the dangers involved in its use. This included the purported but non-universal doubling of bottom times and concerns related to overall gas consumption and narcosis. I don't doubt that some people teach in the way that you describe. But are your observations of how "experts" teach drawn from a sufficiently large sample? Is it really fair for you to imply, as you do, that hype is much more of a norm than an exception? I really don't know...but, judging from Mr. Comly's talk and the discussion on this forum, more irresponsible statements seem to be emanating from magazines like _Skin Diver_ than from people who regularly use EANx. [Just my view.] > ... They are all of course experts on the equipment they think is > required to dive it, including an incredible fantasy regarding > o-ring materials and "O2 cleaning". Again, you really ought to be careful about using words like "all". Comly took a position at this talk that reminded me a lot of the one taken by Rutkowski in the first issue of DeepTech: i.e., that the DEMA statement from the earlier part of 90's--the one that stated the need to clean all gear used with gas mixes with an O2 content of >21%--was, shall we say, excessively conservative. > What will happen is that enough people will be unnecesarily butchered, Couldn't you say the same thing about diving, as it now exists? Or driving? Or skiing? > one good expert witness will get in court, and we will have no more > insurance and massive regulation. Again, isn't this true of <insert your favorite, potentially dangerous activity here>? > I can't wait to hear some of you guys howl when you see the price of > "life support" equipment when it is regulated by the FDA. If the Republican victories in the off-year elections herald any sort of a trend in American government, it's probably a trend away from increased federal regulation. I would think that the current political climate is such that Washington would just as soon see the non-commercial dive industry regulate itself--especially given the relatively few number of Americans that are regularly involved in activities like diving. -- Phil ==== Phil Pfeiffer, Computer Sci. Dept. | Kindness in thought leads to wisdom. East Stroudsburg University, | Kindness in speech leads to eloquence. East Stroudsburg, Pa. 18301-2999 | Kindness in action leads to love. phil@es*.ed* (717) 424-3820 | -- Lao-Tsu
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