Recreationall TRIMIX

[Deep Blue]

There is so much good stuff to reply to in this thread, I hardly know where to begin, but here goes.

Helium analyzers are great tools for divers that dive mix. I am not as concerned that a mix changes over time, but for example, when I am on a trip, I am remixing tanks by air topping and I have at least 3 or 4 different sets of tanks. With a high helium and a lower 02 mix, the 02 will not change as significantly as the helium content, so if you have different mixes, ie. 16/60 and you air top it from say 1500 to 3000, you get 18/30. Now the difference between these two mixes if you are using an 02 analyzer that is only +/- 1 percent is neglibile. The only way to positively ID the gases is with a Helium Analyzer. But the difference is pretty major.

The 16/60 has an END of 60 feet and a 30 minute dive has a 57 minute deco using 50 percent and oxygen. The 18/30 has a 130 END and 76 minutes of deco on the same dive. Hardly a minor difference.

I believe that you are much better off passing on the 1300 dollar VR3 or such nonsense and putting down 800 dollars on a helium analyzer and use the balance as a downpayment for some good trimix training.

As far as training goes, a comment was made that dive planning was the most important part of trimix training. I can teach a monkey to easily plan a very safe dive. I am NOT saying that dive planning and a theoretical knowlege are not important, but there are so many great tools out there that make dive planning easier than ever before, the critical portion of this type of training is things like valve drills and learning to deal with problems that happen when you are underwater. As you move into deco diving, you need to be able to deal with anything that may happen without needing to return to the surface. This ability can only be developed by constantly being pushed during training to use your reasoning skills and problem solve when you are not in mortal danger.

Ask any of my students, and they will say that I constantly challenge them to do more and to push their limits and to constantly evaluate the 3 P's Pressure, Position and Plan as well as the impact of any failures on the 3 P's. Failures and different levels of harrassment SHOULD be part of this level of training. It is critical that divers at this level understand their true capabilities.

I still remember the student that was giving me gas about requiring that they learn to buddy breathe a stage bottle, while doing a good deco, since he has never had a deco reg go south on him. I swear to you, that next dive, when he pressurized his deco bottle, he blew up his first stage. For real, I didn't even set him up. What I am trying to tell you is that you may never have had any of these things go wrong, and you may have 100's of dives under your belt, but that doesn' t mean that you shouldn't train and learn what to do if it does.

The critical difference is that the instructor must be able to walk that fine line between harrassment to improve a diver's skills and challenges them, and harrassment that pushes the diver beyond the their safe limits and simply destroys the diver's ego and self confidence.

The biggest problem with failures, is that they limit your options. Multiple failures force you to deal with an increasingly limited set of options. If you have never gone down this path, and lives are at stake, making good decisions can be almost impossible, now add a buddy in that may be making their own decisions, and the clusterfuck factor goes up geometrially when you can least afford it to.

Life gets dramatically more serious as you venture beyond the 200 foot range. Mistakes that may be minor at a recreational level can and many times are fatal at this level.

Ok, now with that is off of my chest, I can get back off my soap box, and I am looking forward to seeing responses. I know this was a long post, but ask anyone that knows me, once you get me going, I am like the energizer bunny, I just keep going and going and going....