Breathing from BCD

[DevonDiver]

Yikes.... big risk of a lung infection. BCD bladder is usually very contaminated. Plus, you're trading in buoyancy... which could jeapordise your safe ascent and stability on the surface.

From recreational depths, you should be able to CESA. If you're diving below a depth where you could comfortably CESA, you should have a redundant air source.

Basically... its a solution for a problem that shouldn't exist.

 

[Doubler]

As Doc V posted in his article BCD breathing is possible and a learned skill. Back in late 70's early 80's I was heavy into cave diving. BCD breathing was one of the skills my buddy and I practiced in the pool. It is NOT easy. We planned using this in a dire, everything went FUBAR emergency Horizontal situation as a gas extender. Buoyancy is difficult and you also get CO2 build up in the BCD. In open ocean if I had the choice between BCD breathing or CESA, Cesa wins no question. In a cave. I would do whatever I could to extract myself.
As far as Buddy breathing goes, unless you and your buddy practice this skill all the time, it can result in two fatalities instead of one. This was one of the reasons for the Octopus becoming standard equipment. "Long Hosers" primary reason for their primary regulator on a long hose and a neck-laced Octopus is the OTA diver always grabs the Octopus out of your mouth. Imagine if you have no Octopus, you just exhaled and suddenly out of nowhere your regulator is ripped from your mouth. Trust me that you are, in most cases, now in a fight for your life. The controlled buddy breathing you practiced kneeling on the bottom of a pool is not the same as buddy breathing with a panicked diver at 80 feet. Sad but true most REC divers NEVER practice emergency skills once they complete training. Buddy Breathing, Octopus use and CESA are just not that fun on vacation. So go to a pool before your vacation. Do a buddy check when you enter the water including breathing off the Octopus at depth. Keep your skills up, the life you save may be your own. My 2 cents.

 

[The Chairman]

Don't you mean SOL?

Trying to be consistent with the "OO"s

 

[Dirty-Dog]

Where have you come across foxfish? Do tell.

Thanks for the link. The bacteria thing is a bit of a concern but if I just exhaled my last breath, then I'm probably going to take the risk. Also I have my own BCD.

I don't remember who said it, but in another thread involving OOA emergencies and possible infection risk of using someone elses reg, it was truely said that "I'd suck a fart out of a donkeys ass if that's what it took to get to the surface."
I'm sorry for not remembering who to attribute the quote to...

 

[The Chairman]

We planned using this in a dire, everything went FUBAR emergency Horizontal situation as a gas extender.

It should be noted that is not taught in any current cave diving curriculum. In fact, I don't believe that there are any documented instances of a cave diver using this technique in a real emergency and surviving. At least, I have never heard of any.

Also, it's simply not taught by any current agency anywhere and I know of no competent instructor currently teaching this technique. In any event, the best way to deal with an OOA situation in order efficacy is as follows:

1. AVOID RUNNING OUT OF AIR!!! Check your and your buddy's gauges regularly. Prevention is the best policy.
2. Get to your Buddy's air. He is your redundant air supply. FWIW, EVERYONE becomes your buddy when you are OOA. It's not the time to be choosy.
3. Perform a CESA (Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascent) keeping your reg in your mouth and your airway open (say ahhhhhhhhhh). You should find more air available as you ascend.
4. Let your increased buoyancy carry you up. In case of a shallow water blackout, getting yourself to the surface where you are more likely to attract the help you need.

 

[The Chairman]

I don't remember who said it, but in another thread involving OOA emergencies and possible infection risk of using someone elses reg, it was truely said that "I'd suck a fart out of a donkeys ass if that's what it took to get to the surface."
I'm sorry for not remembering who to attribute the quote to...

I believe that was Wookie.

 

[fjpatrum]

Yikes.... big risk of a lung infection. BCD bladder is usually very contaminated. Plus, you're trading in buoyancy... which could jeapordise your safe ascent and stability on the surface.

From recreational depths, you should be able to CESA. If you're diving below a depth where you could comfortably CESA, you should have a redundant air source.

Basically... its a solution for a problem that shouldn't exist.

Just out of curiosity, does anyone have any actual data to support the belief that BCDs are "usually very contaminated"? It's trivially easy to clean the inside of a BC, just like cleaning a camelback drinking bladder. Drop some vinegar in, swish around and rinse with fresh water. Dry as normal.

If, and this is a big if, someone rinses and drys their BC with a little air in it after each dive, there is no reason for it to be "contaminated" with anything particularly nasty at all.

 

[Thalassamania]

Dave Walls of PADI spelled out his agency’s recommended options for low/out of air situations, in order of priority:

Make a normal ascent, if your tank isn’t completely empty;
Ascend using an alternate air source (redundant supply or buddy’s octopus);
Execute a controlled emergency swimming ascent;
Buddy-breathe with a single regulator supplied by another diver;
Make a buoyant emergency ascent.

This is from then article posted by DocVikingo, Based on this list you would do a cesa b4 buddy breathing with a single reg, Why is that? Wouldn't it be safer to buddy breathe then to cesa?

I'd rather BB than CSEA, but that assumes that I know how, my buddy knows how and we have practiced regularly. That's a situation that few divers enjoy.

Just out of curiosity, does anyone have any actual data to support the belief that BCDs are "usually very contaminated"? It's trivially easy to clean the inside of a BC, just like cleaning a camelback drinking bladder. Drop some vinegar in, swish around and rinse with fresh water. Dry as normal.

If, and this is a big if, someone rinses and drys their BC with a little air in it after each dive, there is no reason for it to be "contaminated" with anything particularly nasty at all.

The definitive study was published in Scottish Diver back in the 1980s, and it confirmed the problem and made recommendations on how to clean your ABLJ, unfortunately I do not have the article close to hand, nor do I recall the exact recommendations.

 

[boulderjohn]

Dave Walls of PADI spelled out his agency’s recommended options for low/out of air situations, in order of priority:

Make a normal ascent, if your tank isn’t completely empty;
Ascend using an alternate air source (redundant supply or buddy’s octopus);
Execute a controlled emergency swimming ascent;
Buddy-breathe with a single regulator supplied by another diver;
Make a buoyant emergency ascent.

This is from then article posted by DocVikingo, Based on this list you would do a cesa b4 buddy breathing with a single reg, Why is that? Wouldn't it be safer to buddy breathe then to cesa?

PADI has now removed buddy breathing from the list for the reasons others have mentioned. They now list only four choices.

CESA is a very simple process, assuming you keep your head. It will work.

As NetDoc said, though, if you need to do one you have committed two errors. That is why UTD does not teach CESA in its open water class. It requires you to head for the surface if you have a major failure. Losing your buddy is a major failure, and you should have been going to the surface after that happened and before you went out of air.

UTD is not big on buddy breathing, either. That, too, should be preceded by a series of major failures.

 

[Cave Diver]

I believe that was Wookie.

Bob - NWGrateful diver

I suppose you could always keep a few sanitary wipes in your pocket for emergencies.

Frankly, I'd suck a fart out of a donkey's ass if that's what it took to make it to the surface alive ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Hmmm ... regarding the donkey comment ... it was something I heard at a workshop I attended a few years back. I didn't realize at the time it was a quote, rather than a spontaneous comment. Hadn't given it much thought until the topic where I posted it ... where it seemed somehow appropriate.

Now that I'm aware of the source, I'd prefer if folks would attribute it to its author ... as I will ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)