Free dive to 12 feet and THEN breathe compressed air?

[davidbaraff]

If I am lying on the bottom of the pool, I have a whole 12' to go to reach the surface. If I'm upright to start an ascent, I've only got about 6' more to go...

Pretty sure I can manage 6' under fairly adverse conditions.

 

[JohnB47]

The only possible problem that I can think of would be if you did not have enough air in your lungs to purge the SpareAir, but I assume that it has a purge button. Whatever the salesperson was thinking, she apparently did not express her point clearly.

 

[Thalassamania]

We used to freedive down and into undwater habitats (at twenty odd and forty odd fsw) stay for a few minutes, and then make a free ascent after exiting though the moonpool. No big deal, breathe out on the the way up.

There is no reason not to free dive down and breathe off your spare air on the way back up, except for the concern that the spare air may not contain enough gas to get you to the surface ... but that's another discussion. As long as you are prepared to make a true free ascent at any point in the process there should be no problem.

 

[friscuba]

I can't see where that would matter in a pool. I'm a big fan of having a redundant air supply as I suspect that most CESA's are done by panicked divers with empty lungs only after they've first tried their octopus and examined their SPG's, but then again, a pool is only 12' deep. Even I can ascend from that depth without worry.

A British fighter pilot died of an air embolism on a spare air type backup air unit training to escape a capsized fighter in a 4 foot pool several years back. "Only 12 feet" is very dangerous. It only takes 4 or so feet to do you in if you're holding your lungs full.

 

[diver 85]

I can only assume he's cautioning you not to take a breath off the thing at the bottom of the pool and then hold it as you surface. If that's his intent, then he has a point ... as soon as you breathe off a compressed gas cylinder, you're scuba diving, and the physics of breathing compressed gas apply.

As long as you breathe continually, you'll be fine ... just like you would on any other scuba cylinder. But don't take pool depths lightly ... holding a breath of compressed air from 12 feet to the surface can cause a serious lung overexpansion injury ... it doesn't really matter what size cylinder you took that breath from ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Like this student--------, from '07(click link)

Student dies at UA Aquatic Center | TuscaloosaNews.com

 

[knowone]

If I am lying on the bottom of the pool, I have a whole 12' to go to reach the surface. If I'm upright to start an ascent, I've only got about 6' more to go...

Pretty sure I can manage 6' under fairly adverse conditions.

Well? I would have to know your girth or if you were tippy toe.
But seriously folks make a transcipt of this post, take it to the shop or a pool session with your spare air and some hygenic wipes, preferably on a club night and broach the subject with the person you are most attracted to.