Diverguard or any similar Autofloat Device for Solo Divers?

[Akimbo]

There is an auto-inflate device for freedivers that does make sense, but that has nothing to do with solo diving in Scuba. Shallow water blackout is a much different problem and there is no risk of getting bent of embolised.

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IF such a device were effective for Scuba divers, there is no logical reason to limit it to divers who intentionally dive solo. The death rate is much higher for new poorly-trained divers that are part of a buddy team, even when they don’t get separated.

IF this was such a good concept than why wasn’t a simple mechanical auto-inflate device available 60 years ago that activated when cylinder pressure dropped to 300 PSI?

Most of the need for such a product would be academic if initial training standards weren’t so pathetic.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

I programmed computers for 40+ years and I was damn good. That said I would trust absolutely no automated (whether by software or hardware) device to control my buoyancy or bring me to the surface or do anything else "for me" while under the water. Anyone that does is in line for a Darwin Award.

I'm curious, anyone have any idea how many divers actually go unconcious spontaniously? My guess is pretty darn few. Pure hype of a solution in search of a problem, I just hope the nanny government doesn't get wind of this and try to legislate that divers must use this idiotic idea.

I think the risk is real for those of us "of a certain age". Not spontaneous blackout, but a cardiovascular or cerebral "health event" that renders us unconscious or majorly incapacitated. Heart attack and stroke come to mind, and the last several scuba fatalities that I can recall here on the Big Island have involved middle-aged men who became unresponsive in the water.

Would a magic BC have saved them? Probably not. They had the misfortune to be rendered unconscious while scuba diving, and in fact may have actually had heart attacks and died before they had a chance to drown... like I mentioned, unless you are very fortunate and have an attentive human right nearby, going unconscious while in the water, even on the surface, is normally fatal. A BC that automatically brings you to the surface will not likely change that, even if it worked as advertised.

Best wishes.

 

[KevinG58]

Kind of OT but, many (not all) of the cardiac related scuba fatalities would be eliminated if men in particular heeded warning signs and sought treatment instead of denying and eventually dropping or flopping dead.