Flying with your gear... & spare air?

[vladimir]

I was watching one of the videos for SDI certification and it says DO NOT TAKE SUDAFED. Why is that? Anything better you would suggest taking to help with my ears?

There are a few different formulations that share the name Sudafed. Assuming we are talking about pseudoephedrine, there are a few rare side-effects that might give one pause, including hallucinations and seizures. But I think the real issue with Sudafed and other decongestants, as with aggressive clearing techniques, is that you have to equalize to ascend, as well. Equalizing upon ascent is usually not an issue, but divers who have forcefully cleared on the way down, or divers who have used a decongestant, are more prone to reverse-block. If you can't equalize to descend you return to the surface, maybe have an early lunch. If you can't equalize to ascend you have bigger problems. That said, I have used Sudafed and Afrin to overcome clearing difficulties from time to time. In my experience, they work okay for a dive, but not as well for a series of dives.

You should ask your ear questons in the medical forum, or search the posts of doctormike, DocVikingo, and TSandM, for expert opinions on the subject.

 

[RJP]

Real pseudoephedrine has become increasingly difficult to find...

It's actually now much EASIER to find. Before you had to wander up and down a few aisles looking, then once you found the right aisle, you still had to search.

Now you just walk right the pharmacy counter, ask for it, someone sells it to you, then you leave.

Much easier.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

dandydon...
heard about the bottom time thing from searching around for info on the spare airs on the internet.

6CF model...its a lot larger then the spare air system. The spare air I can toss in my work bag and when I get into my work car I can toss it in the door panel pocket so it is quickly accessible should I need it. The Oddysey system appears much nicer though. Plus if I am needing my hands to try and free someone from a car that is submurged I think the Oddysey system would get in the way and be to heavy to hold in my mouth without the use on my hands.

Docs video I have seen...watched it this morning actually. Thank you.

Every dive after my first dive (when I learned I cant equalize easily) I started taking Sudafed the night b4 a dive and the morning of the dive. Honestly dont know if it helped. I can equalize...just takes time and usually one ear goes before the other and occasionally while on ascent I will get a small case of vertigo...usually about the last 5-10 feet before surfacing. I know i get sea sick easily but I think this may have to do with my ears. I was watching one of the videos for SDI certification and it says DO NOT TAKE SUDAFED. Why is that? Anything better you would suggest taking to help with my ears?

Just out of curiosity how many times have you or your team actually practiced doing this? I mean working hard with your adrenalin pumping and verified how long a SA will actually last? Zeagle has a rapid diver system with different size tanks say 20 cu ft that can be put on in less than a minute and has a real regulator. Just saying. BTW I do not permit Spare Airs to be used in any of my classes, do not recommend them (unless it's a helcopter exit exercise which is what they were designed for), and think that for anything other than an emergency vehicle exit they are pretty much a bad idea and give a false sense of security.

 

[Fourseventeen]

Thanks again for all the info Don. Thanks to all others who have posted up info as well.
Jim...I am certified with our search and rescue team for land based and mountain rescues. I have not gone through the swift water or U/W coarse yet but intend to once it comes available. Here in my part of AZ we dont really have much water so water rescues of any type are rare. When they do happen its either a swift rescue from a flash flood or a car that has flipped over into an irrigation ditch along side one of the many farm properties. I have personally dealt with one roll over into water in the year and a half I have worked with the Sheriffs Office. It was something I would like to have practiced to use and keep as an extra resource in my tool box. Its no different then why we carry an M-16 or a riot shield....its rarely used but its there just in case.

 

[RJP]

Its no different then why we carry an M-16 or a riot shield....its rarely used but its there just in case.

Ah but it IS different...

I'm assuming you don't bring an M-16 and a Riot Shield to someone's front door if you're serving them with info on a tax sale or something?

Diving is the same way. There are lot's of tools available. On any given dive you should carry only those tools for which a need is certain or reasonably forseeable - given the specifics of the dive plan, environment, and conditions. Note that this is different than gearing for "every conceivable" need; ie I don't carry 3 cutting tools on a reef dive in Bonaire, but I do on a cave or wreck penetration dive.

If you determine that you actually may have a need for a certain type of tool on a given dive (given plan, environment, and conditions) then you should carry a tool which can be reasonably expected to meet the need, should it arise.

With that approach in mind, I cannot conceive of any time I'd carry a SpareAir that didn't involve a helicopter.

 

[Fourseventeen]

RJP...sorry I must have convayed that wrong. I meant on daily patrol....we carry rifles and riot shields yet we rarely use them, same goes for the spare air. I would like to carry it with me while working even though I know I will rarely if ever use it BUT its there should the need arise.

 

[Herk_Man]

My understanding on Sudafed and other decongestants from my dive training was that you shouldn't take them because if they wear off while you are diving, you are in the hurt locker bad.

 

[rongoodman]

I keep my regulators, computers, can light, and this last trip, wet suit in my carry on. The can light gets swabbed sometimes, sometimes not. I use a couple of heavy duty duffel bags from Wild Things in North Conway, NH, one sized for carry-on. Even with a SS plate and weighted STA, the carry-on and checked bag weigh in at about 70 lbs, no big deal to carry for short distances, otherwise, rent one of those little carts. I don't see any point in trying up 10 lbs of luggage allowance in a hard shell suitcase.

 

[BarrelRoll]

Just out of curiosity how many times have you or your team actually practiced doing this? I mean working hard with your adrenalin pumping and verified how long a SA will actually last? Zeagle has a rapid diver system with different size tanks say 20 cu ft that can be put on in less than a minute and has a real regulator. Just saying. BTW I do not permit Spare Airs to be used in any of my classes, do not recommend them (unless it's a helcopter exit exercise which is what they were designed for), and think that for anything other than an emergency vehicle exit they are pretty much a bad idea and give a false sense of security.

That's why I jumped to his defense earlier.

In The Navy we had them all over the ship in little boxes labeled "Emergency Egress". Basically, being on an aircraft carrier, it was 100% false security. It advertised 15 minutes of air, but under the conditions in which you'd be using one on a vessel with a 4 acre flight deck? You're a goner either way. And no, I never once breathed on one, not even in a drill.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

And that is scary isn't it? I have not done a swiftwater rescue class. I do know someone who does and in fact is the guy they call in when some yuppie gets tossed out of a whitewater raft and the body gets stuck up under a rock. I see the need for an air supply in the cases the OP noted but one that is reliable, practiced with, and that the user is intimately familiar with. A spare air does not seem to fit that definition especially if it is just tossed in the vehicle for "just in case".

I strongly recommend that you and your team get a copy of the Tao of Underwater Survival by Tom Mount or the IANTD technical diving encyclopedia and read and study the chapter on equipment selection. Not trying to be smart but having seen a "dive team" that was trained by a shop known for pushing people thru and thinking "if the stuff really ever hits the fan I'm looking at dead cops" I am very concerned. A piece of gear that you do not regularly train and practice with in the water has no place in the "toolbox". You would be much better off with a simple harness and a slung bottle with a real regulator. Do you think that a swift current would not rip a spare air out of your mouth if you were not holding it somehow? Please take this the way it is meant. I have a special place in my heart for cops, ems, fire, and military. My nephew is a state trooper, my son is in Afghanistan, my dad was a volunteer fireman for many years, and I have lots of friends who are as well. EMS was great to my late wife on a number of occaisions and I may be joining our local FD if time permits me to do so. I charge half of my normal class rate for you guys and girls for OW certs. I would feel like hell if I ever got word that someone did something that cost them dearly and I did not try to give them my best advice.

As for the M16 or the riot shield- would you want someone backing you up with either if they never used one before? Would you trust yourself to pick up a new weapon and be absolutely sure that you could hit your target having never fired it? Would you take a riot shield or even a .38 to a shoot out with dirtbags armed with AK47's? Of course not ( LA figured that one out the hard way). You'd take the right tool for the job. A spare air is rarely if ever the right tool for what you are considering it for.