Posted by Kendall Raine on March 21, 2001 at 13:59:55:
In Reply to: Trimix at 60 FSW ?? posted by Kevin on March 21, 2001 at 12:01:20:
The benefit of He goes beyond being non-narcotic. He has a much lower lipid solubility than N2 and so is absorbed by the poorly perfused fatty tissues much more slowly than N2. While He diffuses into tissue more rapidly than N2, you also get rid of it much faster, as well. As such, there is a growing body of empirical research suggesting He is a lot friendlier gas from which to deco (after all, all dives are deco dives when you think about it). He also doesn't seem to cause the same kind of RBC rigidity that N2 seems to cause, though the relative benefit of this on shallow dives is may not great.