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Well, I'm gonna throw in my $.02 here regarding the Deep Air vs. Mix (i.e.
Nitrox/Heliox/O2 etc...).
Deep air is indeed dangerous at certain depths for different divers. Some
divers may find themselves narced at 100' and others don't catch the buzz
until 180. I know 3 guys who dove the Monitor (hell, everyone probably knows
them too), and they were able to function effectively enough at 230' to
produce a film. Personally, I catch the buzz at about 170' and don't really
start to feel uncoordinated until 190. Now, my friends who dived the Monitor
are very experienced on deep air, and as such don't seem to have too many
problems with it (and guys, please don't start with the "well, it'll happen
someday" stuff, these guys got about 100 years of diving experience between
them).
The point I was going to make here is this: Its kinda like when you first
started diving and you went down with your scuba gear, and an extra reg, and
"Spare Air" and your deluxe Dive Knife, and your speargun, and your spare
mask (in case the first falls off), your UK-800 light (even though it was a
day dive to 60'), game bag etc, etc... Until you looked like something out of
Star Wars. The more shit you carry, the greater chance you have of getting
caught up in all that gear and having an accident.
The same is true for Mixed Gas. You got your heliox in 3 bottles, with a
bottle of Nitrox for anything less than 120', then you got your O2 bottle set
up for those long deco stops. So far, you've got at least 2 chances to die
if you pick the wrong mix for the wrong depth. When diving deep air, you run
the risk of totally narcing out, or catching an O2 hit (if you push the
limits of deep air). But if you look at the accident statistics, I think
you'll find that these days, more guys kak (that's the last sound you make -
"kaaaaaakkkk) while using mix than on deep air (I'm talking about technical
{with apologies to Rod} divers).
Now, I aint no teacher, and I aint wrote no books, so none of you are to take
my advice on this - I just thought I'd throw in to the discussion this simple
idea:
"The more shit you carry, the greater the chance you'll get some on your
shoes..." (deep, eh?)
And just to keep the flame level down - understand that I produce films for a
living, and I'm rich enough to buy my own rebreather just because I wanted it
- but I don't dive deeper than 200', and I don't dive mix because if you saw
the way I keep my office, you'd know that I shouldn't be trusted with too
many different gasses anyway.
My friends who continue to dive deep air owe me a beer for this eloquent
post...
Later...
Kevin "where's my god-damned valium??"
aka HeyyDude@AO*.co*
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