Deep CESA Practice Okay?

[Scott L]

The whole idea is nuts. If you are OOA at 100ft without a buddy you will know what to do. Practicing the manuver and risking injury of any sort is crazy IMO...

 

[Superlyte27]

We weren't really given a choice as to whether we wanted to practice it or not. We were told to do it. We did it.

Do I suggest a baby/young diver goes and tries it? Nope. But realize it can be done should everything else fail you.

 

[caver]

That is what I did. But I started at 30 feet. This exercise gives a diver a feeling of what his limits are. Don't do this at the end of a dive. Practice them at the start. Do just one during a day of diving----Don't do it over and over the same day. Don't do them back to back and don't do it when you are full of nitrogen bubbles. After a while you can be doing them from 100 feet. Keep your regulator handy if you need it. It will give you an idea of how deep you can ascend from on a "empty" set of lungs. DON'T HOLD YOUR BREATH - EXHALE WHILE ASCENDING.. Don't do it on a solo dive, have someone with you.

 

[ReefHugger]

Although I had to do it 'back in the days', I would not advocate practising.

Here is a thought that might give some comfort. Keep the reg in your mouth, a tank empty at 100', will give a breath during the CESA (probable about 30-40'). Tight as hell but it does. In fact, I believe there was another breath very close to the surface (it was a very long time ago).

So then, maybe the CESA from 30' is all you need .

 

[Thalassamania]

The advantage to "practicing" is less in the familiarity that practice creates and more in the confidence that it breed.

 

[maxguru]

Okay, points all noted. Suppose I descend from the surface to 100 feet, then exhale, then begin my ascent while blowing bubbles at 60 feet per minute, with the reg held in my hand for just-in-case? Any problems?

Keep the reg in when you do a CESA.

Max
DSAT 198186

 

[maxguru]

Somebody in the mentioned thread DID actually say they had done a CESA from 100 feet, but the post was deleted (edited) by the poster because there was some info within the same post that would have opened not only a can, but a lorry full of worms..

I know a guy who once bragged about having to do a CESA from 60'. He is full of **** on so many levels, that I doubt that it is true. On the other hand, he is probably a big enough idiot to run out of air.

Max
DSAT 191816

 

[David_57]

Well I am pretty sure I could not make it to the surface from a 100ft in an OOA emergency, although if all else fails I would give it a shot in the unlikely event I do not have a alternate air source, or a buddy close at hand, which is very unlikely due to the aforementioned better options IMHO

I am pretty confident I could make it from 40ft to 50 ft that is why I bring a pony when I go over these depths, up here in merry old Canada this is never a problem as I dive with double tanks and a Deco/Pony bottle's.

And to answers the OP's question sure give it a shot take half a breath keep your reg in your mouth and keep exhaling without taking a breath until you surface, let us know how it works out I am betting you will not be able do make it.

 

[Mike Boswell]

Instead of doing 100' CESA, why not do a 15' swim to your buddy? He is right there with you, right? Seems like a better idea to practice good buddy skills and air sharing techniques.

I definitely agree that it is a good idea to practice buddy skills and air sharing, my buddy and I do it frequently, and that is always our first option. But the issue that was raised in the other thread was CESA, not air sharing.

CESA is taught by scuba instructors as a viable option for survival if there are no better choices, but it is only practiced in shallow water. Can it be done from deeper dives? Should it be practiced? Should it be tried in an emergency?

With respect, it seems to me that if training agencies are going to teach a given skill, and if divers are supposed to learn it, it ought to be taught and practiced under realistic conditions (as it is, apparently, by the Navy). The disagreements on this thread are evidence that CESA is not well accepted or understood.

 

[Paladin]

There is a little fact that no one has mentioned so far: When starting at 100', even with "empty" lungs, as you ascend, the air in your lungs will expand. By exhaling at about the same rate as the air is expanding, you can reach the surface without running out of air in your lungs. As long as you are exhaling and keeping an open airway, you should be fine. Back in the day, we did the drill from 90' with no problems.