Buddy breathing and GUE?

[Kim]

Its not taught or required in Fundies. However, it is a skill I've practiced with my buddies. Frankly, we did it just to see if we could do it while maintaining buoyancy.

Out of interest - did it affect your bouyancy much?

 

[Mako Mark]

I think I am guilty as charged for asking the question on the other thread, but It is interesting to hear a slightly more rational rather than emotional discussion on the topic. That other thread got pretty heated at times.

Plus, as a last resort, one can always breathe off the wing inflator...one of the reasons for the doubles hose routing DIR uses.

I remember reading an english book on dive rescue techniques published in about 1960 that had diagrams about breathing the residual air from the BCD.

It involved rolling over to the right to get the air through the hose and I remember thinking at the time that it was insanity.
It also had bizzare techniques of making an artificial air space by cupping the hands over the forehead, so you could see in the event of a lost mask. I tried that and could never get it to work lol.

There should be no real reason you cant breath from the LPI though, in fact, I think I will give it a go later on today when I jump in the pool and report back.

The only ironic conundrum is that it would be the creation of a makeshift reg, which in my understanding of DIR wouldnt be advisable, better to attach a Air2 to your wings and have something that is designed to be breathed from..... I wonder if Boogie has any lying around that he could sell me?

PLEASE NOTE: that last paragraph is said ENTIRELY tongue in cheek and is not to be taken seriously, only humourously!

 

[Soggy]

Though I have never tried it, my understanding of the technique where you breathe from the LPI, is that you don't inhale the air that's in the wing, you depress both buttons and breathe fresh air from the tank and exhale it into the environment. Obviously a VERY last ditch resort, but might be just enough to get one home in real bad situation....ice diving comes to mind, where reg failures are very very common.

 

[diveh3]

I remember reading an english book on dive rescue techniques published in about 1960 that had diagrams about breathing the residual air from the BCD. ![/B]

I've practiced this, but I don't think Im breathing residual air or if I am its very little..
If the inflator button and exaust button are pressed at the same time, Its like breathing from a free flow. Be sure to intake through your mouth and exhale through your nose.
I guess you could breathe the air down from your wing but why would you want to ? adding bouyancy problems to an already compounding situation.

Dan

 

[filtered]

Plus, as a last resort, one can always breathe off the wing inflator...one of the reasons for the doubles hose routing DIR uses.

errr....not highly recommended and definitely not taught in any GUE class as far as I know

Besides, it's much easier to 'feather' the valve and breath from a freeflowing reg than breathe off the wing inflator.

Tried it once in a swimming pool, and it's not something you can keep up for long and maintain buoyancy at the same time

 

[Northeastwrecks]

Out of interest - did it affect your bouyancy much?

It had an effect because we were breathing more deeply than normal. However, it wasn't an insurmountable hurdle. We ascended from about 50 ffw, stayed close to our desired ascent rate and did stops at 20 and 10 feet.

We both agreed that we didn't like it very much and that it was a pain in the butt.

 

[Kim]

It had an effect because we were breathing more deeply than normal. However, it wasn't an insurmountable hurdle. We ascended from about 50 ffw, stayed close to our desired ascent rate and did stops at 20 and 10 feet.

We both agreed that we didn't like it very much and that it was a pain in the butt.

Thank you for the answer. I suppose though that even though it was a 'pain in the butt' - it would have safely got you both to the surface close to ascent rate limits and with stops in a real emergency. Sounds to me like a skill worth having.

 

[Soggy]

errr....not highly recommended and definitely not taught in any GUE class as far as I know

Not taught as a skill, but mentioned in DIRF class as a possible source of gas and presented as one of the reasons why we route the LPI from the right side.

While I hate George quotes...

from http://www.wkpp.org/articles/Gear/newgeorge.html

The low pressure hose to it must come from the right post. This then acts as a second backup or third regulator which can be used if the left post knob either gets rolled off or rolled and broken off. (The right knob can get broken off, but will roll "on", so would be broken off in the "on" position.) Also, you never want to discover you have a roll-off by not being able to inflate - an invitation to further problems.

 

[filtered]

Not taught as a skill, but mentioned in DIRF class as a possible source of gas and presented as one of the reasons why we route the LPI from the right side.

While I hate George quotes...

from http://www.wkpp.org/articles/Gear/newgeorge.html

hmmm...let's see. For a situation like that to happen, with a team of 2 divers, we would need :

- the diver to have totally lost deco gas (assuming worst case there was a tank neck failure), or no stage diving.
- left-post manifold failure, isolated.
- donated long hose

which means the buddy would have had
- totally lost deco gas
- failures on both right and left manifold, resulting in catastrophically total gas loss.

In a team of 3, it becomes harder to imagine a situation which would result in needing to breath from the inflator. I think chances of striking the lottery 3 times in a row are higher

 

[lamont]

In a team of 3, it becomes harder to imagine a situation which would result in needing to breath from the inflator. I think chances of striking the lottery 3 times in a row are higher

the situation for a team of three is easy -- start off with a dead buddy and go from there...

of course that isn't DIR...