Help a noob.

[VoKuS]

Im going to Hawaii and will be swiming and looking at the coral reef. List time I went I had to swim up for air every time, and this time I would like to take some type of air supply.

I dont want to have a huge air tank and all the pipes and stuff because Im not diving, the coral reef will be shallow.

I want something that can be strapped to my hand or back but thats not big, and bulky.

I saw a movie once, and this actor was using some type of small air tank that was strapped to his arm, and it had a mouth piece that he bit down on to open the air...

I tryied searching for that on google but cant seem to find the right thing and dont really know what to look for...


Do you guys know what its called and any suggestion. I dont want it to be bulky, and how would I re fill it?

 

[fisherdvm]

Regardless of what little tank you use, you suffer the same risk as scuba diving. I would not suggest you doing so without understanding the physics of barotrauma and the risk of barotrauma.

The smallest tank you can use is a 1.7 cu ft spare air device. This will likely give you 10 to 15 breaths at the surface, and perhaps less than 6 breaths at 15 ft. If you ran out of air at this depth, and do not know the procedure called "cesa" or emergency surface ascend, your lung would blow up - sending bubbles into your brain, and you might suffer a pulmonary hemorrhage and drown in your own blood.

If you really want to do diving, it is safer to do free diving. If you want to dive with compress air, get certified for scuba first.

There is a compact BC that is strapped in your front with a small tank (30 cu ft I believe), that is very convenient. But I don't recommend purchasing any unless you are a certified scuba diver.

 

[VoKuS]

Wow what do you mean, last time I dived with just a mask, I think I went about 15 feet down and some times even pushed up off the ground and never experianced any type of strain or anything like that.

Only 6 breaths? Why so small? I thought the air is supposed to be compressed or something, how come only 6?

Can you give me a little more info?

Im 18 by the way, just so you would know my age.

 

[jim2386]

Wow what do you mean, last time I dived with just a mask, I think I went about 15 feet down and some times even pushed up off the ground and never experianced any type of strain or anything like that.

Only 6 breaths? Why so small? I thought the air is supposed to be compressed or something, how come only 6?

Can you give me a little more info?

Im 18 by the way, just so you would know my age.

You'll learn it in scuba class, it all has to do with pressure atmospheres. Every 33 feet you decend, you add another atmosphere of pressure to your body (and your lungs). So at 15' you have roughly another half atmostphere of pressure on your body that you don't have at the surface so it takes 1.5 times more air to fill your lungs. Therefore if you get 10 breaths from a tank at the surface you'll only get half that many at 15'. You really can't freedive with an extra tank, it's extremely dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. The guy above is not lying to you, your lungs might possibly explode. As you rise to the surface and you keep your mouth and nose closed the air cannot escape and it expands in your lungs as you rise causing your lungs to explode. Take a scuba class first if you want to use compressed air. If you don't, just free dive.

The reason you didn't feel any different last time you free dove with just a mask is because you inhaled air at the suface. As you decended, the air in your lungs gets smaller (more compressed). If you continue to hold your breath till you get to the surface, your lungs will expand back to where they started. This is not true anymore if you take a breath of compressed air under water.

-Jim

 

[VoKuS]

Oh wow, now I understand, thank you.

 

[Scubagolf]

The guy above is not lying to you, your lungs might possibly explode. As you rise to the surface and you keep your mouth and nose closed the air cannot escape and it expands in your lungs as you rise causing your lungs to explode. Take a scuba class first if you want to use compressed air. If you don't, just free dive.

What he said. :no

 

[doghouse]

a lot of the hotels around there offer snuba or hooka systems for rent. They are an air compressor that floats on a tube and a length of air hose. That may be what you are looking for.

 

[fisherdvm]

If you bought a snuba or a hooka, you'd get the same risk as scuba if you ran out of air. Just be careful in your quest to buy a device on your own. When you run out of your compressed air, you'd do a procedure called CESA... You might want to do a scubaboard search on the word CESA or ESA.

 

[Flatliner]

LOL, have you read the latest CESA thread.... Very cruel to send a newbie there...

But seriously, if you are interested in breathing under water take a class. You will find that it was worth every penny.

Flatliner
aka Robert

 

[SharkDiver36]

If you bought a snuba or a hooka, you'd get the same risk as scuba if you ran out of air. Just be careful in your quest to buy a device on your own. When you run out of your compressed air, you'd do a procedure called CESA... You might want to do a scubaboard search on the word CESA or ESA.

Why would you help someone or give any person advice that could possibly get them killed without the training and knowledge of breathing gas under pressure?

You are a certified diver and you should know better.

The BEST and only advice for this person is to take either a full-blown scuba class or a discover scuba resort course while on his vacation to see if he/she likes it.

Doing a ESA without training and without supervision until the skill is learned is dangerous at best and lethal at the worst.