Are scuba regulators life-support equipment?

[Lead_carrier]

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

For some of us, it is darn close..

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

Are you saying that regs are an unnecessary purchase? I've breathed off of a tank before but using a regulator sure was a lot easier.

 

[Garth]

I would be one who would disagree with a diving regulator is a life support system.

Reasons why I believe this is that if you were to stop breathing it would be unable to support your life...

The regulator relies on the user to breathe in and to breathe out. I would consider it more like a snorkel. If you dip the tip under the water you cannot use it.

Conventional life support has an electronic trigger that will occur if the manual trigger isn't engaged (i.e. Someone "initiating a breath")

If life support at the hospital worked like a diving regulator there would be a lot of dead people... We can't have that.

Garth


Garth

 

[Tigerman]

...
Are you saying that regs are an unnecessary purchase? I've breathed off of a tank before but using a regulator sure was a lot easier.

Nobody has claimed a regulator is not handy, some of us just don't believe in defining A regulator as "life support equipment" as you tend to have at least 1 backup and even without a backup you don't strictly NEED the regulator to be breathing - as you have proven yourself..

And as some has pointed out, the whole "life support equipment" label seem to be something the industry has put on it to make people so scared of their regs they dont dare but to have them serviced as often as possible and buy new, expensive ones as soon as possible..

With that said - Im off to buy that tactical toiletry bag..

 

[redacted]

Are you saying that regs are an unnecessary purchase? I've breathed off of a tank before but using a regulator sure was a lot easier.

Not at all. Regulators are necessary to enjoy the activity of scuba diving. But the failure of a regulator should not become a serious, life-threatening, situation.

 

[KD8NPB]

Not at all. Regulators are necessary to enjoy the activity of scuba diving. But the failure of a regulator should not become a serious, life-threatening, situation.

Even at 230 feet in a cave?

 

[redacted]

Even at 230 feet in a cave?

If your dive plan does not provide for your survival when one piece of dive gear fails, you are not doing something right. The environment will effect the plan but should not change that concept for dealing with failures. Do you disagree?

EDIT: In fact, I would expect cave divers to plan on being at least two regulator failures away from a life-threatening issue.

 

[KD8NPB]

If your dive plan does not provide for your survival when one piece of dive gear fails, you are not doing something right. The environment will effect the plan but should not change that concept for dealing with failures. Do you disagree?

EDIT: In fact, I would expect cave divers to plan on being at least two regulator failures away from a life-threatening issue.

If I treat both posts with equal disregard for safety or maintenance, because they "aren't life support equipment, so why bother?", what is the probability that both will fail? Or better yet, both work fine, then my buddy has an emergency, I'm forced to share air, and the enhanced workload on the regulator causes it to fail?

I took my Tech class with some people who thought "regulators aren't life support equipment". They were the ones the "stage/deco cylinders, valves off" rule was made for...when their valves were on, their regulators just sat there and freeflowed. Blub blub, blub blub, blub blub.

One of them ran an ancient Sherwood on their 7ft...when we did air shares, it was like sucking air through a coffee stirrer. I expect that his 2nd stage pulled probably 2.5-3 in-h2o on a magnehelic...it was horrible. I don't know how they managed to use it.

I would rather never experience an equipment failure!

Murphy is a dick...that one time where your buddy has an emergency and you're forced to go in to your 1/3 reserve? That is the one time your neglected "not life support" regulator will fail and blow away your remaining gas.

No thank you!

I can't breathe water, therefor, they are life support.

 

[nimoh]

If I treat both posts with equal disregard for safety or maintenance, because they "aren't life support equipment, so why bother?", what is the probability that both will fail? Or better yet, both work fine, then my buddy has an emergency, I'm forced to share air, and the enhanced workload on the regulator causes it to fail?

that begs the question.

I don't see anyone on this thread suggesting that regulator maintenance is unnecessary or for that matter, suggesting that calling or not calling regulators life support equipment would have any impact on maintenance schedules.

 

[redacted]

If I treat both posts with equal disregard for safety or maintenance, because they "aren't life support equipment, so why bother?", what is the probability that both will fail? Or better yet, both work fine, then my buddy has an emergency, I'm forced to share air, and the enhanced workload on the regulator causes it to fail?

I took my Tech class with some people who thought "regulators aren't life support equipment". They were the ones the "stage/deco cylinders, valves off" rule was made for...when their valves were on, their regulators just sat there and freeflowed. Blub blub, blub blub, blub blub.

One of them ran an ancient Sherwood on their 7ft...when we did air shares, it was like sucking air through a coffee stirrer. I expect that his 2nd stage pulled probably 2.5-3 in-h2o on a magnehelic...it was horrible. I don't know how they managed to use it.

I would rather never experience an equipment failure!

Murphy is a dick...that one time where your buddy has an emergency and you're forced to go in to your 1/3 reserve? That is the one time your neglected "not life support" regulator will fail and blow away your remaining gas.

No thank you!

I can't breathe water, therefor, they are life support.

I always treat my gear the way it needs to be treated and the "life-support" issue does not really enter into it. I suppose anyone who really considers their regulators as life support would not just hand them over to any dive shop for service. After all, where else can a person become a "qualified life support technician" in one day with no testing.

 

[The Chairman]

I suppose anyone who really considers their regulators as life support would not just hand them over to any dive shop for service.

That would describe me, except I don't view regulators as life support.