Are scuba regulators life-support equipment?

[dfx]

I think everyone participating in this thread understands how a regulator is used in diving, the disconnect seems to be in the definition of the term "life support equipment" or "life support system"

I don't see the problem. If it's something that helps you stay alive longer than you would otherwise in whatever environment or condition you're in, then it's life support. There's different kinds of life support, there's the medical kind (in fact there's more than one kind), there's life support in aviation and there's life support in spaceflight, both real and in science fiction. They all deal with different issues, but one thing they all have in common is that they make sure that you can breathe.

When an astronaut leaves his space craft and does a space walk, he has to take the life support system with him, as you can't breathe in space. You can't breathe under water either, so you have to take your life support system with you. Same with a firefighter wearing an SCBA, if he can't breathe without it, then it becomes his life support system. I really don't understand why so many people are revolting against this simple terminology.

 

[KD8NPB]

I'd hate to see your car maintenance bills.

I do all my own maintenance. I go 10,000 - 15,000 between oil changes, or 1 year, whichever comes first. This result was dialed in through the use of Blackstone Laboratories oil analysis program. I also have a habit of installing Moog greaseable suspension components!

I'm very self sufficient and safety conscious.

 

[redacted]

If it's something that helps you stay alive longer than you would otherwise in whatever environment or condition you're in, then it's life support.

That reminds me, I better go take my daily aspirin. I guess it is life support.

You need to draw the line somewhere, especially when it is used to pressure divers into unnecessary purchases.

 

[dfx]

That reminds me, I better go take my daily aspirin. I guess it is life support.

Prove that it does and you may have a point. Even though that hardly qualifies as a "system" or equipment.

You need to draw the line somewhere, especially when it is used to pressure divers into unnecessary purchases.

How does that work? Like I said before, just because you call it "life support" doesn't mean that you'll die instantly without it. If that's what people believe, then that's their problem. Downplaying the importance of it doesn't fix that.

 

[divad]

I like to wear silk underwear as a base for my ColdWeatherLifeSupportSystem; its really warm, and, ......it just makes me feel fancy.

 

[redacted]

Prove that it does and you may have a point. Even though that hardly qualifies as a "system" or equipment.


How does that work? Like I said before, just because you call it "life support" doesn't mean that you'll die instantly without it. If that's what people believe, then that's their problem. Downplaying the importance of it doesn't fix that.

http://meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/data_files/publications/st179/stat179.pdf

I don't think you will get a lot of disagreement with the idea that a breathing gas system is a life support system for a scuba diver. But, if you are diving safely, that breathing gas system has sufficient backup and redundancy that no single failure of any component of that system should be life threatening. That is, the loss of a regulator, is not life threatening if you are diving safely. Unfortunately, a regulator may be life support for some divers. What does fix it is a properly planned and executed dive looking at the breathing gas from a system standpoint.

 

[nimoh]

I don't see the problem. If it's something that helps you stay alive longer than you would otherwise in whatever environment or condition you're in, then it's life support. There's different kinds of life support, there's the medical kind (in fact there's more than one kind), there's life support in aviation and there's life support in spaceflight, both real and in science fiction. They all deal with different issues, but one thing they all have in common is that they make sure that you can breathe.

When an astronaut leaves his space craft and does a space walk, he has to take the life support system with him, as you can't breathe in space. You can't breathe under water either, so you have to take your life support system with you. Same with a firefighter wearing an SCBA, if he can't breathe without it, then it becomes his life support system. I really don't understand why so many people are revolting against this simple terminology.

by that definition, a pacemaker is not a life support system.

 

[The Chairman]

Downplaying the importance of it doesn't fix that.

Overplaying the importance of it doesn't fix anything either.

However you want to couch it, spin, semantics or perspective, how and what we call "life support" lends it a certain degree of magnitude or importance, real or imagined. The reasons to do this might be many, but most appear to be pecuniary in nature. As God Fearing consumers, we view these kind of claims with a critical, if not jaundiced eye. Caveat emptor and all that. This is at the opposite of "it's too good to be true" as we see the assertions (aspersions?) as being too bad to be plausible. In that respect the term "life support" is about as useful as stroke or bungeed wings of death. Most of us don't care for the appellations and go out of our way to pick fun at those who do.

 

[iluvtheocean]

I don't see the problem. If it's something that helps you stay alive longer than you would otherwise in whatever environment or condition you're in, then it's life support. There's different kinds of life support, there's the medical kind (in fact there's more than one kind), there's life support in aviation and there's life support in spaceflight, both real and in science fiction. They all deal with different issues, but one thing they all have in common is that they make sure that you can breathe.

When an astronaut leaves his space craft and does a space walk, he has to take the life support system with him, as you can't breathe in space. You can't breathe under water either, so you have to take your life support system with you. Same with a firefighter wearing an SCBA, if he can't breathe without it, then it becomes his life support system. I really don't understand why so many people are revolting against this simple terminology.

it was established earlier in the thread that it is considered a life support system by definition which i believe was the OP question. Maintenance issues including whether it can be self serviced or not, training on the items in question, and trouble scenarios and how to deal with them, are separate issues from the actual original question.

 

[robertarak]

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Except bungie wings of death....those will kill you.