Pro tip: Ditch the "one size fits all" deco gas advice

A dive supervisor in Port Fourchon told me to use 80/20 for everything over 30 minutes, but my second deep air job this month left me foggy and useless topside. I switched to a 50/50 mix on a 35 meter wreck job and felt way sharper during the 4 hour bell run. Anyone else notice their gas plan needs to change based on the current and workload, or do you stick with what the old guys preach?

1 comments

1 Comment

the_stella3d ago

Everyone's fixated on bottom time but nobody talks about what happens after you rack out. That foggy feeling is your brain on a bad deco schedule, and it follows you home. I ran a 40 meter job last month with a 60/40 mix and the current was ripping, I was burning through gas like crazy and still felt clear when I surfaced. Your workload is the missing variable, the old guys treat every dive like a lazy drift when a slamming current doubles your effort and your gas needs. Next time you're doing a bell run in moving water, bump your helium and watch what happens to your post-dive headspace. That's the real test, not what the supervisor says from the dock.