Recreationall TRIMIX

[FreediveWI]

I believe that George likes to site a Navy study where they matched up a group of divers to play chess. Half the group would be on the outside of the chamber and the other half would be insdie the chamber pressureized to 40'. They would rotate the divers around to account for all ability levels. The divers outside of the chamber beat the divers under 40' of pressure every time.

I do a lot of C02 tolerence training for freediving, as does Fred (FreediveND), but I wouldn't trick myslef into believing that it helps me in any way with narcosis- just in working under high C02 loads.

I still see recretional trimix as a better stepping stone to a deco class rather than having someone do all the skills while impared and then letting them experience a clear head. That was the smae sillyness I had to go through before I took trimix. It was called Extended range and doing abunch of silly skills at 220', on air, didn't really teach me much about trimix. It was just another hoop ot jump through to prove that I could do something that I had been doing for some time. If someone want's to go to mix they should simply be allowed to go to it with out any extra hoops.

I have watched more than one deco student swim off in a daze at 130-150 in Wazze to know that they are impared down there. I wasn't teaching the class, but photographing them for friends of mine who were. Since I was on mix I could tell very easily who was straight and who wans't. As a result of this one of my friends no longer even teaches Extended range and sends everyone right to mix for safety sake.

If someone is already using nitrox it isn't that big a step to analyze and plan for triox. As long as your bouyancy control is ok, which it should be for anyone venturing past 60', then your good to go.

I remember hearing that there was a place called Inland seas in Neenah. I am not sure if they are stil there or not. About 10 years ago Iknow there was a shop in FOn Du Lac that I would pass on the way up to Red Granite. Last I checked they were now a motel. I have always been able to find a shop where ever i wnet, or was able to bring along enough tanks, or a blending station, to not have to worry aobut it.

One of the best things about freediving is not having to worry about fills, or even charter boats since we drag our dive kayaks along with.

BTW: I bought a cheap palm for $75 for Circut City and added the D-plan program for around $50. You can put this into a water proof case that they sell at your local kayak shop and use it while on the boat without havingto worry about ruining it. The money that you save, compared to using your laptop, will help to offset the cost of a HE analyzer. THe only argument that i ever heard against a He analyzer was for those people who just dive heli-air, and not true trimix. Once you start adding 02 and helium to your mix it gives me great peice of mind to know exactly wehat I am breathing- especially as mixes can change over time if you don't use them shortly after blending. You may think this is overkill, but Iknow of others who think diving anything but air on 250' dives is overkill- I wouldn't do that either.

Jon