Divers Can't Agree on Safe Depth for Air Diving—Here's Why

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I recently asked a simple question on
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social media. What do you personally
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consider the maximum safe depth to dive
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on air? Now, I expected different
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answers, but I didn't expect just how
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wide the spread would be or how
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revealing the reasons behind those
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answers would turn out to be.
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Some people felt that anything much
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beyond 20 to 25 m already brings
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noticeable cognitive risk. For them,
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narcosis appears early and clarity drops
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quickly.
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At the other end, a small number talked
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about depths well beyond 70 m on air.
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Almost without exception, those comments
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were framed as personal experience
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rather than advice. Usually with strong
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caveats about conditions and workload
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and the bad old days. So those extremes
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existed, but they weren't where most
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people sat. What really stood out was
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how many people independently converged
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on a similar answer. across the comments
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the average depth came out at around 45
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m with a clear cluster close to that.
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Now that doesn't make 45 m a magic
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number, but it does suggest that many
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experienced divers when left to their
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own judgment arrive in roughly the same
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place.
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More interesting than the number itself
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was how people explained it.
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Very few talked in terms of absolute
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limits.
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Most described their depth as
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conditional.
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The same depth felt very different
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depending on visibility, current,
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temperature, task loading, and even
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location.
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Now, not surprisingly, narcosis came up
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a lot. sometimes in subtle ways. Slower
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thinking, poorer prioritization,
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reduced situational awareness, or even a
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creeping false confidence. These were
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mentioned far more often than dramatic
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symptoms.
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Now, gas density appeared less often,
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but when it did, it reflected the
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growing awareness, I think, that has
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been shaped by more recent research and
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the updated recommendations from
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recognized authorities in diving
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physiology. For some people, P2 was
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actually the primary limiting factor
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rather than narcosis, which surprised
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me. Another strong theme was no stop
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limits. Many divers said their depth
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limit was driven less by physiology and
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more by a deliberate choice to avoid
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decompression dives altogether
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which naturally pulled their personal
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ceiling shallower.
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I think it's also worth looking at the
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institutional perspectives
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in the UK. Both the Health and Safety
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Executive and the UK armed forces have
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historically regarded diving to around
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50 meters on air as acceptable, provided
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that training controls, equipment, those
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kind of things are in place. So, it's
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really interesting that many divers
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choose limits that are both shallower
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and deeper than that. And I think that
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contrast between institutional standards
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and personal judgment is one of the most
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interesting things to come out of this
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discussion.
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I guess it's worth saying that air has
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been used as a diving gas for a very
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long time. Yet this apparently simple
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question still doesn't have a
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universally agreed answer. Different
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agencies, different organizations have
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taught limits from around 30 m through
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to 60 m in some systems.
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But the comments make it clear that
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those numbers need to reflect human
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beings and human performance.
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And that's perhaps because this was
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never really about a single number.
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Depth decisions are personal choices
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shaped by how each diver weighs the
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factors they think are important.
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Narcosis, gas density, oxygen exposure,
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workload, environment, and frankly the
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amount of margin they feel comfortable
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carrying.
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For me, if I'm asked what I consider a
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reasonable maximum limit for diving on
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air, my answer is 50 m. I say that
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because of my own experience and because
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of the accumulated anecdotal evidence
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from many decades of other people's
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diving.
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So I think 50 m beyond that the margins
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are not acceptable. The task loading
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increases but particularly the effects
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of narcosis, breathing effort and even
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oxygen exposure begin to overlap to
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create unacceptable risk.
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Having said that, I think it's also
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important to be clear that I don't wait
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until I get to 50 m before I start
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thinking about helium.
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Adding helium before that has got to be
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the more sensible and conservative
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choice. We all know it gives you
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clarity. It reduces the work of
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breathing and makes decision making
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easier at depths where air is already
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starting to compromise your performance.
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So if you're doing a dive where clearer
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thinking, lower breathing effort, and
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spare capacity are valuable, then helium
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is the right decision. And I think
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that's why this question is still worth
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answering and asking. not to settle the
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argument, but to encourage divers to
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think critically about why they choose
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the limits they do. Now, I just want to
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say thank you to everyone who's taken
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the time to comment on my thread. And
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also, I hope that this video will prompt
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you to reflect on your own choices. And
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if you do, for me, that's probably the
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most valuable outcome of all.

Divers Can't Agree on Safe Depth for Air Diving—Here's Why

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Divers Can't Agree on Safe Depth for Air Diving—Here's Why

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