Precision Diving

Criticism and Professionalism – When the Line Gets Crossed

Duane Johnson — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 16:53:31 +0000

Tread Carefully in the Scuba Industry

“At this point, ******* and ***** are barely aware of your existence. I doubt that either of them would ever sanction a full-blown campaign to put you out of business. You need to ask yourself if you could withstand an effort like that and if you think that publicly dissing them is worth it.” This is a message someone sent me a while ago trying to give me business advice. I think this person is missing a vital point in business, that is the customer is always right. Even as a dive professional, we are also consumers and have consumer rights.

Rights of a Diving Professional

As an independent dive professional, we have to walk a fine line between professionalism and getting good customer service for ourselves (without sounding like trash talking fools). When I purchase a product or service from someone, and I did not get a good product or service, then I have a right to be critical of who I just gave my money too. I should not have to keep my opinion to myself just because I’m a dive pro. This is something that is missed by many dive stores who do business with independent instructors or dive pros.

Unprofessionalism

Let’s look at an example. There is an independent scuba instructor in the Seattle area named Bob Bailey (NWGratefulDiver). I’ve talked with Bob only a few times via email, but have never taken a class from him. Let’s say I start to trash Bob’s classes. It would be very unprofessional to do this because I have never seen Bob teach or taken any of his classes. Hypothetically, if I had taken a class from him and paid for his services, and didn’t get the quality I was expecting, I would have a right to be critical. For the record, I think very highly of Bob, his teaching style, and would recommend anyone in the Seattle area to take a class from him.

Looking in the Mirror

You’re probably saying to yourself, “this is all well and good, but are you saying you’re perfect?” Absolutely not. I do a post-mortem after every one of my classes to make sure I’ve meet my student’s needs. If there is a deficiency or something that can be improved, I do it. I’m constantly changing my teaching style and course content to be a great instructor.

Want an example about me specifically? A couple years ago I taught a wreck diver course. I certainly didn’t bring my “A game” on day 2 of that course. I forgot to bring my reel and had to borrow one from the boat captain. Which I found out, underwater, didn’t work. I failed to bring a second light for my student to use inside the wreck. The dives ended up being more swim-throughs than real wreck dives. Basically I failed as an instructor to give this one student a high quality class that I know I can give. Since this class, I have not heard from this student again. I learned from this experience. Modified the gear I take with me for every class and created a checklist of what goes in the car while packing up.

It is unprofessional to trash a person who you’ve never done business with. Bad mouthing someone just to make yourself look good or to try and “compete” is bad business. If you look at my previous posts, I’ve never mentioned anyone by name that I’ve been critical of. However, those I’ve been critical of, I’ve done business with and it is within my right to express any discontent with that business transaction. So if you’re a dive pro (independent or not), you’ll need to walk that fine line. If you really want to compete, do it with skill, knowledge and course content.

Dive Safe,
Duane
Precision Diving

Precision Diving Sponsorship Experiment

Duane Johnson — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 22:42:11 +0000

I’ve been looking for new ways to grow the readership of this blog. So I’ve decided to have a contest. Rather than make people pay for sponsorship, I’d like to do something that will get people more engaged in being a sponsor, without having to pay for it right away.

I’m going to open up a few spots for anyone who would like to have a sponsorship on this blog in order to promote your own blog/web site, dive store, dive charter, or diving business. The benefit, get some free traffic to your business.

Two spots will be open up for a banner ad on the top of each page. Three additional spots will be open up for a 125 x 125 square ad on the left sidebar.

The Details

I don’t care if your blog or business is very small or gigantic. This is meant to be fun and you’ll get a highly visible link on this site. Sponsors must be diving related. It doesn’t matter where you are located in the world.

If you are interested, please email me, with Sponsorship Experiment as the subject, the following details:

- Write a paragraph about your best diving experience. It doesn’t matter if it is from a class, dive vacation, or from your local dive site. Anything goes. The more reasons it was fun, the better.

- The URL to your website you want linked to. Do not send spam or porn sites please. Those entries will get disqualified, after I view them for a few days.

- A brief description of your blog and/or business.

- Why you are interested.

- Your sales pitch. Why should you be here? What makes you cool?

By the end of March, I will select the winners. The winners will get free advertising for the months of April and May. Just in time for the dive season to start.

You will need to provide me with a graphic to put on this site. I would create one for you, but my kids can draw better than I can.

You’ve got a great chance for some free advertising as long as you are not an obvious spammer, provider of tips on how to cheat on your spouse, or trying to suggest that readers of Precision Diving need to be on erectile disfunction medication (even if they do need it).

Selection Criteria

I will select sponsors based on the best diving experience and sales pitch you provide. The most fun experiences and creative sales pitches will get the sponsorship.

I will notify people who are in the running two weeks prior to the final selection so they can get me their graphics in case they win.

Let’s have some fun with this!!!

Dive Safe,
Duane
Precision Diving

Mastery – What Should you Expect from a Tech Instructor?

Duane Johnson — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:58:52 +0000

Duane Johnson - Tech Instructor

I was chatting with some friends on the west coast recently and we got into a discussion about technical diving education and whether it is in a state of decline, quality wise, like recreational diving (arguably). This got me reminiscing about my experiences in the past as well as some of the things I’ve seen other people experience.

I think back to my experiences as a tech student. Even though I learned the skills and was able to not kill myself or my buddy, I quickly learned that there had to be something more than my current performance. After a hard look at my skills, I quickly realized that I should not be diving on helium to 200+ feet, regardless of certification. This started my journey, my search for mastery.

We tell prospective students that it is the instructor who makes the class and not the agency. Arguably, this holds true. Many new technical divers rave about their experiences with the class and instructor. But I always think to myself, how much of this is the new student not knowing what they don’t know? How do they really know that their instructor and class is “All that and a bag of chips?”. What have they seen/experienced to be able to judge? What is their criteria for making such claims? In essence, how do they know if their instructor(s) are demanding full mastery of the skills/education in their class?

Ultimately, the student must not only research instructors, but they must be able to determine the level of mastery that they are seeking from their instructor. Students must demand more from instructors. They must demand, up front, what level of mastery will the instructor hold them to. Does the instructor view the agency standards as maximum or minimum standards? What performance requirements will the instructor hold the student(s) to for the skills? What “extra” criteria will the instructor evaluate me on, if any? Will the instructor share the agency course outline with you prior to class? We tell potential tech students to research their instructor, but give little support as to what type of questions to ask and what kind of qualities to look for. This was my frustration when researching tech instructors a few years ago.

So how does this relate to the question I put in the subject line? In my opinion, I do feel that there isn’t a huge push for mastery. Many instructors view classes such as Advanced Nitrox/Deco Procedures as entry level technical diving. Instead of viewing these types of classes as a small piece to a much larger picture (i.e. trimix, cave, exploration, etc.). Every instructor will have their own style, but I feel that “checklisting” skills, flashcards, not teaching problem recognition, and allowing mediocre performance is hurting technical diving education, overall. Tech instructors must demand more from their students than what is written in the standards. Everyone will agree, that technical diving is a very, very demanding activity. Why shouldn’t the training be equally (or more IHMO) demanding? The checklisting of skills makes it difficult for students to retain the urgency of many of the skills required. Scenario training and realism are the keys to divers retaining the urgency required for performing these skills. In order to accomplish this, tech instructors must become very creative when planning their classes. This keeps the instructor on his/her toes as well. In my opinion, the use of flashcards robs the student of essential problem recognition skills required to quickly identify and solve problems. They also become a crutch for instructors as they may rely to heavily on them as “teaching aids”. Technical divers must be thinking divers and creative thinkers in order to solve problems to make it home safely.

Dive Safe,
Duane
Precision Diving

Good for DIR? UTD’s Venture into Equipment Sales

Duane Johnson — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 03:06:18 +0000

If you haven’t seen it by now, Unified Team Diving (UTD) has entered the direct and wholesale market for scuba diving equipment. As I watched Andrew’s video blog, I wasn’t getting a warm and fuzzy feeling I normally get when I listen to him. As I listened, the more concerned I got. I just kept thinking, how will this help the UTD “brand”.

Do What You Do Best

UTD Signature Series of Diving Equipment

I’m really not close with Andrew Georgitsis. I’ve talked to him a few times and shared emails with him. So I cannot say with any amount of certainty what AG has in mind for the future of UTD. I’ve always had, and will continue to have, the highest respect for Andrew and what he has given the diving education community. To be successful in business, you have to do something very well and continue to do it well. Andrew was successful in GUE (arguably). That is where I feel Andrew excels. His extreme passion for producing high quality divers really comes out when you talk to him or take one of his classes. He prides himself on the quality of student that he, and UTD, can produce. In my opinion, this is where AG should focus his efforts on. His diving knowledge is unprecedented.

Andrew has never focused his efforts on selling diving equipment. Sure, he is successful with the X-Scooter and Red Sea Explorers. But selling dive gear is different.

Hurting the UTD Brand

UTD is still a very young organization. They have only been in business for just over a year. I feel that the jump into selling dive gear has come too soon. I feel that Andrew needs more time to grow the UTD brand. Sure, it has AG’s name behind it for credibility, but when competing against a behemoth like GUE, UTD needs a little more time for it’s instructors to gain that “world wide” reputation that you don’t normally get from a new organization.

I guess that the problem I have with AG’s venture into dive equipment is that he tied the UTD name to it. Would Halcyon have been as successful if the name had been GUE? Would GUE be successful if Halcyon shared the same name? I don’t think so. I feel that the education provided by UTD and GUE can be harmed by dealers who only care about making $$$ at any cost.

All it’s going to take is for one or two of the “Leisure Pro” type dealers to permanently damage the UTD brand that Andrew and Jeff have worked hard for. I can think of a couple dive stores that would love to jump on the DIR bandwagon just to sell to DIR divers. Even though they could care less about DIR and the UTD philosophy. They will try to build credibility by association rather than in business or dive training practices.

For UTD to be successful, they will need to tread carefully and scrutinize their potential dealers. When someone becomes a dealer of UTD equipment products, there will be that assumption that they are tied to the UTD training organization in some shape or form. If these dealers truly do not share the same philosophy as AG and continue to conduct their training/business with less than the optimum quality that UTD is known for, the UTD brand can become damaged. If a Halcyon dealer doesn’t share the same philosophy as GUE, only the Halcyon brand gets damaged. GUE stills stays a higher quality “product”.

One last thing that bothers me slightly about this, is that in Andrew’s video blog, he mentioned that UTD instructors, who helped evaluate the gear, had to pay for the prototype equipment to evaluate. Then make recommendations for improvements to it. That’s like NASCAR champion Jimmy Johnson (no relation) paying Chevy to drive their cars. If I’m expected to give my feedback to improve a product, then either give me the product or let me borrow it (I’ll ship it back) and compensate me for my time evaluating it. After all, my expertise is worth something if you are requesting my feedback.

In the End

In the end, I hope Andrew is successful with this new endeavor. Competition in the scuba diving industry is a good thing. Perhaps he can do something new that GUE/Halcyon hasn’t/can’t do. Perhaps he can give the diving community a new equipment option for high quality diving gear. Andrew is a very smart and driven individual. I have no doubt that he will find a way to make this endeavor successful. I wish nothing but the best for Andrew and the UTD Signature Series equipment line.

Dive Safe,
Duane
Precision Diving

How to Really Market Your Scuba Instruction Business

Duane Johnson — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 22:06:15 +0000

Scuba Marketing

If you are an independent scuba instructor, then you may be finding it very frustrating to attract new students. Many new instructors who set off on their own will go through this. The dive stores get more and more students, while we are freaking out about where we are going to get the money to pay our insurance and agency fines (err fees), let alone to put food on the table. I know my first couple of years as an independent instructor were very nerve racking. I did everything I could to get my name out there, even started this blog to promote myself. Little did I know that it was easier than I thought if I put forth enough effort in the right direction.

Traditional Business Marketing

If you are looking for tips on how to market your scuba diving business, then head over to Nick Bostic’s web site, New Scuba Marketing, where he covers many business type marketing concepts specific to scuba. What I propose is much easier for all scuba instructors.

You can create bloggy things, post to your Facey Spaces, and Tweety Tweets all you want. That may only help you slightly. At the end of the day, the best way to market yourself is to get out and dive. There are way to many instructors out there who do not dive for fun. If you want to get your name out there, then people need to see you dive. Many people ask why I dive my favorite quarry so much. Not only is it a chance for me to keep improving my diving abilities, but it allows me to socialize with other divers and have them put a face to a name.

There are many instructors in my area and they are not readily known outside their dive store. When we compare this to similar situations for independent scuba instructors, they are mostly known in their small circle (i.e. family and friends). If that is your plan, then fine. But if you want to grow as an instructor and try to “change the world” like many of us, you’ve got to get out and dive.

Diving Alone Isn’t Enough

Scuba Instructor Duane Johnson

“Great divers make great instructors.” former GUE instructor Brandon Schwartz said to me many years ago. It didn’t sink in until a couple years after. At the time, I was focusing so much on getting my name out there that my diving skills were only average. OK, a little less than average. Once I started to let go of the industry crap, I was able to focus on what I needed to do to become a better scuba diver. The better diver I became, the more content I added to my classes. It also started to motivate me to ask my students to perform at a higher level than before.

Once people started to see what kind of diver I was, my “popularity” grew and so did the number of people who came to me for advice and classes. People could then see what quality diving was like and quality instruction followed.

So if you are an independent instructor, or are thinking about becoming one, then get out and dive. Hone your diving skills to near perfection. Force other instructors and dive stores to compete with you, not on price, but on quality of diving. If people know you offer great classes, then they will pay for the added value.

Dive Safe,
Duane
Precision Diving

2010 Diving Goals

Duane Johnson — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 06:49:22 +0000

Duane Johnson - Tech Instructor

Every year I sit down and look at the previous year’s diving. Based on that analysis, I try to set some diving goals for the new year. At the beginning of last year, I wanted to have longer bottom times. I was able to average 50 minutes for recreational dives. I was able to push a few technical dives to 25 and 30 minutes of bottom times. After looking at my personal diving over the past couple years, I’d like to take another class.

I’d like to take a student class and not an instructor class this year. I feel that there are some more things that I’m missing and want to fill in some more gaps. I haven’t pinpointed out what exactly that is yet. That’s the hard part. I’ve been putting off taking any new classes. If you’ve been a reader of this blog for a while, you’ve probably read about some of my experiences with many of the classes I’ve had in the past. So I’m still quite leery. I initially thought about an advanced trimix course, but have decided against it. 1) I don’t plan on doing that many dives below 200 feet and 2) I don’t feel there are any advanced trimix instructors in the area that will give me the kind of class I’m looking for. I also have thought about a cave diving class, but I don’t see myself being able to get away to do enough cave dives to keep current with it.

I’d like to ask my readers, what kind of class would you recommend? It can be any class, I’m just looking for ideas.

I’d also like to know what are your diving goals for 2010.

Dive Safe,
Duane
Precision Diving

Review: 2010 Our World Underwater Dive Show

Duane Johnson — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 05:20:16 +0000

My Admiring Fans

This past weekend was the 2010 Our World Underwater scuba diving show in the Chicago area. This show and expo is the biggest in the mid-west. Normally I do not go to the show as it has become more of a social event rather than a trade show. But Ben McGeever of Dive Xtras was bringing the X-Scooter to the show, so I asked if he needed any help staffing the booth. So I volunteered a day to help him out.

Ben McGeever of Dive Xtras

Duane Johnson and X-Scooter Great Ben McGeever

I had never met Ben before this weekend’s show, so I didn’t know what to expect from a guy I was going to spend the day with. Ben is a heck of a nice guy. In between handing out free DVDs, Ben and I spent the day talking about scooters and diving. Ben is a highly trained and accomplished diver, so to say we hit it off would be accurate. He isn’t as rough around the edges as I am, but close.

There was quite a bit of traffic to the booth. Certainly everyone thought the X-Scooter was cool, but when the topic of price came out, the look on people’s faces was enough to know that they weren’t too serious about purchasing a X-Scooter. There were a few serious inquiries about the scooters and I passed them onto Ben.

X-Scooter Cuda

The booth artwork was very nicely done. Not only did Ben bring an X-Scooter Cuda, but he brought some other products that Dive Xtras sells. I’ve been looking for an E/O connector to power electric undergarments. Dive Xtras sells one that connects up to a dry suit inflator mechanism. It uses the same hole as the inflator valve. The connector body has a hole in it where the dry suit inflator screws into it. So the inflation mechanism sits higher on the suit, but it eliminates the need to punch another hole in the suit to power electric undergarments. Now I know what I’m saving my pennies for. Ben also brought some other products for the X-Scooter, such as universal and deluxe video camera mountings.

The Show Itself

The very first time I went to the show, it was huge. Vendor exhibits covered almost the entire floor space of the convention center. Over the years, it has gotten smaller and smaller. This year, it seemed more crowded, but that was mostly due to the smaller space the show took up. Overall, I think it was a good turnout. Manufacturers on hand were Aqualung, DUI, Scubapro, White’s Dry Suit, and a few others. Many travel destinations were on had as well. This year it didn’t seem like many from Mexico were there.

I did get to eat lunch with Richie Kohler. The first time I met him was a few years ago during the height of Deep Sea Detectives. At that time, he and John Chatterton had an entourage with them all the time. This year it was just Richie and he was mostly by himself. When we had lunch, it was just he and I. I was able to chat with him about diving in the Dominican Republic and bend his ear about shipwreck diving.

I was also very impressed by the artwork that the students of the STARS program did with Rogest. The students took a day and a half and created some very good painted mosaics of underwater scenes. Rogest donated his time to help the kids create their paintings and even helped the kids auction off their paintings to help raise money for the program. I was going to bid on a very nice painting of a clownfish for my kids, but the bidding was already up over the $40 I had in my pocket. Wish I could have gotten it, my kids would have loved it.

The Real Treat

Two of the Greatest Scuba Instructors in the World

The biggest treat for me came as a complete surprise. While I was walking around the show, I saw a gentleman who looked very familiar. After seeing him a few times it hit me, it was Jarrod Jablonski of GUE and Halcyon. He was there just walking around the show, not promoting anything. I was able to chat with him for a few minutes. He mentioned that he was a fan of mine. We talked about the cold weather up here, what’s going on with the WKPP and where he and his fiancee Renee did their fun diving (when he isn’t working so much). Jarrod was very personable and seemed to enjoy talking about diving with me. His fiancee Renee was also very nice and talked about some of the diving she likes to do as well. I decided to not monopolize all of Jarrod’s time, I invited him to come up and dive the Great Lakes sometime and wished him a good flight back home.

OWU Summary

This year’s show was about what I expected. Still much of the same social and travel topics. There was nothing new in regard to products. I was able to see many of my friends that I hadn’t talked to in a while. I was also to meet some new people and prospective students. Overall I had a good time and I’d like to thank Ben for allowing me to help him out and for the lunch he bought me.

Dive Safe,
Duane
Precision Diving

Successfully Mastering Mask Clearing Skills

Duane Johnson — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 02:56:57 +0000

One of the most difficult skill new (and some experienced) divers have is learning how to clear their mask. There are many reasons why people have difficulty. A primary reason for this difficulty is because many people are not conscious of their breathing. That is, many people do know know that they breath in and out of their noses in addition to their mouths. While this post is not going to go over the mechanics of mask clearing, it is to give people some guidance on how to overcome their difficulties learning this essential skill.

One of the first things we have to look at is the mask itself. Does the mask fit properly? Is the internal capacity to big? Is the mask strap to tight or loose? If a mask doesn’t fit properly, it will make clearing difficult when it doesn’t sit on a diver’s face proper. If the internal capacity is to large, then it may take the diver multiple tries to clear the mask. Believe it or not, I have seen divers with their mask straps so tight, their checks were pushed up against the lens. Having the mask strap sized appropriately will make clearing the mask easier.

Maintain Control of Your Breathing

Diver’s should maintain control over their breathing when clearing their mask. Many new divers tend to change their breathing when under the slightest bit of task loading. Diver’s should be aware if they are exhaling through their nose and not through the regulator, thus resulting in the mask not being cleared. By focusing on breathing, a diver can comfortably clear their mask.

Part of maintaining control is focusing on your inhalations and exhalations when doing mask clearing drills. When a diver inhales to much, the air will fill up their lungs and add positive buoyancy. By the time they have finished clearing their mask, they may have moved up significantly in the water column. The opposite is also true. If a diver over exhales, they will empty their lungs and create negative buoyancy. Thus causing the diver to fall in the water column. Either way, the diver is not in control of their position in the water and that is not a good thing.

It really boils down to being comfortable with neutral buoyancy. When a diver is not comfortable when neutrally buoyant, the focus is shifted away from their breathing. This is why it is critical for new divers to spent a lot of time in the pool learning buoyancy control and performing skills while neutrally buoyant. By spending this extra time in the pool, when the new diver gets to an open water diving environment, they should be comfortable when the water gets in their mask. In my area, our water is generally colder than a pool (in some cases significantly colder). A diver’s first reaction when cold water hits their face (or in their nose) is to inhale quickly. Thus changing their buoyancy characteristics.

Assuming you have a mask that fits properly, it really boils down to breath control. When initially learning to do mask clearing skills keep your mental focus on your breathing. Inhales and exhales should be that of a normal breath. Worry about this before you focus on the mechanics of clearing the mask. Practice this over and over so that you are clearing your mask while remaining neutrally buoyant. The same advice can be used when doing mask removal and replacement skills. Focus on breathing so your buoyancy doesn’t change, move slowly and deliberately. This will help you maintain control of your position in the water, when without a mask on.

Dive Safe,
Duane
Precision Diving

Photo Credits:
Ed Gabe
Andrew Georgitisis

Do You Hate Dive Stores?

Duane Johnson — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 04:12:33 +0000

I got an email from a reader a couple weeks ago. He asked me one simple question, “Do you hate dive stores?”. I know that some of my posts may come across as being highly critical of dive stores. All dive stores serve a purpose in the diving industry, but certainly I don’t hate any one of them. Some are better than others. Below is a list of dive stores and charter operators, in my area, that I do business with.

The Dive Stores and Operators

There are two dive charters in the Chicago and Milwaukee area that I like to go out on. Shipwreck Explorers ran by Capt. Jitka out of Milwaukee, WI is a great operation that does technical and recreational level dives in Lake Michigan. The new motor in her boat is super fast and she is a lot of fun to spend the day on the lake with. I also use Captain Dale. Captain Dale runs another great charter out of Waukegan, IL (just north of Chicago). Dale’s boat is super sturdy and he runs a very safe operation. The goal of both operations isn’t to make money, but to take people out diving on Lake Michigan and have a lot of fun. That’s why I do business with them.

For dive stores in my area, I really only go to one. I take my Scubapro regulators to Scuba Emporium to get serviced. I may not see eye to eye with them in terms of training, but these guys really know their stuff when it comes to the Scubapro product lines. They dive the stuff constantly and know all of the fine little details about Scubapro products. You don’t get that kind of product knowledge by simply reading the sales brochures.

Even though they are not in my area, I also like Do Dive In in Peoria, IL. Jan, the owner, shares my similar passion for quality training. They also have great product lines like Aqualung, Apeks, Scubapro, and Suunto. So if you find yourself in mid-state Illinois, stop in and say hi.

I Don’t Hate Dive Stores

As you can see, I do like to do business with some dive stores in my area. The dive stores and operators that I prefer not to use are the ones who put making money as a higher priority instead of just diving. They more I go down this path of diving, the more I realize that diving is a wholesome activity that is immensely fun. When people start putting money ahead of what is right, then I start to take my business elsewhere. The scary thing is, the more you see different types of diving become more popular, the more you’ll see these people try to get their hands into the cookie jar. When these people realize they can make more money, they’ll jump into it. Whether it’s recreational, technical, even DIR, they’ll try to make money off of it. In diving, there are more important things than making money.

Ignore the “Hot Deals”, “Birthday Sales” or “Group Buys” that are posted all over the internet. My advice, find a dive store, charter operator and/or instructor that genuinely cares about your diving and support them. Even if you have to pay a little more for equipment and training.

Dive Safe,
Duane
Precision Diving

Reviewing Dalton’s Law

Duane Johnson — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 05:04:02 +0000

Duane Johnson - Tech Instructor

I was talking with a diving friend. He mentioned that during a visit to a local dive store, the employees were referring to 50% Nitrox as 50/50. They said that 50/50 was 50% oxygen and 50% air. Air is composed of 21% oxygen and 79% nitrogen. Now, my fifth grade math may be a little rusty, but 50% + 21% + 79% = 150%. Unless this dive store has found a new gas law, it looks like a quick review of Dalton’s Law is in order.

Dalton’s Law of Partial Pressures

Assuming that the gasses do not react with each other, Dalton’s Law states that the total pressure of a gas mixture is equal to the sum of the partial pressures of each individual gas in the gas mixture.

Let’s look at a quick example. If we are diving 32% Nitrox, the gas consists of 32% oxygen and 68% nitrogen. If we add 32% and 68%, we get 100%. Physics dictate that we cannot exceed 100% of something.

Dalton’s law is the basis for calculating partial pressures of gasses.

Understanding the gasses we breathe is critical to diving safety. It should have been covered in your open water and/or Nitrox courses. If you are going to be blending breathing gasses, you definately need to have a full understanding of Dalton’s law.

Dive Safe,
Duane
Precision Diving